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Why Haunted Houses Terrify Us 61

A psychologist explains miscalculation could be high. that we can wander around in without getting
Thus, we evolved to err on the side of lost.
why haunted houses detecting threats in ambiguous situations. Thus, the typical haunted house is large,

Things that activate hypervigilance for dark, surrounded by overgrown vegetation, and
terrify us malevolent supernatural (or natural) agents full of surprising architectural features such as
abound in large, drafty old houses: rattling or secret rooms and closets under staircases. Attics
creaking sounds in upstairs rooms; the sighing and basements are also must-have items, and, of
Frank T. McAndrew
and moaning of wind passing through cracks; course, spider webs, bats, rats, and insects make
ragged curtains fluttering in the breeze; echoes; nice accessories.
The Haunted House is a time-honored horror and cold spots.
setting. All of us have shivered our way through
The older, the better
spooky flicks such as The Haunting, The
Feeling trapped
Amityville Horror, The Sentinel, and
Most haunted houses have some sort of “legend”
Poltergeist.
Research has consistently shown that we need associated with them. It usually involves a story
It’s not only at the movies that we pay
more personal space while seated than while about a grisly death or accident. There may even
good money to frighten ourselves to death:
standing, more space when we are in the corner be a history of suicide and murder.
commercial haunted houses are an integral part
of a room rather than in the center of it, and The older a place is, the more likely we
of 21st-century Halloween theater, with an
more space in rooms with low ceilings. are to perceive it as haunted, because there’s
estimated 5,000 such attractions operating in the
United States each year. We feel uncomfortable when our been much more time for tragic things to have
personal space is violated anywhere, but taken place.
The portrayal of cinematic haunted
especially so in situations where we feel as if Stimuli such as moldy odors, antiquated
houses has remained remarkably consistent
escape will become difficult. Victorian or Gothic architecture, wood interiors
across time, and the architects of our annual
Such feelings of discomfort are and old portraits on the wall reinforce an
macabre Halloween rituals incorporate all of the
symptomatic of the fact that we are constantly— ambiance of great age. Assuming that the house
same bells and whistles (okay—creaks and
even if unconsciously—scanning our is no longer occupied, signs of life suddenly
groans) that we’ve come to expect.
surroundings and assessing our ability to flee if interrupted and frozen in time only amplify the
From a psychological point of view, the
it should become necessary. fear factor.
standard features of haunted houses trigger
feelings of dread because they push buttons in Consequently, a haunted house is our For example, remnants of a half-eaten
worst nightmare. meal on a kitchen table or clothing laid out on a
our brains that evolved long before houses even
The prototypical haunted house is in a bed waiting for a homeowner who has
existed. These alarm buttons warn us of
remote, isolated location, far removed from the apparently vanished without warning create a
potential danger and motivate us to proceed
rest of society (think of the off-season resort frightening ambiguity about what may have
with caution.
hotel in The Shining, for example). If bad things taken place in the house. (There are bonus points
Haunted houses give us the creeps not
do happen, help would be a long time coming, awarded if the house is conveniently located
because they pose a clear threat to us, but rather
even if communication with the outside world next to or on top of an old cemetery or burial
because it is unclear whether or not they
were possible. (Conveniently, in old horror ground!)
represent a threat.
This ambivalence leaves you frozen in movies the telephones always stop working.) Individuals who believe in paranormal
Also, the darkness and confusing layout phenomena and have expectations that creepy
place, wallowing in unease.
of the house may cause us to get lost; at the very things might actually be present in such a place
For example, it would be considered
least, it would slow us down. Escape could are more likely to engage in the sort of top-
bizarre and embarrassing to run screaming out
further be impeded by hedges, iron fences, or down, cognitive processing that induces fear.
of a house that makes you feel uneasy if there is
crumbling stairways, all of which are featured Ultimately, whether or not a house is perceived
actually nothing to fear. On the other hand, it
prominently in Hollywood haunted houses. as haunted obviously depends upon something
could be perilous to ignore your intuition and
other than the physical features of the house.
remain in a place that is dangerous.
A womb with a view Just as important are the inherent beliefs of the
These are the psychological
mechanisms behind feeling “creeped out.” They person exploring the house.
may be useful if they help you maintain British geographer Jay Appleton was the first to For these people, otherwise innocuous
vigilance when threat is uncertain. They also describe two crucial features that determine but uncertain surroundings can become a
help you manage the balance between self- whether a place is attractive or frightening to chilling experience.
preservation and self-presentation (.i.e, humans: the more “prospect” and “refuge” a
presenting yourself in a socially desirable way). place offers us, the more attractive it is. About the Author:
While human psychology can explain Refuge means having a secure, protected
what makes a haunted house so scary, it also place to hide where one can be sheltered from Frank T. McAndrew is the Cornelia H.
provides the perfect guide to making one danger, while prospect refers to one’s clear, Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox
ourselves. unobstructed view of the landscape. Attractive College. The post originally appeared on The
places offer us a lot of prospect and a lot of Conversation.
Things that trigger our ‘agent refuge, or what landscape architect Randolph
Hester refers to as a “Womb with a View.”
detection’ mechanisms
In the words of Appleton, these are,
evolutionarily speaking, places where “you can
Evolutionary psychologists have proposed the
see without being seen, and eat without being
existence of agent detection mechanisms—or
eaten.”
processes that have evolved to protect us from
Unfortunately, most haunted houses
harm at the hands of predators and enemies.
make for a bad combination of very low
If you’re walking through the woods
prospect for us, and very high refuge for the
alone at night and hear the sound of something
creepy-crawly things that are lying in wait to get
rustling in the bushes, you’ll respond with a
us. Research has confirmed that people
heightened level of arousal and attention. You’ll
experience such environments as unsafe and
behave as if there is a willful “agent” present
dangerous.
who is about to do you harm.
Such places also lack what
If it turns out to be a gust of wind or a
environmental psychologists refer to as
stray cat, you lose little by overreacting. But if
legibility. Legibility reflects the ease with which
you fail to activate the alarm response and a true
a place can be recognized, organized into a
threat is present—well, the cost of your
pattern and recalled—in other words, a place