Scared All The Time

Every October, millions of people willingly pay strangers dressed and monsters and demons to chase them through dark buildings. But how did haunted houses go from simple parlor tricks to massive attractions designed to push our fear response to the breaking point?In Part One of EXTREME HAUNTED HOUSES, Chris and Ed trace the strange history of the fear business - from the ghostly illusions of 18th-century phantasmagoria and the homemade haunts of the Great Depression to amusement park dark rides, Disney’s Haunted Mansion, Halloween Horror Nights, and the horrifying real-life tragedy that changed the haunted attraction industry forever.Welcome to the fear business. We're just getting started.SHOW NOTESBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scared-all-the-time--7084296/support.Get the latest episodes of our bonus show NEW FEAR UNLOCKED -- and a whole lot more! -- by supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ScaredAllTheTime

Chris just turned 40, and he’s handling it extremely well (trust us!). So naturally, we’re investigating why this particular birthday became synonymous with existential dread, midlife crises, collapsing bodies, and the horrifying realization that the clock is ticking.Along with writer Gaby Moss, co-author of "The Midlife Plot Twist: How to Reboot Your Life Without Burning It Down Even If You Really, Really Want To," we trace the strange significance of the number 40 through history, discover how “life begins at forty” went from a bestselling promise to a cultural punchline, meet the psychoanalyst who coined the midlife crisis, and find out what science says is actually happening to our bodies as we cross into middle age.SHOW NOTESGABY's BOOKBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scared-all-the-time--7084296/support.Get the latest episodes of our bonus show NEW FEAR UNLOCKED -- and a whole lot more! -- by supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ScaredAllTheTime

Remember that embarrassing thing you did fifteen years ago? Your brain brings it up enough already. Now imagine remembering your past so vividly that the feelings come back with it.This week, Chris and Ed flash back to when they explored hyperthymesia, a rare ability to recall personal experiences in extraordinary detail, and the case of a 17-year-old who describes filing her memories in rooms inside her mind. She's got mental binders, a room for cooling down, and a chest holding a painful loss.SHOW NOTESOriginally aired on Patreon: 11/05/25Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scared-all-the-time--7084296/support.Get the latest episodes of our bonus show NEW FEAR UNLOCKED -- and a whole lot more! -- by supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ScaredAllTheTime

In 50 States Of Fear: California Part 2, we leave the haunted landscapes of Part One behind and meet some of the people who made California terrifying. First, there’s Peg Entwistle, the talented young actress whose tragic death at the Hollywoodland sign became one of Hollywood’s most enduring ghost stories. Then we descend into Synanon, a pioneering drug-rehabilitation program that transformed into an abusive cult complete with forced lifestyle changes, its own armed “Imperial Marines,” and an attempted murder involving a rattlesnake hidden inside a mailbox. Finally, we visit the seemingly sweet Sacramento boarding-house owner Dorothea Puente, who welcomed elderly and vulnerable tenants into her home, poisoned them, stole their Social Security checks, and buried their bodies beneath her garden. Get ready for another day in sunny Cali :) SHOW NOTESBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scared-all-the-time--7084296/support.Get the latest episodes of our bonus show NEW FEAR UNLOCKED -- and a whole lot more! -- by supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ScaredAllTheTime

This week, we flashback to the fear burning a hole in your pocket.Chris and Ed dig into the growing danger of lithium-ion battery fires aboard airplanes, why these everyday devices can suddenly enter a terrifying chain reaction, and what happens when one ignites thousands of feet in the air. SHOW NOTESOriginally aired on Patreon: 10/23/25Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scared-all-the-time--7084296/support.Get the latest episodes of our bonus show NEW FEAR UNLOCKED -- and a whole lot more! -- by supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ScaredAllTheTime