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If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Related Stories. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. Do you have any theories about why zombies had their moment? Kerr: Yeah, that was really fun. I remember getting that data set and looking at it thinking, "Wow, zombies are really starting to be a thing.
It was right after the recession. I think that it was sort of speaking to this fear that they were going out into the world with no real hope. I don't have any evidence to support a theory like this, but I think that they were really concerned that the apocalypse was going to happen in their generation.
I think that the zombie narrative probably landed a pretty good connection with them—all hope is gone and it's a man-eat-man world trying to get jobs. Kerr: Wide eyes. I said that for everything that they do in marketing and also in the haunt, they should focus on trying to include very big eyes.
Because seeing the whites of the eyes triggers the amygdala—they've looked at this in FMRIs—so a lot of the branding, a lot of the posters and flyers, feature faces and eyes instead of buildings or inanimate objects. Pinsker: Taking into account all of the data that you've collected, what would you say is the single thing that consistently freaks everyone out? Kerr: They hate it when I say this, because it's easy and it's pretty cheap: It's just the sound startle. It's almost impossible not to react to it.
A loud air cannon, a blast of sound—you can't help but jump. It's just so hardwired into us to be scared of something that is that loud and that startling. So when that is combined with a flash of light and also maybe a person that's jumping out, then it's great.
Pinsker: Interesting. I get that they're hard not to respond to, but I feel like the thing that would be scariest would be something that triggers a deeper, mental fear, as opposed to sort of a quick thing. Kerr: We've played around with this and you can see how critical the startles are to the whole narrative scene.
We need the startles in there to keep that thinking brain offline, so the psychological scares are actually going to be terrifying.
Otherwise it's just sort of like walking through a play. Where and when were the first ones? Kerr: The first ones are often traced to the freak shows and P. Barnum and his house of oddities, with all of the weird stuff on display. But the haunted houses that we know of today—a linear walkthrough attraction where things pop out and scare you—really started with the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.
And then there's the junior associations, which began doing their charity haunted houses for people to walk through, an up-in-six-weeks-and-gone kind of thing. But it was in those, and the haunted houses run by firefighters and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, where people currently in the industry got their starts. When you go around and talk to all the haunters and you ask them where they started, it's usually in a volunteer charity haunt.
Yet, a person who repeatedly has gone through the same haunted house, will be less fearful of it than someone who never has experienced it, Dani said. The same idea applies to other experiences that many people deem scary — fears like heights, tight spaces or darkness.
Still, Halloween — particularly haunted houses and scary movies — embeds a level of unpredictability that other common fears do not contain. You're being primed, but you don't know when it's going to happen. Most people can overcome their fears if they are willing to expose themselves to them repeatedly. Others, including people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or deeply held phobias, may need additional therapy.
Consider people who fear walking on open staircases, Dani said. You'll learn little tricks, like don't stare down while you're walking. Let us know. John Kopp PhillyVoice Staff. Women's Health. The contents of this website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Nothing in this website is meant to be used for medical or nursing diagnosis or professional treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other licensed health care provider.
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