For the Fun of Fear, Pt I: The Cons

For the Fun of Fear:

Horror Lovers, Adrenaline Junkies,
and other People Who Like Being Scared

The chatter of cicadas echoed across the countryside as the four of us left the safety of a van to inspect the O'Hair House on the outskirts of Putnam County, Indiana. To anyone unfamiliar with the country at night, every last detail would have raised hairs and heartbeats, but for us it was just another late night in the middle of nowhere. 

No sooner than we reached the front porch of the O'Hair House, Miller rushed ahead and tripped over some kind of rubber cable blocking the doorway. On cue, dogs crashed against the storm door, scraping, barking, and howling at us to get away. Miller and Kelly took note and raced for the van, while Lela and I continued on. 

Lela sprinted up to a side window and snapped a photo of the inside. As soon as we heard the dogs follow us over, we both rushed back to meet the others at the van. 

But it wasn't the dogs that alarmed us.

​Once we collected ourselves and caught our breaths, Lela flashed on the LED screen of digital camera to review the picture of the O'Hair House, and we couldn't believe what we saw.

It was an entire "apparition" of a man's torso. 

The reason I tell this story isn't the brag about some kind of ghost encounter. In fact, I wouldn't blame you for doubting any of it. It's a true event - only the names have been changed - but the apparition could have been caused by any number of variables. However, what's important about the story is the joy that my friends, as well as myself, felt from trying to investigate haunted locations and track down ghosties. 

In fact, for most of my life, I have been a fan of the unexplained. A horror-lover. An adrenaline-junkie (on a very low-budget ATM, unfortunately). For me, I love the idea of being scared. But for others, being terrified voluntarily sounds just plain stupid. So, why is that? 

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