Things that go bump in the night. A distorted shadow that dances against a far wall in a child's bedroom. The pale moonlight reflecting off of a crumbling tombstone at midnight. Strange noises that emanate from empty rooms. These are only a few of the times when our imaginations take over the reins from our common sense.

The educated side of our brains reason with us that there are no such things as ghosts or vampires, that they exist only on the movie screen or printed page. There have never been any actual cases of witches flying through the night air on their broomsticks or crusty ghouls prowling cemeteries in search of a late night snack. The cases throughout history recording such events are at the very least exaggerated, and at the most, outright lies. Back in the old days it seemed that nearly everyone believed in witches or demons, probably mostly due to the lack of scientific research. It easily would have been able to explain many, if not all, strange occurrences.

Did people back then simply have better imaginations? Were they able to affix supernatural explanations to any unusual situation easier than people today could?

Possibly.

Personally, I like to believe that there are, or at least could be, supernatural occurrences. My love of writing and reading fiction, particularly horror fiction, requires it. It nurtures my imagination and expands the size of the canvas on which I paint.

But just why do people enjoy being scared?

I think one of the main reasons is the rush of adrenalin we experience, similar to a hallucinatory drug. The feeling we get from riding on a rollercoaster or jumping out of a plane are firmly rooted in fear, but are cushioned by the 'thrill' we experience. These examples, as well as many other ones rooted in fear, also have one other thing in common... we know we are safe.

We have the safety net of knowing, God willing, that at the end of the day we will be in our warm beds dreaming about far-away, fantasy worlds or the cute girl we met the day before.

Now granted, jumping out of a plane or riding on a rollercoaster (I don't care for the ones that are over 100 feet tall) is not quite as safe as sitting in a dark movie theater or reclining near a fireplace with a good Stephen King novel. But nearly everyone is secure in the knowledge that nothing will go wrong (or shouldn't, anyways). There are precautions taken, safety devices used, knowledge and experience applied. All these factors greatly reduce the chance of an accident.

Being the writer of horror that I am I frequently find myself entertaining the opposite end of the spectrum... if we are NOT safe. What if we would have to endure all of the pain and suffering, all of the fear that the protagonists in the movies and books endured? What if we had to think about which door to open, about whether or not to go into the house, or if it would be a good idea to get on the plane? Imagine making those decisions (and worse ones) without the safety net of knowing they wouldn't really happen to us. Would we enjoy being scared then?

Probably not.

Or most of us wouldn't, anyways. I myself would enjoy it though (or at least that's what I tell myself from the comfort of my couch). It would open up a whole new dimension to write my horror stories... that is, if I survived.