Do you like being scared (Halloween-type content)?

[Hyacinth]

Scary movies, ghost stories, haunted houses...that kind of thing. Do you like it?
I’m not talking about obvious cheesy stuff. I’m talking the designed-and-produced-to-induce-fear kinds of experiences. 
 

I hate it.
H. A. T. E. 
Hhhhaaaaattttttteeeee.

And I think people who say, “It’s fun” are weird and I don’t think we can be friends.

(I kid.  I think.) 

 

[Katy]

No, but I do like being surprised, even if it involves scary content.  Like the movies Seven or The Sixth Sense.  Interesting twists at the end that I didn't see coming.

[DawnM]

No.   Hate it.

But my boys like it.   

[Sherry in OH]

No

[HS Mom in NC]

No.  Not at all.
I don't like surprises in general either. 

[fairfarmhand]

39 minutes ago, Katy said:

No, but I do like being surprised, even if it involves scary content.  Like the movies Seven or The Sixth Sense.  Interesting twists at the end that I didn't see coming.

Same here. Have you seen The Village?

[alisoncooks]

Nope, don't like it...though I do remember liking it when I was younger.

[ktgrok]

Nope. No no no no no. My imagination is too strong, my suspension of disbelief too strong. It feels too real. 

I once kicked a friend in the shins for yelling "boo" at me in a haunted house. It wasn't even a scary one - it was at a friend's house and I KNEW the people in it were all my friends. I just couldn't stop the reflex. You scare me, I will fight back. Kick first, as questions later, lol. 

Needless to say, despite us living near Universal, my husband will NOT take me to Halloween Horror Nights. He's afraid I'd be arrested for assault. He's not wrong. 

And scary movies? I was terrified to walk to my car in the dark after leaving the theater from the last one I saw..I was in my twenties and it was about some town hit by radiation and the people there moved underground and would snatch visitors to kill them or eat them or something. Ugh. Had to call my now DH to have him give me  a pep talk or I'd still be at that theater, lol. 

I do, however, enjoy reading thriller/suspense novels about serial killers. So...go figure? 

[Corraleno]

Nope. And I REALLY do not understand the appeal. At all. I truly cannot comprehend what anyone would find appealing or enjoyable about watching other people be terrified or even killed. To me that is like "enjoying" watching animals be tortured or killed, which seems clearly psychopathic. The fact that there is a large market, not just for "scary stories," but for real hard-core slasher type films, is utterly horrifying to me.

[Katy]

17 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Same here. Have you seen The Village?

 

Yes, right after it came out on DVD. I think I fell asleep and woke up halfway through though, so it wasn't as thrilling for me.  I was working nights at the time.

[vonfirmath]

No. Which is probably one reason I'm not fond of Halloween

 

[athena1277]

Another vote for no.  

My parents let me watch Poltergeist as a kid.  More than once.  Much of it was terrifying to me at that young age, but I was not mature enough to understand that I really didn’t need to watch it.

On our honeymoon, dh and I spent a day in Gatlinburg.  Dh talked me into going to the big haunted house.  Big waste of money.  After the first room, I didn’t open my eyes until got to the end.  I held onto dh and 2 20yo-ish girls who went through with us, held onto me.  Never doing that again.  Oddly enough, the ski lift up the mountain terrified dh, but I loved it.

Edited September 10, 2020 by athena1277

[happi duck]

I can't handle being startled.  At.all.  Dh is naturally very, very quiet...that doesn't go well!

I can handle suspenseful stories (movies, novels, tv).

I can handle some "ick" as long as there isn't cruelty involved.

I can understand scary but don't understand cruelty for entertainment.

[Catwoman]

Another big NO vote here!

 I like the fun, cute, campy Halloween stuff, not the gory or scary things.

[Hyacinth]

I knew y'all were my people. Thanks.

[AmandaVT]

I almost didn't click on this thread because I thought there was going to be something scary inside, so I'll go with a no!!

