As Halloween approaches, those of us who get scared, maybe a little too easily, might approach the season with apprehension. Personally, even walking through the living room while my roommates are watching “Scream” makes me uncomfortable and the thought of going through a haunted house terrifies me.
A part of me knows that this is ridiculous. Specifically for watching movies, what possible reason could I have for being scared? All you are doing is watching a screen. There is no immediate danger posed to you or danger at all for that matter. But still, I find myself avoiding any movie that might be even remotely scary at all costs.
Any sort of haunted activity, houses, hayrides, etc. are a little different because even though the “scariness” is not real, you are physically a part of it. Something about the experience becomes hard to maintain awareness of the fact that it’s not real.
One of the first times I went into a haunted house, actually, it was an elementary school hallway but the same thing, my friend went ahead of me with her mom and I saw someone point something at her arm, and then she jumped away. My poor mother had to drag me forward as I was convinced my friend had been hurt for real and that the same thing would happen to us if we moved forward.
One of the last times I let myself get dragged into something scary, I went to a haunted hayride with a group of friends in high school. I did fine for a little while. We started going through yet another haunted hallway where my horror movie-loving friends ended up cowering behind me every time a jump scare came around the corner. Victoria, Sarah, Kristin, five years later I have still not gotten over this. But I got through it and made it to the hayride. I was told to sit in the middle so that none of the “characters” along the path would grab at me. As long as I knew nobody would touch me, I was fine.
Unfortunately, well just for me because it was probably quite amusing for my friends, the characters jumped onto the platform. I. Freaked. Out. Logically, I knew these were probably just other high school students working a part-time job that just happened to force them to dress as zombies and make people uncomfortable. I also knew that if one of them touched me I would flip out and no amount of rational thought would stop me. My friend Sarah ended up yelling at everyone to stay away from us, resulting in one “zombie” slumping away with his chainsaw and murmuring “Why did you come if you didn’t want to be scared?” Peer pressure Mr. Zombie, peer pressure.
While the irrational fear associated with Halloween can seem silly, for most, fear of things that don’t really need to be feared can last all year round. Social interactions, academics, new relationships, flying, jobs, elevators (yes, this one’s mine), spiders, germs, etc.
It can be so frustrating to know deep down you probably don’t actually need to be afraid of something that still manages to fill you with fear, or to have people telling you you don’t need to be afraid of something when you are.
Halloween is the perfect time to force yourself into a scary situation that might make you a little uncomfortable but will ultimately be very safe. As much as I hated the haunted hayride after I was filled with a sense of pride in myself. No, I didn’t really do anything even remotely impressive or brave, but I knew that I did the thing I was scared to do and it turned out fine. This is a feeling I try to hold onto whenever I go into a situation that scares me.
So to all those who get a little nervous this time of year about getting an invite to a haunted house or horror movie marathon, give it a try. Yes, you might be scared for a while but once you get through it, you might start to realize what other scary situations you can get through with just as much ease.