Is Halloween fearful or fun-filled for you?

With Halloween approaching, we’re asking, ‘What scares you?’ Now, if we are just talking about fearing Halloween, there’s actually a psychological condition that gets triggered this time of year. It’s called samhainophobia.  In Forbes magazine, David DeSalvo defined samhainophobia as “A persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of Halloween, despite the conscious understanding of the phobic individual and reassurance by others that there is no danger.”

Wiccaphobia, the fear of witchcraft, and arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, also seem to creep up at the same time. In the past, we made a video that relates more about Halloween and these fears. The video can be viewed using this link  https://Vimeo.com/639826189. This video also explains more about the origins and development of samhainophobia.

If you have samhainophobia, the good thing is that Halloween comes only once a year. If people want to avoid much of the celebrating trick-or-treaters, they sometimes keep their front door lights off. We hope that you don’t have these fears, but if you do, know that there are therapies that can help you work on getting over them to enjoy Halloween.

However, many people do enjoy Halloween and they find it to be a very fun time. Did you know that Halloween is celebrated more in America than in other countries? It is the second highest grossing commercial holiday in America, second only to Christmas. So, here are some things people love about Halloween.

1. It’s a holiday that’s easier than most holidays. You don’t have to work fixing elaborate meals and agonizing as you try to find the best gifts for others.
2. Halloween is a celebration for everyone. Kids get to trick-or-treat, adults have costume parties, the elderly can often sit back and enjoy the action. Even babies and pets can take part in Halloween.
3. Self-expression and creativity abound. It’s an opportunity for people to be who they want to be. They get creative in finding ways to show their new persona in their costumes and even in the way they stay in character for the night. As Elvis Duran says, “Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, it’s about finding the imagination and costume within ourselves.”
   Also, there is creativity in the decorations and the way pumpkins are carved. It’s not just the jack-o-lantern with triangle eyes, nose, and a smile. Now the pumpkins can end up being very artistic masterpieces. Sometimes there are even contests judging the costumes and carved pumpkins.
4. There are yummy treats. People sometimes consider that Halloween is a time, along with Thanksgiving and Christmas, where it’s okay to splurge a bit and not be strict about calories. This helps people to not feel deprived, and they promise themselves that they will get back to their diets once the holiday is past.
5. People enjoy a harmless prank and an adrenaline rush. April Fool’s Day is another day when adults get to pull a few pranks, but Halloween is when pranks are even more expected. Evan Peters puts it this way, “I love Halloween, and I love that feeling: The cold air, the spooky dangers lurking around the corner.” Doug always hides a plastic spider, and it still scares me every time I come across it. Now I want to figure out what I can do to scare him a bit.
6. If you like the feelings of stirring your imagination, Halloween movies, haunted houses, and TV shows have some scary, and not-so-scary, themes to fit your preference for the holiday. Maybe you can relate to this thought, “During the day, I don’t believe in ghosts. At night I’m a little more open-minded.” – Unknown.

How about you? How do you feel about Halloween? Do you want to hide from it or celebrate it? Is Halloween fearful or fun-filled for you? Perhaps you’ll agree with Robert Brault when he says, “There’s a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch.”

If you do suffer from samhainophobia and other fears about Halloween, we hope you’ll get help so you can join the many people who wait with excited anticipation for Halloween. If Halloween is considered a fun day on your schedule, we hope that you’ll take some of these ideas of why people love Halloween and incorporate them into your Halloween celebration to make it even better. Let us know what fun-filled memories you make on Halloween. We wish you a safe and Happy Halloween!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2022 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.