[ktgrok]

I don't even like being anxious from tv shows. I stopped watching 24 part way through the second season because I realized it was really elevating my heart rate, blood pressure, etc. 

I also REFUSE to watch torture or much violence. Nope. I wanted to walk out of Braveheart because of the violence but was stuck in the middle of the row. I DID walk out of Pet Cemetary. 

But I'm also someone who, if I'm reading laying down, will sit up during the exciting parts of the book, lol. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Ktgrok

[JustEm]

Man there have got to be other people on this form who like being scared.  I LOVE being scared!  It is hard for me to get scared but when I am it is great. I can't remember the last movie that scared me but the last time I was mildly scared was at a random haunted house dh and stumbled across in Ocean City, MD near the boardwalk.  I actually wish it was easier to scare me because I enjoy it so much.

[Spryte]

I love cute, happy Halloween.  Not gory, gross, zombie Halloween. Happy pumpkins, cute ghosts, sugar cookies cut out as bats.  No gore.

I like twisty, turny movies and tv shows, but not horror films.

I love, love, love Supernatural, even though I watched some scenes between my fingers (those ghosts, oh my!).

I like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney, but that haunted house in Gatlinburg (I went in under duress) - that was a nope.  I used the emergency exit!

So, a little bit of spooky is ok.  Downright scary ... No.

[MercyA]

I have loved ghost stories, cemeteries, creepy folklore and urban legends since I was a little girl. I enjoy "scary light" tv shows and movies--Supernatural, Stranger Things, and M. Night films.

I hate with a fiery burning passion anything involving harm to animals or torture. And slasher gore is just gross.

I used to be scared of all kinds of things, like windows and mirrors at night, odd noises, being alone in the dark, etc. I signed up for a movie course in college only to find out that it was a *horror* movie course. I thought about dropping it. I didn't and enjoyed it, but I watched some of those movies with my eyes closed, believe me!

But after living in a house with unfriendly spirit activity, I find these things don't scare me much at all anymore. Yes, there are actually bad things in the dark, but Jesus is greater. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by MercyA

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, Ktgrok said:

I don't even like being anxious from tv shows. I stopped watching 24 part way through the second season because I realized it was really elevating my heart rate, blood pressure, etc. 

I also REFUSE to watch torture or much violence. Nope. 

This is me too. I had to stop watching Stranger Things pretty early in the last season. Apparently I have a very low threshold. Lol
 

[ktgrok]

28 minutes ago, MEmama said:

This is me too. I had to stop watching Stranger Things pretty early in the last season. Apparently I have a very low threshold. Lol
 

I hear it has to do with mirror neurons or some such thing? 

 

[SounderChick]

I love horror movies, and haunted houses etc.  My teenage sister put on th exorcist while babysitting me as a preschooler maybe it warped me. 

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

Man there have got to be other people on this form who like being scared.  I LOVE being scared!  It is hard for me to get scared but when I am it is great. I can't remember the last movie that scared me but the last time I was mildly scared was at a random haunted house dh and stumbled across in Ocean City, MD near the boardwalk.  I actually wish it was easier to scare me because I enjoy it so much.

Yes it hard to find new scary things.

Edited September 10, 2020 by rebcoola

[HS Mom in NC]

2 hours ago, happi duck said:

  Dh is naturally very, very quiet...that doesn't go well!

Maybe he needs to wear a collar with a little bell on it or a box of tic tacs in his pocket when he walks around.

[J-rap]

I used to like the innocent-but-fun haunted houses (like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland!), but the really creepy horrifying grotesque stuff, no way.

[katilac]

I liked the 'home grown' type haunted houses we had when I was young, like something the church or a neighbor would do, but most definitely not modern 'shock' haunted houses. And I don't like too many scary movies anymore, although I did enjoy Cabin in the Woods. 

I do like both true crime and fictional crime, books and tv shows, and I'm feeling kind of judged . . . 😁

 

[73349]

Not at all. I don't like even movies/TV that are too dramatic, not even trying to be scary per se. DS has been watching all the Star Wars movies, and I'm like, "Really? This is entertaining?" I did read and enjoy a bunch of Stephen King when I was younger, but would not have wanted to see the movies.

