Well, it’s the scariest time of year. For some, the scariest stuff reaches its apotheosis on Election Day, Nov. 8, while for others, Halloween is the celebration of choice. For a sociological take on the Oct. 31st festivities, check out Sociological Images’s compendium of Halloween blog posts.
I’ve been counting down these weeks to recommend reading Margee Kerr‘s book Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear (hat-tip to a neuroscientist friend for the rec), about the mechanisms underlying fear among humans. In her book, Kerr takes readers on a worldwide journey to investigate fear in different contexts, from a derelict prison where inmates served their time in solitary confinement to Japan’s notorious Suicide Forest.
Kerr is also a practicing sociologist who also designs and refines an experimental haunted house, ScareHouse, located in Pittsburgh. In chapter 8 of her book, she describes how people want to…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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