Your pulse quickens, blood pounding in your ears. Your breath catches as the roller coaster plunges or the masked movie killer strikes.

And this is ... fun?

For some, the idea of willfully subjecting oneself to the terror of a slasher flick or haunted house seems ludicrous. For others, it’s a thrill that exhilarates and heightens the senses. Which begs the question: Why do some people love feeling scared?

Dr. Katherine Brownlowe, a neuropsychiatrist at Ohio State University, said two parts of the brain are at work when responding to fear. One is the amygdala, a more primitive part of the brain, which contributes to the famous “fight or flight” complex when reacting to a presented threat.

Our frontal lobe, which is responsible for more complex higher thinking, often triggers fears and anxieties on a conscious level — including those existential questions about the meaning and purpose of life.

Whether or not we see fear as entertainment varies because people are so different in temperament and experiences, Dr. Brownlowe said. Both genetic and environmental factors play into whether someone will run toward or from an invitation to a scary movie.

Dr. Brownlowe calls those who like that fearful feeling ”sensation seekers” — people who choose to put themselves in situations that trigger fear responses.

“It may be because their brain doesn’t react as strongly to those fear signals, that they need more stimuli,” she said. “Those are the guys who say, ‘Show me the scary movies, let’s go to the scariest haunted house you’ve got.’ ”

Some people enjoy the whoosh of relief that comes after emerging from a scary situation, she said. Going in, the brain has enough clues to know it is not really physically threatened.

“They are having that thrill and that experience but knowing they aren’t in danger,” she said. “You’re walking right on the edge; you’re right there but still safe.”

Environment also plays a role in whether or not we like to be scared, Dr. Brownlowe said. Those who might be genetically wired to enjoy it but have experienced some sort of trauma, can be turned off from the idea.

Around Halloween, those scares often come in the form of scary movies.

“I think that horror films allow folks to experience fear without it being real,” said Matt Donahue, lecturer of cultural studies at Bowling Green State University. “They can experience horrific actions on the big screen and yet when they walk out of the movie theater everything is back to normal.”

Getting scared by the big screen is nothing new, he said, pointing back to the 1920s silent vampire film Nosferatu.

With movies — whether they be suspenseful and largely free of gore like the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho, or the more graphic portrayals in films in the Saw or Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchises — several recognizable elements have emerged that make horror films popular, Mr. Donahue said.

The foreboding music, damsels in distress, and abandoned, desolate settings are all popular in horror movies to draw in viewers, he said. Those recognizable markers can clue in viewers to the idea that they can let down their guard and be spooked, all the while knowing it’s not real.

The remake trend, popular across all of film, has also hit the horror genre, Mr. Donahue said.

Blair Witch, a recent reboot of the 1999 horror film The Blair Witch Project, uses many of these themes, including off-screen, unseen killers and suspense.

“People just like the horror genre, they know there is this formula and people like it. It is alive and well today,” he said. “Even though it seems tried and true, it’s not going anywhere. Despite some of it being formulaic it’s still something that people really love.”

That said, some people are just never going to like the fear factor, and that’s OK, Dr. Brownlowe said.

“We do have some conscious control over things we partake in,” she said. ”If it’s a thrill that you’d like to experience, definitely try it; but I certainly would not recommend people pushing themselves beyond where they are comfortable.”

So this Halloween, thrill-seekers can throw themselves into the fear knowing they will come out safely on the other side.

Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.

First Published October 10, 2016, 4:00 a.m.