I did see Cujo circa age 7 and Jaws not long after (both on TV), and unfortunately wound up at Mary Reilly with a group when it came out. I've been in haunted houses (perhaps mild ones?) and found them boring. Since I also don't care about dressing up, I find Halloween dull in general.

I really like roller coasters, though. I'm not scared on them, just enjoy the sensations of a good one. (Disney World: Big Thunder Mountain and Everest; Carowinds: The Intimidator; Dorney Park: Steel Force; etc.)

[HS Mom in NC]

I guess it depends on what people mean by gore.  I grew up on a farm and we raised our own meat and my family members hunted and fished, so my tolerance for blood, guts, and poo is very high. That's just been normal human existence for most of humanity throughout history, so I'm not bothered by it at all.

I hate things that suddenly demand my attention without my consent and I hate unnecessary noises.  I'm usually making and executing plans and I'm almost always immersed in thought about something.  I resent the distractions surprises bring. 

[J-rap]

See, I don't mind friendly ghosts and monsters, and funny hanging things that feel soft and weird that you can't see because it's dark, but things like guts that are supposed to have come out of a murdered human body, nope.  It's not that guts bother me, it's that the guts are supposedly there because of something horrific that happened.

[Selkie]

I love reading about (supposedly) real paranormal and unexplained happenings, but the fake Halloween haunted house stuff is boring to me.

[happi duck]

4 hours ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Maybe he needs to wear a collar with a little bell on it or a box of tic tacs in his pocket when he walks around.

Seriously!

Sometimes he remembers and makes random noises as he approaches which works.  When he first realized he was startling me he would say hi or something but not until he was right next to me!  Not better!

[happi duck]

*waves to other Supernatural fans*

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by happi duck

[SKL]

No, I don't like it, but I'm not against others enjoying it if that's their thing.

Some of my family like it.  One brother plans all year for his Halloween party, with foods made to look like severed body parts etc.

[Katy]

18 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

I don't even like being anxious from tv shows. I stopped watching 24 part way through the second season because I realized it was really elevating my heart rate, blood pressure, etc. 

I also REFUSE to watch torture or much violence. Nope. I wanted to walk out of Braveheart because of the violence but was stuck in the middle of the row. I DID walk out of Pet Cemetary. 

But I'm also someone who, if I'm reading laying down, will sit up during the exciting parts of the book, lol. 

 

Braveheart left me feeling spiritually slimed for WEEKS.  Nightmares and such.  I don't know why I'm so sensitive about things like that but I used to watch NCIS or Bones with no apparent difference.

[alisoncooks]

17 hours ago, MEmama said:

This is me too. I had to stop watching Stranger Things pretty early in the last season. Apparently I have a very low threshold. Lol
 

I enjoyed the first two seasons of Stranger Things but couldn't bring myself to watch the third. I realized I was feeling physically anxious when I thought about the show. That continuous tension...it lingers. 

[QueenCat]

I love haunted houses. I'd never been in one until 3 years ago. I was scared beyond scared but loved the adrenaline rush, etc. The only place I've been to them at is Busch Gardens. The haunted houses are very well done, with amazing costumes.

[alisoncooks]

4 minutes ago, QueenCat said:

The only place I've been to them at is Busch Gardens. The haunted houses are very well done, with amazing costumes.

We went to BG last year during their Halloween event. I enjoyed the theming and decorations, but we left at 5pm (as evening began and the scarier stuff was starting), lol. My kids want to go back, this time in the evening hours -- they may have to go without me!

[Wheres Toto]

I LOVE Halloween, LOVE Supernatural, really liked the movie The Cabin in the Woods.   But I don't like to read horror as much as I did when I was younger.   I read a ton of Stephen King and Clive Barker when younger, now I can handle Dean Koontz and Robin Cook type stuff at most.  I can't read any books where kids get hurt, regardless of whether it's horror or not.   Pet Sematary is one I definitely can't read or watch anymore.  

