Monday Discussion: Would You Visit a Haunted House?

In honor of the spookiest month and my 31 Days of Horror over on RA for All: Horror [this week coming to you courtesy of the people over at Booklist], the Monday Discussions will take on a scarier tone this month.

Today, I have a simple question which was inspired by a poll in my October issue of Real Simple:

Would you visit a haunted house?

Now, ghost and haunted house stories are among the most popular horror tales out there; in fact, the "ghost story" is often the first horror tale we are exposed to as children. But reading about haunted houses or watching them in movies is a lot different than entering a real haunted house for yourself.

I have been in a few haunted places myself, at night, but not alone.  I can tell you that the most recent one was this past spring in Colonial Williamsburg. We were there as part of a nighttime ghost tour, sitting in the darkened parlor of the old home.  We were being told a popular vampire story from the colonial era, but as an aside, before the storyteller began, our guide told us about the ghost that is said to live in the house. She related stories from workers and volunteers up to the present day.

I found this very cool.  I did not experience any of it myself, and although I am mostly a skeptic about ghosts, I would not be surprised if I ever encountered one.  Deep down I believe a bit.

What surprised me was my daughter's reaction. She was petrified.  The storytellers and their ghost stories did not unnerve her, but being in the house after hearing about how it was haunted threw her for a loop. So for her, someone who likes hearing about and reading scary stories and is not upset by them, the idea of actually being in a haunted house is too much.  Her answer to my question above, would be-- not if I could help it.

So, now it is your turn. For today's Monday Discussion let me know your answer to the question, Would you visit a haunted house?

For past Monday Discussions, click here.