Business of Fear 2011 — Horror Sells – CNBC

Scream 4 (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

Whether you took in a screening of “Scream 4” this year, visited a haunted house this month, or bought a zombie Halloween costume, you’re a customer in the “business of fear.”

Yes, people continue to pay good money to get scared out of their wits.

Broaden the customer base to include extreme sports enthusiasts. Mix in sedate readers of Stephen King, Anne Rice, or Charlaine Harris, and you’re talking about tens of millions of Americans plunking down billions of dollars annually.

“A lot of people like to be scared,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a Hollywood.com box-office analyst. “It’s one of the most basic emotions people have.”

In the mid-1980s, Temple University psychologist Frank Farley coined the term “Type T” to define a thrill-seeking personality.

“These thrill-seekers thrive on the uncertainty associated with activities that most people would consider scary,” says Farley. “The ‘fear business’ usually offers us a cocktail of thrills, excitement, intensity, and challenge. It represents departures from the baselines of our lives.”

Farley estimates Type T personalities represent 10 percent to 30 percent of the global population.

“America to some extent is a Type-T nation,” says Farley. “I see the risk-taking quality at a deep level in this country. After all, we’re founded by fearless risk-taking types.”

via Business of Fear 2011 — Horror Sells – CNBC.

Strange Random Fear Quote:

“FEAR is an acronym in the English language for “False Evidence Appearing Real”” – Neale Donald Walsch

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