Haunted houses

In the mid-19th century, when Halloween was beginning to become more popular,  people believed that the ghosts from the dead would come back to haunt us on Earth. Eventually, we made the common Halloween festivities we have today, such as haunted houses. Humans are thrilled by a good scare and the entertainment aspect, which led to the creation of haunted houses. Haunted houses were invented between the nineteenth to early twentieth century, the first being the Orton and Spooner Ghost House. This was founded in the United Kingdom back in 1915. It was the first fully-developed haunted house with paid actors, custom effects, and the jumpscares we all know and love today. Their creators would begin with the typical scary stories that could be shared amongst peers, or simply written on paper as fiction, then turned into an immersive experience. Houses like the Orton Spooner Ghost House are a great representation of jumpscares and supernatural themes, both of which are still present in modern-day haunted houses. The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California is a perfect example of a typical haunted house you can explore today. Originally, it belonged to a woman by the name of Sarah Lockwood, who lost her husband and daughter to illness. This tragic backstory helped shape what the house means to the public. Not only that, its sudden jumpscares can spike dopamine levels, increasing brain activity and alertness. As a result, it can also affect your decision making as you navigate through the house’s challenges. Due to these reactions, it started making haunted houses more popular and became one of the staples for the yearly tradition. The fear of a jumpscare can heighten your senses in the moment, as your brain’s fight or flight response gets triggered. You never know what you might see, so you have to make decisions quickly and expect the unexpected. This thrill is why humans enjoy experiencing haunted houses so much, and why they have become such a Halloween staple.