3 People to Be Buried Alive on Halloween to Help Them Conquer Fear

A&E is planning a live broadcast of the event.

ByABC News
October 8, 2015, 7:45 AM
A coffin is seen at a cemetery in this undated stock photo.
A coffin is seen at a cemetery in this undated stock photo.
Getty Images

— -- A new live-TV event airing on Halloween will take the fear factor to a whole new low: 6 feet under.

Airing on A&E, "Fear: Buried Alive" will feature three people sealed in underground coffins fitted with infrared cameras and vital signs monitors.

The event is being billed as one of the most chilling psychological experiments ever on live television, and it’s meant to help people overcome their deepest fears, according to A&E.

Helping them through it is Margee Kerr, the same fear sociologist behind Pittsburgh’s ScareHouse, which is billed as the scariest haunted house in America.

The idea, Kerr said, is when pushed to confront our worst fears head-on, we come out triumphant.

“We’ve got endorphins, dopamine and adrenaline all coursing through our body and it’s making us feel euphoric, powerful, primal, strong, really awesome,” Kerr said in a video news release.

Fear raises the stakes in dramatic shows such as “The Walking Dead” and “American Horror Story.” Fear is invoked on the campaign trail, and on reality TV. It sells.

Last year a special on the Discovery Channel said it would feature a man being eaten alive by an anaconda. The program backfired when the man, wildlife expert Paul Rosolie, had his team run in and rescue him after the snake swallowed his head and he feared his arm would soon be broken.

Rosolie and the Discovery Channel faced a wave of backlash.

As for what people are afraid of most, a 2014 online survey on American fears conducted by Chapman University in Orange, California, found much of what you’d expect: ghosts, clowns, zombies. Creepy, crawly things.

Among the top fears was the fear of heights. And the No. 1 fear? The fear of public speaking.

“Fear: Buried Alive” will air Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. on A&E.