Growing up in Jamaica, I never really celebrated Halloween. It just wasn’t really the norm to dress up in costumes and go trick or treating. I’ve actually never even been trick or treating in my entire life. So, when I came to Canada I was UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED to dress up and go partying and make up for all of those lost years. Back home, Halloween was more of an excuse to dress up and party (like every other holiday for us really), than it was a festive celebration.
Before I start, I must admit that growing up I was a bit of a scaredy-cat. I was afraid of my own shadow as a little girl and would try to run away from it and scream because it was ‘following me’. My dad tells this story all the time, but I think that over time he’s made me sound a bit more dramatic than I really was, but of course he would tell you otherwise.
Fast forward 18 years from being that scared little girl who couldn’t sleep without a nightlight (lowkey still can’t) and I decided to go to my first Halloween Haunt last year. Needless to say, I was so terrified I almost peed my pants, and honestly, I almost began to hyperventilate.
Here are a few things you should know before going to Halloween Haunt:
There WILL be jump scares.
This is something I did expect, but I also like to believe that I’m a super tough person when in fact if someone jumps out at me I will scream and run. There were a TON of jump scares. The good thing is that the actors aren’t allowed to touch you in any way, you will just be given the scare of your life. So I hope you have a strong heart if you decide to go.
If you are afraid of clowns, avoid certain attractions
Personally, I don’t really like clowns, but I wouldn’t say I was super scared of them before. That is until I went into one attraction which was a house of mirrors, and clowns started falling out of trap doors in the ceiling. I’ve honestly never screamed so loudly in in my life, and I had absolutely no shame. Some people physically cannot be around clowns, whether it was from a traumatic experience or their brains just perceive them as being that frightening. Either way, if you just don’t want to see clowns, then don’t go!
They will come after you if you look really scared, so put on the fakest brave face you can come up with
There was a particular attraction called ‘Hiller House’, and I only made it through one room before I bolted. I tend to wear my expressions on my face- there really is no filter between my mind and my facial expressions. As soon as I walked into this haunted house, there were two women sitting in rocking chairs. One had an ax in her hand which was raised, and for the life of me I couldn’t tell if it was a real person or a mannequin or a wax figure. She must have seen me staring at her because she proceeded to get up and glide towards me, ax raised and all. I guess the Jamaican in me just wasn’t having it, because I began to scream some pretty expletive Jamaican curse words that I know no one else could understand and I got my a** out of there.
DO NOT HIT THE EMPLOYEES, NO MATTER HOW SCARED YOU GET
This is an important one. I had to physically restrain myself from hitting some of the actors because for me it’s just a reflex to put my hands up and defend myself if something just pops up in my personal space and screams. But please, for your safety do not under any circumstances touch anyone no matter how scared you get.
If you really feel like you can’t handle it, let one of them know and they will escort you out
I’m that person that was escorted out of the cornfield maze because they were worried that I was going to start hyperventilating. As we were walking through the corn field, there was a person in a black morph suit crawling on the ground and when I looked down and saw it, I absolutely lost my mind. I was also that person who ‘walked through’ each attraction with one friend in front of me, one behind me and my eyes glued shut. But I have absolutely no shame about it. Your health is a lot more important; no one wants you sweating your pits out or having a breakdown because you’re that scared. Don’t make other people feel bad about not being able to handle an outing like this, just don’t be that person (I promise no one likes people like that).
All that being said, if you like Halloween Haunts, go wild and have fun!
If not, get comfy in bed and watch all the cute Halloween movies that your heart desires!
Image sources:
https://giphy.com/gifs/R66wnaZe2WAvu
https://imgur.com/gallery/qtHUE