I would decorate like crazy for Halloween if our house wasn't extremely small and Christmas didn't already disrupt things for months at a time.  

[QueenCat]

57 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

We went to BG last year during their Halloween event. I enjoyed the theming and decorations, but we left at 5pm (as evening began and the scarier stuff was starting), lol. My kids want to go back, this time in the evening hours -- they may have to go without me!

 

We go to the Williamsburg one, not Tampa. I don't think they'll be able to do normal stuff this year. I wouldn't feel safe, COVID wise, in the haunted houses right now. Hopefully, next year.

[alisoncooks]

6 minutes ago, QueenCat said:

 

We go to the Williamsburg one, not Tampa. I don't think they'll be able to do normal stuff this year. I wouldn't feel safe, COVID wise, in the haunted houses right now. Hopefully, next year.

That's where we go as well. We're looking forward to possibly next year... (then my kids will be old enough I can send them into the haunted houses without me, haha). 

[Lady Florida.]

23 hours ago, Hyacinth said:

Scary movies, ghost stories, haunted houses...that kind of thing. Do you like it?
I’m not talking about obvious cheesy stuff. I’m talking the designed-and-produced-to-induce-fear kinds of experiences. 
 

 

 

I don't like being scared but I also don't believe in ghosts or spirits or demons or whatever, so I don't find them scary. I find the gory chain saw type stuff stupid. I don't like being startled either (which is all the haunted house things do anyway). 

The only kind of scared I like is rides, and those are limited. For example I'll go on a mild roller coaster and be mildly scared but will not go on the big ones that I find terrifying. 

20 hours ago, Spryte said:

I love cute, happy Halloween.  Not gory, gross, zombie Halloween. Happy pumpkins, cute ghosts, sugar cookies cut out as bats.  No gore.

 

Yes, this is the Halloween I like. Unfortunately I gave birth to a child who loves the scary stuff and I had to hold off as long as I could before I let him stop wearing cute costumes and choose the scary ones he wanted. He's been going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando since he was 14 and loves it - he turned 23 last week and still goes with friends every year. He said he's glad they cancelled it this year. Although he wouldn't have gone (he takes Covid-19 seriously) it would have been killing him to know it was happening and he wasn't there. By having it cancelled he didn't have to worry about making the right choice.

[QueenCat]

1 hour ago, alisoncooks said:

That's where we go as well. We're looking forward to possibly next year... (then my kids will be old enough I can send them into the haunted houses without me, haha). 

Have you been to Christmastown there? I usually end up going to that 4-5 times in a season. 

[Junie]

Nope.

I have never liked scary anything.  I don't like being startled.

Halloween is a huge no for me.  Some of the grotesque costumes I've seen have actually caused me to gag and come close to vomiting.

I've had nightmares from Law & Order (among other things).  My sister and I liked the show in high school/college, but if I watched the beginning segment I would have a dream that night that someone I knew was murdered in the exact same way.  After a few episodes, I decided that the beginning of the show was the perfect time to get our snack ready, I would come in during the first commercial break, and my sister would give me a non-detailed account of what had happened.

Wimp, indeed. 😉

 

[stephanier.1765]

I'm with you; I hate it! I hate that feeling in my gut. I hate the nightmares. Hate it. I don't read or watch horror and I'm a pretty broad range reader but horror is a hard no.

[alisoncooks]

2 hours ago, QueenCat said:

Have you been to Christmastown there? I usually end up going to that 4-5 times in a season. 

No but I would love that more! (I love all the Christmas stuff at the big Yankee Candle near there.) 

This last visit was actually my first time in 20 years! I used to go nearly every year growing up -- to Water Country, too.) 😄

[QueenCat]

22 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

No but I would love that more! (I love all the Christmas stuff at the big Yankee Candle near there.) 

This last visit was actually my first time in 20 years! I used to go nearly every year growing up -- to Water Country, too.) 😄

When I am stressed out,  I'll go walk around the Christmas area of Yankee Candle.