Halloween may be prime time for slutty Supreme Court justice costumes and pumpkin lattes, but it's also when bloody ax murderers walk among us and creepy movies like "Sinister" hit screens around the country. It's officially scaring season.
If you wonder why some people would intentionally subject themselves to fear, an emotion many of us desperately try to avoid, ask the horror-movie and haunted-house junkies.
"There's a certain amount of safety in it, so you can let yourself go," said Kathryn Lepera, 31, of Pilsen. "I'm definitely the person in the movie theater who screams out loud. I kind of embrace it."
Plenty of people besides Lepera love to be scared: 24.9 percent plan to go to a haunted house this year, according to consumer research firm BIGinsight. Horror movies do a swift business, too. "Saw III," which holds the record for the biggest opening during the Halloween season, made more than $33 million during its first weekend out in 2006, according to Box Office Mojo. Last year around this time, "Paranormal Activity 3" was released, and the horror flick (which cost a relatively cheap $5 million to make) would go on to rake in more than
$104 million. Fear sells.
The explanation, experts say, can be as simple as one word: adrenaline.
"For some people, aspects of those particular emotions-fear or anxiety-are a form of excitement," said Cheryl Carmin, a University of Illinois at Chicago psychology professor. A person's sensation of his or her "heart racing [and] blood pounding, they associate with a thrill."
Richard Zinbarg, director of the anxiety and panic treatment program at Northwestern University, said there are a couple of different factors. First, after the initial shock of a fearful response, the resulting emotion can be pleasurable.
"When it's over, we get that relief feeling and that feels really good," he said. And then there's the matter of bravery, which also can be rewarding. "When we go into the haunted house or see the movie 'Jaws,' ... we know that what we're consciously doing is making a decision to increase our anxiety. But maybe at some level we also view it as, 'Maybe this is an opportunity to demonstrate my courage,' " Zinbarg said.
Stuart Conover, 31, of Westmont, loves horror movies so much he created a website about zombies, his favorite subset of the genre. He reviews zombie movies and games, and serves as CEO of iScream Productions. Conover said part of the draw for him is escapism.
"You can feel that fear from a horror movie or a haunted house but there's not really anything to be afraid of," he said. "It gets your heart racing. It's a feeling you don't get from your daily environment, going to college or working in a cube."
Love of that feeling prompts people like Maria Blevins, 29, to scare themselves, even if they know they'll suffer afterward.
"I'll sit there and watch those weird shows, like 'Psychic Ghost Children,' " said Blevins, of the West Loop. "Then after I watch them, I will stay awake until 4:30 in the morning or have to sleep with the light in the bathroom on."
Lepera said there's also part of her that loves to watch other people laugh at her horrified squeals during movies. She screams, they laugh and everyone has a good time.
"There is definitely like a social element to it," Lepera said, adding that there's also a "shock value" she enjoys. "It's like a fun thing to let yourself go and let your imagination go. I appreciate people with the creativity to pull it off."
Not everyone is quite so into terrifying themselves though.
"I hate being scared," said Natalie Rauth, 22, of Lincoln Park. She freely admits to sleeping with her bathroom light on and keeping a tool kit with a hammer near her bed. "It's so weird. I don't know what it is. I haven't had a bad experience."
People are freaked out by varying levels of anxiety, fear and disgust, psychology professor Carmin said. So you might find someone who's weirded out by something that doesn't faze his or her next-door neighbor.
"Some people are very sensitive to elements of disgust. There are plenty of people who won't touch raw chicken," she said, also noting that ideas of what's scary are different in other cultures. A Day of the Dead celebration doesn't depict skeletons as horrifying or evil, for example. "There may be different cultural connections."
As far as the type of fears Rauth has, they're less the vampire-and-ghost category and more in the "10 o'clock news" vein.
"It's more like a fear of things that regularly happen," Rauth said. "If I can read about them in the news happening, I'm scared of them. You don't often read about a ghost attacking someone. I would much rather sit in a room with a ghost than sit in a room with a rapist."
It's those regular, everyday horrors that get to Blevins too.
She considered going on a "haunted kayak" tour, she said, but decided she was a little too concerned about the cleanliness of the Chicago River.
"That's more terrifying than any ghost," she said.
Fright of the Times
If you think "Paranormal Activity" is scary, you should see some of the clothes worn in '70s horror movies. RedEye takes you on a tour of what's been frightening our bell bottoms off over the years.
The Shining 1980
Killer: Weird, angry, possibly possessed dad
Victims: Hipster mom and her weird hipster son
Scary line to remember: "Here's Johnny!"
What scared us then: That going without booze for five months might turn us into raving lunatics.
Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
Killer: Guy who desperately needs a new sweater
Victims: Many, including Johnny Depp (sob)
Scary line to remember: "One, two, Freddy's coming for you."
What scared us then: That premarital sex leads to a nightmare-invading maniac slaughtering you in your sleep.
Scream 1996
Killer: The possessor of a magical box that makes your voice sound terrifying
Victims: Drew Barrymore and a squinty Neve Campbell
Scary line to remember: "Do you like scary movies?"
What scared us then: That scary-movie nerds would decide they'd like to be in their own personal horror story.
The Blair Witch Project 1999
Killer: Still not entirely sure on this one, but we're guessing "a witch."
Victims: Annoying trio of bickering filmmakers.
Scary line to remember: "Did you hear that?"
What scared us then: That helping with our friend's film school projects might kill us of something other than boredom.
The Ring 2002
Killer: Sort of a videotape?
Victims: Pretty blond journalist and her son
Scary line to remember: "I think before you die, you see the ring."
What scared us then: That there was a time-a time not that long ago-when people actually watched VHS tapes.
Paranormal Activity 2007
Killer: Uh, the camera? A demon? Who freaking knows.
Victims: Whoever sat through the whole movie.
Scary line to remember: "I feel it breathing on me."
What scared us then: That horror movies were starting to resemble a long, poorly edited YouTube video.
ggarvey@tribune.com | @gcgarvey