What frightens you?

I have to admit, I like being scared. I don't love it, I won't sit down to a marathon of creepy movies mostly because all of my life I have been prone to nightmares, but I do like a good fright. I think this is part of human nature, we enjoy pushing our boundaries but want to be in control, when I am watching movies in my living room I am in control, when asleep, I of course am not.

Halloween is a perfect example, we dress up, or dress up our children, We take them door to door, and they receive candy for their willingness to be vulnerable and also to entertain. If it weren't for us standing by their side this would be a very frightening experience.

When researching fear and what is available for people around the globe I came across this website that discusses a forest in Japan at the base of Mt. Fuji. The forest is open to all to visit for multiple purposes but it is considered "suicide forest" and the write-up below comes from a Japanese tourist website. The other purpose however to visit the forest it to scare the wits out of yourself and explore the history of the forest and those that didn't make it out.

"Aokigahara is considered the most haunted location in all of Japan, a purgatory for yurei, the unsettled ghosts of Japan who have been torn unnaturally soon from their lives and who howl their suffering on the winds. Spiritualists say that the trees themselves are filled with a malevolent energy, accumulated from centuries of suicides. They don't want you to go back out.

"However, even in these haunted woods, regular humans still have a job to do. Forestry workers rotate in and out of shifts at a station building in Aokigahara, and occasionally they will come upon unfortunate bodies in various states of decomposition, usually hanging from trees or partially eaten by animals. The bodies are brought down to the station, where a spare room is kept especially for such occasions. In this room are two beds: one for the corpse and one for someone to sleep next to it. Yup, you read that correctly. It is thought that if the corpse is left alone, the lonely and unsettled yurei will scream the whole night through, and the body will move itself into the regular sleeping quarters. In inimitable style, the workers jan-ken to see who gets to sleep with the body. And you thought your job was rough."

Are these people who work within this forest thrill seekers? Why would anyone want to put themselves in this position? Perhaps it is simply to face their fears and test their boundaries.

-Angela Tames