Several simultaneous processes are happening in our bodies when we’re frightened:
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.
There’s also a good side to fear, and that’s what scary movies, true crime and haunted houses tap into. We understand that
There’s an end to those experiences,
The bear’s not gonna get us.
We know that going through a haunted house is just for fun, that it’s only people in costumes.
But it still rings those bells for adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine. You experience the euphoria because you know you’re safe.”
“Have you ever wondered why people laugh as they get off a roller coaster or leave a theater after a really scary movie? It’s because we’re enjoying the chemical rush that we get when we’re threatened, minus all that stress.”

“When we’re in crowds, fear-induced euphoria bonds people. That’s part of the fun. Because you bond when you’re with the people that you’re scared with,”
“That’s why haunted houses, scary movies and the like make for a great date night. Fear is a form of arousal akin to sexual arousal. When we’re scared but safe, we can indulge our desire to get and stay close to other people.”

“Holidays like Halloween or Día de los Muertos help us come to terms with the inevitability of death. “These days of death are celebrations. We get to look at death as a transition, instead of it being this horrible, bad thing.”
That might sound somewhat counterintuitive. After all, aren’t the deaths in horror movies and the like, you know … horrible?
“It puts us into this mindset of ‘I don’t want to die this way. I don’t want to die that way.’ And so we sit here thinking about all the ways we would want to die, since we have to do it.”
“For most of us, coming to terms with death is a lifelong process. Cursed mummies, axe murderers and rogue sharks can’t eliminate our fear of the inevitable, but they can make the prospect of a “normal” death seem better by comparison.”
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-do-we-like-to-get-scared