I have never been a fan of haunted houses. It amazes me the amount of money people will spend to get scared. It must be the adrenaline rush.
Adrenaline Rush
Here are some interesting articles about the adrenaline rush:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322490
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/10/31/can-you-really-be-scared-to-death
My doctor one time mentioned that I needed an adrenaline rush. It would help me to feel better. He said I needed to go zip lining. I think he wanted me to die. I hate heights, therefore I would never zip line. But back to the haunted house….
Scary School
When I was in kindergarden we had a “haunted school room” during Halloween. I think it was the older kids-6th grade that put it on. I don’t remember a lot about it except they had headless bodies outside the classroom. Basically, the boys were sitting in a box with their heads poking through.
One year the school had another haunted schoolroom you could go through. I think it was similar to putting your hands into things and they’d tell you what it is. Peeled grapes were eyes, spaghetti was internal organs and so on. I elected to sit out in the hall rather than go through that.
The Ones Where They Chased Me
When I was older (tweens to early teens) a group wanted to go to a Haunted House in town. I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t get asked to social events much, so I jumped at the chance to go. I believe we were all in the school band together, although I don’t recall how many went.
We call went in one car with the mother of one of the girls driving. I was already dreading it by the time we got to the parking lot. We were standing together in a circle and here come the people in masks and costumes. They said or did something to me which had me panicked. I told them that if they didn’t leave me alone I’d go sit in the car. Of course, that just made them even worse so I became screaming at them at the top of my lungs. I ran back and got in the car. The ticket agent heard me screaming and came to the car. She said she spoke to the people chasing me and promised that they wouldn’t bother me anymore. She even offered me a free ticket. Nope. Not getting out of the car. I warned them to stop and they didn’t.
The One Where I Hurt My Hands
Since I evidently didn’t learn from that experience I went to yet another Haunted House in town when a neighbor asked me to go. This time it was inside. We were put in a group. I don’t remember a lot about it, but I remember one area had gravel on the floor. Why gravel? I have no idea. The woman behind me got so scared she grabbed onto me and pulled me down to the gravel. The gravel tore up my hands.
The One That Went On Forever
The last and hopefully final haunted house I went to was with a group of people probably I was in my late teens to early twenties. A group of us that worked together went to one. I told them that I didn’t like them. But a sweet friend of mine promised she’d hold my hand. She held it until I told her she could let go. I don’t recall getting scared. I recall getting annoyed because one room had a bunch of doors in it. There is only one way out. Employees pretend they are patrons and say that the correct door isn’t the correct door to keep you in the room forever. I also remember we asked someone how to get out and they told us, this person also took their mask off.
I feel too old to go to them now and for me it is a waste of money. Nowadays if I want to see something scary I look at the electric bill.
