You hand over a ticket. In exchange, a man in a bloody apron chases you down a dark hallway with a chainsaw that, you’re fairly sure, has no chain. You scream. You laugh. You’d do it again.
You’re not alone. Americans are expected to spend $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, up from last year’s record $13.1 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Haunted attractions are a smaller, separate slice: America Haunts, an industry group, has estimated ticket sales at $300 million to $500 million a year. We pay good money to be terrified. Just not too terrified.
That “just not too” turns out to matter. Researchers have measured how much fear people enjoy, and the answer is a pretty good guide to how big your next goal should be.
How Much Fear Is the Right Amount?
A moderate amount, or roughly the point where you grab your friend’s arm and scream but not enough that you bolt and leave them behind. People enjoy a scare most when it’s strong enough to get their heart racing but not so strong that they want out.
Researchers at Aarhus University’s Recreational Fear Lab tested this in a working haunted house in Vejle, Denmark. They fitted 110 visitors with heart-rate monitors, filmed their reactions, and asked them afterward to rate how scared they were and how much they enjoyed each scare. The results, published in Psychological Science:
Barely scared: Visitors enjoyed the scare less
Somewhere in between: Enjoyment peaked
Terrified: Enjoyment dropped off again, as anyone who has ever made a run for the exit sign can confirm
“A ‘just-right’ amount of fear is central for maximizing enjoyment,” lead author Marc Malmdorf Andersen said.
Why Do People Seek Out Discomfort on Purpose?
Haunted houses were voluntary discomfort before voluntary discomfort had a hashtag. Cold plunges and 5 a.m. workout clubs chase the same kind of thing: a little struggle, on purpose. As it turns out, discomfort can be a sign that something useful is happening.
In a 2022 study, Cornell’s Kaitlin Woolley and the University of Chicago’s Ayelet Fishbach studied improv students at Chicago’s Second City. Some students were told to aim for feeling awkward and uncomfortable during their exercises, which, in an improv class, is not a high bar. Compared with students given standard instructions, they persisted longer, took more risks, and made more progress.
“People often see discomfort as a sign to stop pursuing a goal, yet discomfort often means you are making progress,” Woolley said.
Recreational Fear Lab co-director Mathias Clasen describes a good scare in similar terms. Facing fear somewhere safe, he told NPR, is “essentially administering a fear vaccine.”
Can a Goal Be Too Scary?
Yes. Just as a haunted house can tip from thrilling to miserable, a goal can tip from motivating to paralyzing. Sometimes, the hardest goals are the right ones to set, but only up to a point. Hustle culture spent years telling us to chase the goal that scares us most. But that could end with you sprinting for the exit.
Research on “stretch goals”—targets that seem nearly impossible—suggests the point depends less on how hard the goal is than on what you can afford to lose. Sim Sitkin of Duke University and his colleagues argue that very ambitious goals are most likely to benefit organizations with recent wins and spare resources, yet those organizations seldom use them. Struggling organizations often reach for them in desperation, and they nearly always fail. In other words, the organizations that can afford to miss are the ones best placed to try.
People work the same way. A big goal can be energizing when you have the time, money, support, and track record to back it up. Without those, the same goal is more likely to bring dread than drive. It’s the difference between signing up for a 5K and signing up for a marathon the same week you buy running shoes.
How Do You Find Your Own Fear Sweet Spot?
Think of the haunted house results as a scale and check where your current goal falls.
Too comfortable. You know exactly how it will go, and you aren’t learning anything. Like a haunted house where the scariest thing is finding parking, it’s easy to lose interest. Consider raising the stakes, the way deliberate practice pushes you just past what you can already do.
The sweet spot. You’re nervous, but you’re engaged. You can picture yourself pulling it off without being sure you will, a kind of manageable uncertainty. This is the zone where haunted house visitors enjoyed themselves most.
Too much. You feel dread instead of nerves, you keep putting it off, or you can’t see a first step. Those can be signs you’re near your resilience ceiling and your nervous system is in overdrive. Break the goal into smaller pieces or build up more resources before you start.
A few questions help you place a goal on that scale:
Does thinking about this goal make me want to start or want to hide?
Do I have the resources, such as time, money, skills, or support, to recover if it goes badly?
Have I had recent wins in this area that I can build on?
Aim for the middle, where fear keeps you alert without shutting you down.
Keep the Exit Sign in View
Every October, millions of people choose to be scared, and most walk out of the haunted house with their hearts pumping, feeling good. The fear is real, but it’s the right size, and they know they’ll get through it.
That makes a good test for any goal. If it doesn’t scare you at all, it may be too small. If it scares you so much you can’t move, it may be too big. Somewhere in between is the version that’s worth walking into.
Featured image from Blur_Stock/Shutterstock
