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Some people love to scare themselves in an already scary world − here’s the psychology of why

  • Written by Sarah Kollat, Teaching Professor of Psychology, Penn State
imageA controlled scary experience can leave you exhilarated and relaxed afterward.gremlin/E+ via Getty Images

Fall for me as a teenager meant football games, homecoming dresses – and haunted houses. My friends organized group trips to the local fairground, where barn sheds were turned into halls of horror, and masked men nipped at our ankles with...

Read more: Some people love to scare themselves in an already scary world − here’s the psychology of why

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