Scream Scientist

Halloween is the time of year when many people actually like being scared. They watch suspenseful movies, dress up in creepy costumes, and visit “haunted” houses. In fact, every year roughly 10 million people across the U.S. visit these spooky attractions. One of the most popular is ScareHouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Part of Margee Kerr’s job is to make this horrifying haunt as chilling as possible.

Kerr is a sociologist who teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. She studies human behavior, especially how people respond to fear. One way she does that is by designing truly terrifying scares—from hideous zombies to ghastly ghouls—for an area of ScareHouse known as “The Basement.” Then she observes the reactions of volunteers who enter her chamber of horrors. Kerr hopes the information she gathers will help her better understand what scares people and why some of us seek out scary situations like haunted houses.

It came about in an unexpected way. In 2008, I visited ScareHouse around Halloween. I realized that all fear isn’t bad. Our response to things that scare us keeps us safe and is responsible for our survival.

Volunteers walking through the attraction wear portable devices that measure heart rate and electrodermal activity—the levels of electricity conducted by the skin. An electroencephalograph (EEG) also measures participants’ brain-wave activity before and after they enter. The devices relay data to computers in our lab (a room in The Basement), informing us about how people’s bodies and brains are responding to being scared.

I take a lot of ideas from what science says will startle people, like flashes of light or blasts of air. I also get inspiration from real-life stories and pop culture. For example, one year, zombies might be the trendy monster. The next year, it will be something else.

Yes. Past research tells us that a lot of it has to do with personal history. It often only takes one exposure to something that could hurt us, like a snake, for us to fear it for the rest of our lives. This is called fear conditioning—when your brain associates something with being scary. It’s an adaptation that helps humans survive. When people are scared, they also experience fight-or-flight—when we choose to tough it out (fight) or run away (flight) from frightening situations. The intensity of this response is different depending on the person. Some people startle easily while others don’t even flinch.

Being scared releases a handful of chemicals that control certain functions in the body. Some, like endorphins, which block pain, can actually make us feel good—even when scared. Facing something scary head-on in a safe place can also give people a confidence boost. They feel like they’ve achieved a personal goal or overcome a challenge.

I love my work with haunted attractions. I enjoy seeing people have a really good time being frightened: smiling, laughing, high-fiving, and hugging each other after they leave.