SCARED: Nightmare hayrides, haunted houses, creepy clowns, headless horsemen — what’s our obsession with being scared?

The Cleveland Clinic shared the processes behind fear. The amygdala — the part of your brain that triggers our fight or flight response — causes our adrenal glands to release two stress hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. The adrenaline triggers a rush of dopamine and endorphins.

Our heart rate and blood pressure go up, which can leave us pale, cold and clammy. We may even get goosebumps. Our pupils dilate so we can see what’s threatening us more clearly. Your other senses are similarly heightened.

Any physical process that doesn’t help us survive in that moment — like digestion, for example — gets temporarily suspended.

Fear is a full-body experience. So, while it’s extremely rare to be scared to death, there’s a good reason you have to sign waivers to enter so-called “extreme” haunted houses.

Why do we like it? Psychologist Chivonna Childs, PhD, explained being scared in a safe situation, like watching a movie, helps us enjoy the chemical rush that we get when we’re threatened, minus all the stress.

In short — fear helps keep us alive. We know we’re safe. And it’s a socially acceptable catharsis.

When we ride roller coasters, watch horror movies or listen to ghost stories around a campfire, though, the opposite is true: We’re supposed to have extreme reactions. These situations give us an opportunity to express our emotions in ways that, in other contexts, would be socially unacceptable.

Overcoming fear is an accomplishment — successfully enduring something we regard as spooky is satisfying.

Dr. Childs explained, “We get a sense of accomplishment. I made it through this haunted house, or I watched the whole scary movie, and I was OK. Yes, Jason is in the woods, but he didn’t get me.”