"I ain't afraid of no ghosts," you might tell yourself — but, according to a new survey, some of you are probably lying. A survey of 2,000 people, conducted by market researchers OnePoll on behalf of Groupon, has found that people usually get frightened in less than five seconds of entering a haunted house attraction, so chances are you are afraid of at least a few ghosts. But that's hardly the survey's most revealing finding about people's paranormal beliefs. It turns out ghost sightings might not be as rare as many would assume.
According to the survey, a whopping 60% of people believe that they have seen a ghost. Sadly, it wasn't noted where they may have encountered their spirit (the numbers have it that most reported ghost sightings occur in the West South Central region of the U.S., in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana). Of course, given the number of haunted sites around the U.S., it's probably safe to assume that you can find ghostly activity just about anywhere.
The survey also found that women were 20% more likely to believe in ghosts than men, but that doesn't mean men aren't completely impervious to the paranormal. Of the respondents who have reportedly seen ghosts, most said they "screamed and ran away" upon seeing the apparition (men were twice as likely to react this way). Others said they greeted the ghost with "crying," "hiding," or "fainting." We'd like to think we'd try to play it cool at first, if only to find out if the ghost was actually friendly, but it's far more likely we'd fall into the screaming and running category.
If the Halloween spirit inspires you to go looking for a ghost, don't get so carried away that you end up spooking yourself over nothing — or, if you're exploring a graveyard after hours, try not to get arrested. And, to those among the 40% of people who haven't seen a ghost, but would like to, don't lose hope. You might have a ghost in your home right now. You just haven't noticed its presence yet.