Scary thrills

I don’t listen to the radio often, mainly because my car radio rarely picks up any stations outside of major city limits. Basically I can’t pick up any Atlanta stations beyond exit 104 on I-85. As a result, I only listen to the radio twice a week, when I go to class. But, really that’s enough. Not only do I feel that I am sufficiently exposed to all five songs that they currently play on pop radio, I also have the seasonal commercials memorized.

There is one ad in particular that catches my attention. It’s for this major haunted house that is apparently ranked among the best haunted houses in the nation. (Whose job is it to rank haunted houses in America?) Now, I’m not into haunted houses, or horror movies, or ghost stories. They just don’t appeal to me. But, this commercial is intriguing – a GPS voice is giving you directions and then it says, “You have arrived at the point of no return.” Huh? And then a devilish voice repeats the phrase.

“The point of no return” – why is that so frightening? It actually sounds kind of exciting. But then, fear and excitement are interrelated, aren’t they. A friend recently told me that “fear is the worst of all emotions.” And yet, people seek it out constantly! The entire Halloween industry hinges on the fact that people want to be scared. Amusement parks play with our tendency toward acrophobia, claustrophobia, and nyctophobia as if they were dolls and Legos…for “amusement!”

Aren’t we supposed to avoid fear? Isn’t that why it exists – to alert us to danger? To initiate the fight-or-flight mechanism? Ah ha! It’s all about adrenaline, yes?

Yes. So, we’re all rushed up – and then what? And then, well, nothing. Because this manufactured fear has that bit of security to it. It’s all fake. Some engineer somewhere made sure that machine is safe, right? Most of the time anyway, otherwise someone is getting a lawsuit.

Ok then, our inclination for fear is balanced by our faith in someone else – someone out there has our backs. It’s actually about trust and support, huh? Even if we can’t see them or don’t know them, they are out there, so going into this dark, scary place is ok. “At the point of no return,” ok, I’m not looking back – onward! Somebody better make sure this is all going to work out. Hold my hand! Push me along. Tell me it’s going to be alright, that we’ll make it to the other end. Ok, good, we’re fine, see? (Relief)

“At the point of no return,” for my car radio that’s exit 104! Oh well. I go on.

Happy Halloween!