There was a time when I liked to watch scary movies on television. From the safety of my living room, I would let the creepy sensations pass through me as I viewed the terror on screen. It was like peeking into a window and seeing something I knew I shouldn’t be seeing, but looking anyway.

I don’t spend too much time on horror flicks these days, but every so often, I like to read a tale or two of the macabre. What is it about scary stories that people find so appealing? Why are we compelled to peek into that window? It certainly seems counterintuitive if we want to avoid pain and fear in our lives.

Readers throughout history have enjoyed chilling stories that give us the heebie-jeebies. Tales designed to frighten us, like those written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, or the Brothers Grimm, have kept us company for years. New tales are being written by authors like Peter Straub, Joe Hill, Paul Tremblay, Jennifer McMahon, and Dean Koontz. They keep churning out shocking tales that scare us senseless, but I’m still not sure why I enjoy them.

What’s the fascination?

The draw to scary stories is multifaceted and complex. Fear is usually an unpleasant feeling, yet it does give the body an adrenaline rush that stimulates the brain with a shot of dopamine. Sometimes we want to solve the mystery of the “why” as well as the “what.” Nonfiction writers have capitalized on the fear factor by writing about serial killers, animal attacks, and natural disasters.

Maybe we’re trying to find a reason for the unexplained, so we can make sense out of this crazy world. We want to know more about what we don’t understand, so scary stories become a way to manage our fear. We also prefer to experience being afraid while remaining in a safe environment.

Or maybe we just like being scared. Whatever the reason, go ahead. Take a peek—but if you get the heebie-jeebies, you may want to leave a light on!