OCR Text |
Show OPINION 2 fI " Nsaw'fcHro- ii n t. ao4J RACHEL ROBERTSON 3 The craving for real haunts: A visit to Asylum 49 ANGIE MERKLEY Zak Sonntag Contributor Op-E- d jf CATHERINE BLAKEMORE Its about triggering the response in a completely safe space...Our brains are lighting fast at processing the fact that the threats arent real. The fear disappears but the feel-gochemicals linger. Its a manipulation of the brain. And when you think of it that way, horror is a lot like a drug, and like a drug, it has side effects. When were afraid, we release hormones that amplify affection and make us feel emotionally closer to the people were Outside Asylum 49, the full contact haunted house" built into the old Tooele hospital, a doctor in bloody scrubs challenges me to a game of I can tell right away by his maniacal stare that, even if I win, Im going self-describ- ed TAYLOR STEVENS JACOB GRONBERG ZAK SONNTAG MATT BAKER (801) 832.2319 forumbusinesswesfminstercollege.edu Sure enough, he shows scissors. I show scissors. Then someone unseen shows me the inside of a canvas bag, which is cinched around my neck as two strong men throw me on a gurney and strap me in place. Ive been dragged into haunted houses before, with, Kerr wrote. Interesting to consider as the bag is pulled off my head and I move on through a meat freezer alone. All this adhesive and but never so literally. I cant help but think, I should have used rocki The truth is I havent been scared from haunted house for a long time. Offended, maybe. Startled, sure but any old animatronic vampire can catch you off ht guard. I want that bonafide, flutter in my stomach forget butterflies, I fight-or-flig- want bats. (801) 832.2320 forumeditorwestminstercollege.edu The first issue of the forum costs $1. free and the second issue Please make payments to The Forum Office. is But every autumn, I grow a little more steeled and a little less scared. By now, most of the actors with painted-o- n widows peaks springing out of their crannies feel about as intimidating as Justin Bieber circa 2008. Ive just about thrown in the cape on the whole enterprise. I lay here strapped to a stretcher, part of me starts to hope. The smell of gas seeps through the Yet, as canvas. A scream is flung and seems to hang in the air. My heart begins thumping on as though it wants to be let out, like something locked in a cellar. Privately, I smile. It also makes we wonder why, exactly, is this fun? The natural high from the flight-or-fight response feels great, said psychologist Dr. Margee Kerr in her book Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear. Fear causes a physiologically she mites. We stimulating response, want to experience the flood of adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine. Kerr explains that people given to il horror are likely given to thrills like running with bulls and swimming with sharks. People who seek after scares have a low base rate, meaning they need more arousal than others to feel stimulated. In other words, having your head cinched in a bag isnt everyones bag. But theres an important caveat. The key is controllability, Kerr wrote. dare-dev- Fri. 7-1- Sal & 7-1- nothing to bond to, save these disfigured bodies strung up on hooks. Funny how it works out, though, because winding my way through the corpses is a girl who looks very intent. She has long auburn hair and a friend in tow. Did you get separated from your group? she asked. Dont worry. Come with us. Its Im taken in hand by two pretty women and pulled from a freezer of gore. Theres more than entertainment at stake when deal in the frightening. Our humanity is on the line. Asylum 49 is built in a former hospital, which for a time was so poorly funded, deceased patients were stacked in a stairwell for lack of a morgue. The stench of posthumous decay rose off the bodies and spread through the building. It made nurses nauseated and patients delusional. Eventually, the bodies were buried in an abutting plot thats now in a Tooele cemetery. But some of those people, lore holds, are still right where they took their last sentient breath. Asylum 49 could very well be the best haunted house in the state. Which is too bad, because despite all that mojo, and its vigorous start, Asylum 49 fails to perform its promise to scare. Perhaps, Im just calloused and grown, or nostalgic for scares I cant recreate. Nonetheless, if haunted houses want to stay relevant for people like me, theyre going to have to sharpen their teeth. The full contact vein is a lifeline. But this old vampire is going to need more blood than a testament: that. J Asylum Tues.-Thur- s. ht od to lose. JOHNNIE ETHINGTON flight-or-fig- 2 0 p.m. am. Few Factory Tues.-Thur- s. Fri. & 1 7-1- Sat. 7-1- 2 0 p.m. a.m. 4 i llkjhf snare on I3fh Mon.-Thur- s. Fri. & Sat. 7:30-1- 0 7:30-1- 2 p.m. am. |