Why do we like haunted houses? The science behind why people pursue fear : Short Wave
✍️ Berly Mccoy Regina G. Barber Rebecca Ramirez, Berly Mccoy, Regina G. Barber, Rebecca Ramirez📅 October 29, 2025 12:00 AM🕐 Scraped: October 29, 2025
Summary: Like haunted houses? Scientists do! That’s because they’re an excellent place to study how humans respond to – and even actively seek out – fear. In an immersive threat setting, as opposed to a carefully controlled lab, researchers can learn a lot about what scares people, why and how additional factors (like the presence of friends) might affect our experiences.So what have they learned? What determines a good scare versus a bad one? And what’s the evolutionary reason for all of this, anyway? In today’s episode, producer Hannah Chinn heads to the haunted house in search of answers.Have a seasonal science question you want us to investigate on the next Nature Quest? Email us your question at [email protected] to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Why do we like haunted houses? The science behind why people pursue fear
toggle caption Matt Champlin/Getty Images
Like haunted houses? Scientists do.
That's because they're an excellent place to study how humans respond to — and actively seek out — fear.
"Typically when we study things in the lab, we're exposing people to the
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