#1
#2
A woman came through and I jumped out. The woman lets out this piercing scream and jumps backwards. She hit the wall so hard she dented it pretty badly.
She kept screaming and wouldn't stop. She was hyperventilating, crying, on and on. I was afraid to approach her and make it worse. I had to completely drop character and tell one of the guests to go get an uncostumed worker to assist her.
Someone comes, gets her calmed down. She even talks to me and finally laughs about it. She leaves and I'm so relieved she was okay, but it really shook me up.
Thirty minutes later: SHE COMES BACK. I don't jump out of the coffin, I just walk out and say 'What are you doing here??' She gets this embarrassed look on her face and says, 'I had fun.'
Looking back on it, the funniest part were the looks on the faces of the people behind her in the line the second time. To them, this vampire just walks out of a coffin and gets all bossy with some random woman.
#3
Well, one night, my mother and some of her friends went through said haunted house. They eventually made it to the stairs where my father worked. He shook one of the steps, and my mother stumbled, breaking the heel off her high heeled boots. She put up a stink, and got my father fired.
So, for years after that, they told the story, my father claiming some crazy jerk got him fired, and my mother claiming some guy almost took her life in a haunted house. It wasn't until they were dating, about 4 years later, that they figured it out.
There are almost 1,200 haunted attractions in the U.S., charging folks to visit and enjoy their scary features. According to America Haunts, some of these places open on Halloween itself, and some also contribute to charity through the huge sales they receive. The typical number of visitors is nearly 8,000.
Fewer than 3% of haunted houses have attendance over 35,000 paid guests, and 1-2% have up to 60,000 visitors, but they have to be extremely big and popular. Since most of these places charge around $15-25 per customer, they receive a lot of guests and fill folks with a tiny bit of fear and thrill that they so desire.
#4
#5
That was so messed up to do to an eight year old.
#6
For many people, October marks the start of their “spooky” season, when they can partake in all things ghoulish and terrifying. Lots of folks love watching scary movies, buying Halloween candy, and going trick-or-treating. McMaster University notes that some people also love being scared, even if it feels slightly uncomfortable.
That’s probably why spending for this festival reaches nearly $13.5 billion, and 49% of folks start buying things for Halloween in September or earlier. There are so many fun things to do during this month, like handing out candy, making and wearing costumes, decorating the yard, and scaring friends.
#7
One iteration, there was this teenage girl who was terrified. I sat next to her and pointed out how fake everything looked and how she didn't have anything to worry about. When we got to my sister's station and she ripped me off the wagon and threw me to the ground, I started screaming, "IT'S REAL! OH MY GOD IT'S REAL!!"
The look of absolute unbridled abject horror in her eyes as the wagon rolled off into the darkness was one I'll never forget :)
Also, I am a horrible person. Don't upvote this.
#8
I have caused multiple people to vomit in line due to the disgusting nature of my act. Why one person throws up, multiple people tend to vomit. We had to close down the haunt for a half an hour to clean up.
#9
It might seem odd that people actually like being scared, but the American Brain Foundation notes that fear is a powerful emotion, and when we feel in danger, our fight-or-flight response activates. This can trigger a series of chemical reactions: the thalamus sends signals to the amygdala, which signals the glands to release stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
At the same time, the person might experience a rush of endorphins and dopamine, which can create a slightly pleasant feeling. Fear can also heighten the senses as the brain scans the environment for potential threats. All of this happens automatically when a person faces a threat, like a horror movie.
#10
Some guy jumped out of a closet doing something scary. She knocked him out. She and the kids walked back to the front door and left.
#11
#12
When a scary situation isn’t real, but the person just wants to experience the thrill of it, feeling frightened can have a positive effect, not that different from euphoria. The brain releases a chemical rush that creates a state of arousal similar to excitement, and because people know they’re safe in a controlled setting, they avoid the stress that usually comes with such situations.
