Spooky September Challenge: Why do you love to be scared?

Today is the sixth and last day of the Spooky September Challenge. I’ll attempt to answer the question: “Why do you love to be scared?”

It’s not really a question of loving to be scared. There’s a kind of thrill that comes from exploring the unknown. We live in a world where most of the Big Things have been discovered. We have satellites in space that can find a person in a crowd on earth, and the Radio Controlled helicopter has been turned into a much more intrusive toy.

That, in itself, is sometimes scary. But it shows that we’re not alone, and we’re able to visit more of the world’s out-of-the-way nooks and crannies.

But there’s still a thrill at finding an old cave. Or approaching a dark old Victorian home, or swimming in a river late at night (when some jerk is playing the theme from Jaws on his boombox), or walking through a graveyard at midnight on Hallowe’en. There’s always the chance we will experience something new.

There’s also a sense of relief and accomplishment at facing up to your fears, and learning from the experience.  There’s a reason we told each other the tales by the Grimm brothers — we were entertained, learned, and could see the merit of facing a fear. When it comes to the flight or fight principal, we give kudos to those who can problem-solve at the most crucial time.

And freely mock those who can’t.