Spooky Season

Are you good and scared yet?

Myself, the answer is a resounding no thank you. I’m a wimp.

That’s not entirely true. Even for me, there’s something enticing about the idea of getting a little spooked. Some people live for it, and to those people I say happy days ahead, enjoy yourselves (but please not at the expense of my fellow wimps).

I think the thing that makes fear fun is the line. The line is different for everyone, mine for example, is psychological, semi-sci-fi, with maybe a Stephen King-esque whisper of the unexplainable supernatural. I want to be taken on a ride right up to the line, and then lean just the smallest bit over the line, to catch a glimpse of what’s on the other side of that line. But I want very sturdy guardrails to lean over. Push it any further and I am no longer having fun.

All of this is figurative. You’re not getting me on a roller coaster. That’s a hard line. One my wife conned me over when we first got married and I will not be falling for that again thank you very much.

And I think that’s how it works for everyone. Fear is that primal response to what we perceive as threatening, an adrenaline rush and automated response bound together. Fun fear happens when you get pushed up to your line, peek over the edge, then safely come back to safer ground.

The brush of an instinctive nerve being activated only to be immediately calmed has an odd calming or comforting effect. The important thing is to know your line, and make sure you respect it. There’s no need to be terrorized. That’s silly. And there’s no need to do terrorizing. That’s mean. But celebrating that natural fun factor of the moment of thrill and the subsequent relief, that’s just one of our quirks. One of the things the aliens must be watching us with vigorous note taking going “these weirdos never cease to baffle.” Wait till they realize we dedicate an entire season and holiday to it.

What?

I want to believe.

So this week, in light of the official start of spooky season, I just wanted to give a tip of the hat to our predilection toward being scared for fun. It’s such an odd thing about us and I love it. Maybe we’ll chat more about it as the month goes on.

What I want to know is, what’s creeping you out lately?