Lou is 12 years old and her parents are very worried about her. The problem: she’s not feeling the emotion that we call fear. It’s not her fault but it exposes her to very dangerous situations. After escaping a horrible accident, her dad decide to send her to the Fright Institute, an institute for the treatment of ordinary reactions, universal, irrational or logical to the laws of terror. Under the headteacher’s authority, Mrs Amygdala, an anxious or phobic handful of children must pass tests to break free from their fears. Will Lou understand this emotion that appears to be out of her reach – its usefulness, but also its limits?
In order to write “Les Mystères de la peur”, Bruno Pellegrino met with some imminent professors from Lausanne’s University including a biologist, a literature professor who is a tale expert, a pediatric psychiatrist, a social psychology professor… He immerses us into the secret and unknown world of our emotions and helps us, thanks to his heroine, to understand better and to win over our fear : an unpleasant feeling that can save our life.
