Bob Novella

So this equation, if you will, fear minus static was fun.

It applies to me when it comes to many things, like jumping out of a plane or crazy roller coaster rides, right?

But it doesn't really apply to me when it comes to haunted houses.

Because I've just been loving it so much and so long that fear isn't really a thing in that context at all.

For me, the equation is more like fear minus fear plus zombies plus craftsmanship equals happy Bob.

That's the equation.

I could simplify that equation, of course, but I wanted to show all my work.

All right, so let's unpack these studies.

The researchers interviewed 3,831 attendees over five studies.

at the Gainesville Fear Garden Haunted House.

This is in Florida.

So this is obviously a commercial haunted attraction, and they did the study across 2022, 23, and 24 Halloween seasons.

Their hypothesis was essentially that is that shared fear, does it act like a social glue because people are experiencing the effects of this emotional arousal together?

So for the first study, they basically just surveyed the people after leaving an attraction.

The second to fourth surveys, they interviewed them before and after the experience.

And they measured a variety of factors like how scared were you?

How much did you enjoy it?

Did you hold hands with somebody or in some way have physical contact?

a contact with them.

So it was interesting to note that the researchers described the recreational fear sweet spot, that it occurred when participants reported moderate fear and high enjoyment.