It is a kind of schadenfreude. I have always found it amusing when people scare the living daylights out of each other.
I laughed until I was dizzy when a friend once told me about how he watched a late-night R-rated horror movie as a youngster, about a creepy clown who hid in the sewers and grabbed children by the legs as they walked past stormwater grates.
After the movie, my friend diligently brushed his teeth, and as he was climbing into bed, his brother reached out from underneath and grabbed his leg.
He says he has never really recovered from that, and to this day, he is still terrified of clowns.
Well, after visiting The Horror Story in the Octagon yesterday, I can empathise with him.
I am suffering flashbacks and I think I am also developing a mild phobia of clowns.
Rory Foley, from Impressive Events, has created a temporary maze - otherwise known as The Horror Story - in the basement of the Athenaeum in the Octagon.
The idea is you actually pay money to wander around gloomy corridors and every now and then, a clown with a machete or other life-threatening object, will unexpectedly dive out of an ambuscade and chase you until you pass out or scream the safe word - which in this case is "purple''.
Mr Foley said common reactions to the fear included people crying uncontrollably, nervous giggling, people throwing cell phones to defend themselves, and there are often code yellows and code browns.
"This year alone, we've had 62 purples, we've had 31 people pee themselves and we had two people do a code brown. It is very intense.''
It is certainly not for people with heart conditions.
Oh wait, actually, it is for people with heart conditions.
The money raised from the event will go to Heart Kids New Zealand.
Every week, 12 babies are born with a heart defect in New Zealand, and while there are surgical procedures that can improve the heart's function, there is no cure for a congenital heart disease (CHD).
Heart Kids New Zealand is the only charity that supports Kiwi children and families affected by CHD, right through their life.
The Horror Story opened last night, and will be open today, and April 29 and 30 from 7pm to 11pm.
