Kids play a game of freeze at the "Goose Bumps" exhibit at the Arizona Science Center. Photo courtesy of The Arizona Science Center.
Eight tiny eyes are intently staring me down through a spotless pane of glass. Sitting below the aquarium is a pitch-black box casually promising to deliver the spider to me if I’d only be kind enough to reach my hand inside and say hello. It sounds silly. It’s just the arachnid equivalent of putting spaghetti in a box at a kid’s Halloween party and telling them they’re reaching into a pile of worms. But, with the hairy legs of my friend gently pawing at the glass in front of me, I can’t say that I didn’t think twice.
And that was just the first room.
A visitor of the fear exhibit faces the fear of falling. Courtesy of the Arizona Science Center.
The Arizona Science Center’s newest exhibit, Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear, offers visitors an opportunity to face what goes bump in the night, and to learn a little bit on the way.
The four-room exhibit is buzzing with a variety of fear-driven activities. The first gives people a chance to face their fear of animals by reaching into a dark box while a tarantula and snake stare them down from a tank above.
Next up, they can grab hold of a metal rod seemingly connecting to a Dr. Frankenstein electric current machine, and wait for a “shock.” A dark room tests the visitor’s fear of loud noises by sitting and waiting as trains and various animals parade by and then gives the opportunity to watch reactions on tape. Finally, visitors can conquer vertigo after being straight jacketed and dropped to a padded bed below.
After the activities, fear questions are answered. The exhibit leads into an open area where videos, games, and billboards explain what the visitor may fear and how they might react when confronted with it. The animated cartoon of a man urinating after being scared by a barking dog may have been a little much, but a wall demonstrating how our fears change as we age (abandonment as a toddler all the way to dying as an elderly adult) is fascinating for all ages.
The exhibit, of course, is geared mostly toward children, but there is certainly enough information for any curious adult. Most will probably still take some joy out of hiding from an animated cougar as they carefully avoid its gaze, gathering virtual apples along the way. If one makes the trip on “Adult’s Night’s Out,” (the first Friday of every month), The Science Center admission is free and the Fear Exhibit is $5.
Contact the reporter at clecher@asu.edu.
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