Why we love getting scared

Do you love going to haunted houses? There might be a scientific explanation. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recruited 262 adults to attend an “extreme” haunted attraction and measured their EEG brain reactivity and surveyed the participants after the experience. They found that participants reported their mood improved, especially for those that were feeling tired, bored, or stressed prior to the experience. These voluntary arousing negative experiences, as the researchers call them, seem to elicit a physiological and neurological response similar to a "runner's high." They believe that once you escape a scary situation that you chose to be involved in, endorphins are released that make you feel better.