From haunted houses to horror films, why an intentional scare can be fun

Noe had seen the ads for the new It film and that was enough; she was determined to watch it.

But she was a little more than two years old at the time, which seemed to her dad, writer and filmmaker Omar Mouallem, an obvious problem.

However, the toddler wore him down.

"I was like, 'OK, you know what? I'm going to put it on for, like, 15 minutes,'" he recalled to CTV News Edmonton. "Almost like when you find out your kid's smoking and you make him smoke a whole pack?"

That day's lesson was not Noe's to learn.

"Not only was she not terrified of it, she sat through the entire movie," Mouallem says.

It was confirmation of something Noe's parents had begun to suspect of the little girl who was drawn to witches and bloody Halloween decor and wanted to marry Jack Skellington: "She's a bit of a scream queen."

Noe will turn five shortly after Halloween. She's watched classics like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (the pace of which, Mouallem says, proved a "little frustrating" for his daughter), as well as more recent releases like The Babadook (her most re-visited horror film), Smile, Nope and The Barbarian.

Noe saw Smile, her favourite movie, at the theatre this year. (Supplied)

"Smile, even though she says it's her favourite movie, was maybe a little too scary for her. She had her eyes closed for a lot of it and I gave her the option of going home. And she didn't want to. She wanted to plow through it, and to her credit, she did," Mouallem said.

"She really enjoys being scared. She understands the entertainment value of it."

FLIRTING WITH 'SAFE' DANGER

While the four-year-old can't articulate that sentiment in the same way, people touring Edmonton's haunted houses on Saturday could.

"It's not about the scare, I don't think. It's more about the adrenaline. It brings out that adrenaline that's rarely ever used," speculated Dale Swelin, who's one of three generations that operate a haunt at 16536 102 St.

"[We've] done it for a couple of years now and it's a highlight for the kids. They just love it," said Debbie Martin, who toured Swelin's haunt with her five-year-old grandson.

"I'm not crazy about being scared, but I just love the ghoulishness of it, that part of it makes your heart go pitter pat."

Registered psychologist Dr. Ganz Ferrance confirmed some people find it pleasurable to experience a spike in their hormonal and nervous systems – particularly when they know that it comes without any real danger.

"We know it's OK, but we can still flirt with that dangerous stuff that we sometimes avoid," he explained.

The relief and pride afterward can be as enjoyable, as well, Ferrance added.

"When you can face your fears and get through it, it's like,'Oh, whew! Look what I did!' … There's a sense of mastery once it's complete."

As another tourist, Taleah Cote, put it, "You get to get scared on a healthy level. And not actually be scared for your life. It's really fun."

'GOOD FUN'

So long as the thrill doesn't interfere with everyday life, Ferrance says it's OK – even for kids.

Nor does seeking a fright signal anything is wrong, the psychologist said.

"It's just good fun for them and their parents."

"[Noe] is still a sweet kid on the inside who loves sweet kid things," Mouallem confirmed.

Horror films have become "a treat" for his daughter and a bonding experience for the pair.

Omar and his daughter Noe at the movie theatre. (Supplied)

They have some rules: If a movie gets too scary, they will turn it off. There's nothing wrong with closing your eyes. It's not real; it's just a story. Sometimes it's fun to be scared.

"And she seems to get that," the dad told CTV News Edmonton.

Although some of their fellow theatre-goers don't.

"If I take her to a big theatre like a Cineplex, people watch but people don't say anything. And the eyes are certainly a little bit more judgemental, perhaps," he said.

"But when I take her to the Metro Cinema, which is where all the movie buffs go, she becomes almost like a little celebrity. People want to talk to her, they want to talk to her about their favourite scary movies, she's kind of a bit of a draw."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa