President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said the only thing there is to fear is fear itself. Every year as Halloween approaches, Roosevelt’s words are put to the test by thrill-seekers around the world, who indulge in visiting haunted houses and watching scary movies.\nEach October, a darker side of American culture is displayed, provoking fear in some. As defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, fear is caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. \nFear results in a biological reaction, which is unpleasant for some people, but creates an enjoyable thrill in others.\n“Fear is a blend of what we’ve learned from experience and how far you are willing to push the envelope,” said Brett Pittman, co-creator of Hauntedindiana.com. \nPittman and John Jeffries created the Web site as an online hub for interested Hoosiers to visit when looking for a scare. \n“When you allow yourself to get scared, you go through a physical mode where your muscles stiffen and your blood actually cools,” Pittman said. “It is just a primitive thing that makes us victims to the events around us, but when we realize we’re in a safe spot, people know that everything is going to be okay and they calm down.”\nFear is not always a product of controlled behavior. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, some common phobias are the fear of flying, enclosed places and heights \n“If you expose yourself to a scary situation such as jumping out of an airplane or viewing a scary movie, it creates a great sense of fear followed by a great sense of relief, ” said Cynthia Hoffman, a lecturer in IU’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. “As you keep putting yourself in the same scary situations, the amount of fear felt lessens as the feeling of relief is maintained. After repeat experiences, the sense of relief can create euphoric feelings.”\nJeffries said the easiest way to become terrified in a controlled setting is either to sit through a scary movie or go to a haunted house, such as the one he owns 15 minutes south of Bloomington.\n“Going to a haunted house puts you into a sharing situation,” Jeffries said. “It’s almost like a survival thing with a group of your peers. There are very few things that human beings can share publicly with one another on an emotional level, and this ties them together for the enjoyment of the thrill.” \nJeffries started the Harrodsburg Haunted House 28 years ago, and it has remained the most prominent of its kind in Southern Indiana.\n“People love getting terrified,” Jeffries said, “and we deliver the product. We play on fear and emotions on different levels. A lot of the time they don’t even know what we are doing to them.”\nJeffries’ interest in horror came from an unusual experience. As a child, he purchased compasses and occupied a house in his neighborhood with a violent history, trying to find a sign of paranormal activity stemming from the movement of the needles on the compasses. Jeffries placed the compasses in a line in the living room of the abandoned home and waited. After a few hours, the needles on the compasses began to oscillate one-by-one, creeping up to him until the needle on the compass nearest to him moved, and he bolted out of the house.\n“That got my attention that there has to be something out there more than what we know,” Jeffries said.
Fear factor
As Halloween nears, local experts weigh in on the allure of fright
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