Why We All Love Halloween

We crave terror.

I mean, think about it: Gore, ghosts, ghouls, blood, boogeymen ... we regularly revel in the most frightful of fantasies, the most petrifying visions. We visit the darkest corners of the imagination and we stay there for a while, eluding the real world in favor of the supernatural.

It's weird.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a horror movie/TV buff. American Horror Story is one of my favorite shows on the small screen, and I'm not alone: The "Freak Show" season four premiere was the most-watched telecast in FX's history.

Not to mention, all of the bizarre fiction writing on the 'net, like Creepypasta or the Special Containment Procedures Foundation. Stephen King has sold more than 350 million copies of his books. Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, The Ring and The Grudge have all exceeded $100 million in box office sales.

So why do we love being scared? Here are my top musings on the matter:

1. We're thrill-seekers.

A racing pulse, that nervous knot in the stomach, a woozy feeling in the head. It's a fast-track to heart disease, but we all (kind of) like to be stressed out sometimes. Not the "Oh crap, I just accidentally fired off an email full of expletives to my boss" kind of stress, but riding a roller coaster kind of stress. The genre of horror is along the same lines.

2. It gives us optimism.

Okay, hear me out -- scary things give us optimism. When I'm finished watching a flick where everybody died a horrible death at the (smelly) hands of zombies, I feel eternally grateful for my comfort in the natural world. Yeah, it's far-fetched, but it's a theory. Go with it.

3. It gives us something to worry about other than the normal stuff.

Instead of having anxiety over the exam you just failed or the parking ticket you just received, you're now freaking about ghosts invading your room and demons hiding in your closet. #Priorities.

4. We feel like we're on an adventure.

When the leading character is frantically trying to crawl away from the murderer with her broken leg hanging off to the side, I'm practically screaming my support. I have to remind myself that my name's Ashley and I'm sitting on the couch watching a fictional movie. I am not the leading character. Nor would I want to be.

Scary stuff is the best stuff. And maybe it makes us a little weird to love horror so much, but hey. At least we're all huddled under the covers together.