Why Do You Enjoy Fear?

[Waffleman]

For my Graphics A2 course I am making a short guerilla advertising-type animation promoting Thorpe Parks Fright Nights, and my main theme is fear.

As part of my coursework I need to find information on why people enjoy being scared, and I thought you lot would be the best people to ask about it.

Thanks in advance for your replies, and I'll show you the finished result when it's done (which will be early next year, in case you're interested).

 

[nealbie]

I don't enjoy being scared, it's upsetting!

Adrenaline, now THAT'S more like it!

 

[Hixee]

Fear = Adrenaline.

Simple.

And anyway, I don't enjoy genuine fear, just being 'on-edge'.

 

[nealbie]

Not necessarily fear though Hix - it could be immense excitement or putting the body under a lot of stress.

Ie- Motor Racing and Roller Coasters (the only two I'm fussed about )

 

[Xpress]

I just don't get scared of much. Haunted houses? Nothing. Guy trying to run after me with a knife? Nothing. :?

 

[herbinator]

The fear gives me adrenaline and the adrenaline make everything better. You work faster, your alert and nothing hurts as much. Its such a buzz to confront FEAR! I love it. :--D

 

[Hixee]

Not necessarily fear though Hix - it could be immense excitement or putting the body under a lot of stress.

I never said otherwise.

Fear = Adrenaline

It does. Other things also lead to it.

 

[nealbie]

But by putting "simple" on the end of it, you imply that it's exclusively down to fear. Which I contested and you agree with

 

[Hixee]

^I implied no such thing. I 'implied' that the outcome of fear was adrenaline. Not the other way round.

 

[Antinos]

Other things also lead to it.

I feel you, Hix!

Basically, I'll reiterate what everybody else has said. I enjoy the rush of adrenaline. It's a reason why I like drop towers so much. There's that suspense of waiting to drop, and once you stop at the bottom, you can feel the adrenaline rushing through your bloodstream in your appendages.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I can't say I enjoy being truly scared. Thinking back to my airplane trip at the beginning of the year, a time I had been dreading for months and months, and something that thoroughly terrified me to the point of tears.. No, I can't say I enjoy that. Or when I see a spider, yeah, not fun.

But yeah, healthy fear is nice. When you know you're in a relatively safe position, such as a haunted house or on a coaster or whatever, then the adrenaline is enjoyable. The rush is fun but you're also not stressed out from terror, either.

 

[dropthefloor93]

Fear is very hard to find. If I find a ride that genuinely scares me, I probably will not ride it again for a long time to come, so it maintains its fear factor. The first time I rode a Vekoma SLC, I sat front seat. I never took my legs for granted after wards. But fear makes life feel more real, as if there is something threatened to take everything away.

 

[CMonster]

I very much dislike the feeling of fear. However, I don't get that from coasters or other rides. Is there a feeling of suspense? Yes. Am I even sometimes scared of the ride? Yes. But, being scared of the ride, for me, is different than fear for some reason. It's hard to explain, but I'll never really be afraid of a ride (unless it's some fair in China), as I know there's a very small chance of accident and I'll (99.9999% of the time) be completely fine.

So, I guess fear for me comes more in situations with a chance of injury or death.

 

[andrus]

fear makes life feel more real

That. You feel alive. And most of the times (at least when it comes to roller coasters) the fear resut in adrenalin which is a nice side effect!

 

[Lofty]

It's very hard to put fear down to one or so attractions. I mean it all depends on a few points, these being things like the theme, phobias, pace etc. I do think that for your piece you should base the whole piece on the phobic reactions that are used all the time in haunted houses/attractions. Such things as Spiders, Being alone, Darkness, Intimidation etc. I think that it would look very clever if you base it from an angle such as this