Adrenaline and dopamine also drive the enjoyment of fear and give people a sense of pleasure as a reward for surviving these experiences. Also, because folks can scream, jump, or release their emotions in a socially acceptable way, this can lead to a feeling of catharsis they might not otherwise get.
#13
My favorite "spot" is after the clown room you make a hard right and go down a long dark hallway to leave. Right outside of the room there is a little nook that you can sit if you were to go left out of the clown room instead of a right down that hallway, anyways, the funniest thing I've ever seen had to be the time I was sitting in that nook with a chain saw and sate first person came around the corner they didn't see me so when I revved the chain saw she took off running and only got about two steps before promptly falling on her face, this is where it gets good, with it being a dark hallway the rest of the tour also took off running from hearing the chain saw and one after another they fell the pile up at the end was somewhere between 8-10 people. I had to put the chainsaw down and go help but I hardly could I was laughing so hard. Sorry about the poor story telling.
EDIT: for many of you asking this was In Baltimore Maryland.
#14
Story #2: I was at a haunted house with my husband and the room we were in was a very, very dark maze. Someone dressed in black reached out and touched me. I screamed and punched him as hard as I could in the torso, just below the point where the ribs come together. Then I apologized about 100 times. Poor guy.
Story #3: I went to a local haunted house with my cousins and uncle when I was about 12. Another cousin was working, and told the guy in the chainsaw room to give her "little cousins" a special show. He came after us with the chainsaw and backed us into a corner. I collapsed on the ground in a fetal position and put my arms over my head and refused to move. If he'd been a real slasher, I would have been unalive in 30 seconds.
#15
Having fun with scary experiences also has its limits, and age or associations with past trauma can play a big role in that. When folks experience heightened feelings of terror or extreme anxiety, this might impair their ability to enjoy regular moments and might also cause them to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
Apart from that, children might also struggle with haunted houses or scary experiences as they may not be old enough to differentiate between real and imaginary danger. That’s why parents and guardians need to shield them from visually terrifying content so that they don’t get scarred for life.
#16
#17
One of the groups that walked through was around five elderly folk. After my hallway partner did his jump-scare, an old guy from that group started laughing. Then he saw me, laughed even more, but started coughing violently. He leaned against the wall, grabbing his chest, while he slowly fell towards the ground.
My hallway partner and I just stood there in shock, frozen, not knowing what to do. I wasn't sure if I should call 911 or what, his friends weren't helping him. But a couple of seconds later, he gets up, points and laughs at us.
#18
When faced with a really scary situation, or even if you begin panicking in a haunted house, the best thing to do is to try to slow your body down. According to Healthline, it’s essential to take a few moments to breathe slowly and carefully, as this signals the brain and reduces the fight-or-flight response.
These calming breaths also help folks feel less stressed and focus their attention on their body. Techniques like this can help anxious and worried folks feel better and avoid getting carried away by their emotions.
#19
We had made it all the way to the final room. We knew it was the last room because it let out right by the line we stood in to enter the house.
It was all black and white checkered walls with strobe lights, and a guy, also in black and white, with a chainsaw chasing people out.
I was the first to enter, sufficiently terrified from the rest of the house at this point. Chainsaw dude must have noticed my apprehension upon entering the room because he went right for me. I screamed and sprinted for the exit door, which of course was painted like the rest of the room. At full force I hit what I was hoping was the door. It wasn't. I did a full speed face plant into a very solid wall. Put my front teeth through my lip, howled in pain and started crying. All my friends had exited out of the actual exit, so it was just me and chainsaw dude. I thought that was it for me!! As he got closer, he saw that I was hurt, not just screaming in terror.
So now chainsaw dude puts his chainsaw down and carries me out of the house, past all the other people in line waiting to enter, to the medical staff.
I can only imagine what everyone in line thought as one of the monsters was carrying this screaming, crying, bloody kid out of the place. I like to think it put them all a little more on edge as they approached the entrance.
#20
