I love Halloween. It is my favorite time of the year. I grew up too poor to experience the magical shopping of Christmas and now that I am an independent adult working in a corporate office for retail, Christmas is just the time of being overworked and paying back taxes. Let’s forget about that other moment in the year. Christmas will have its time to shine in the middle of November. Right now we have Halloween and we need to cherish this moment.

(This kitty knows what’s up)

Halloween is the amazing time of the year where you are allowed to dress up and get scared shitless. This year I decided to take Halloween into my own hands. Since I am bombarded by Christmas for months at a time, like I am sure many of us are, I have decided to celebrate Halloween for more than one day. Halloween deserves October’s undivided attention. This year I began with Comic Con. Although Comic Con is not a Halloween event it is the beginning of the childlike wonder that it is. Comic Con is the beginning to the incredible customs and appreciation of movies and books that have entertained, inspired and even helped us through the toughest of times. This was followed by corn mazes, pumpkin picking and hay rides in the night. . There were many horror movies before bedtime and ghost stories in between. I will end the month with parties and parades. I don’t even care what or who I am dressed as anymore as long as I am part of the spirit let’s not forget that Halloween celebrates the most primal and important of human emotions. It celebrates fear.

Yes, there is also love, but love only comes second to fear. The most basic human need is survival. After survival we need love to continue to survive. When I was younger I always found people like me who thrived on being frightened and enjoy horror movies equally. However, now that I am in my early 20’s I find more and more people telling me that they fear….fear. Fear is what keeps us alive. How can you dread something so important to our existence?

“There is nothing to fear, but fear itself,” –FDR. I know you have heard this many times before and probably have applied it to real life situations. Such as taking a driving test, living alone and going skydiving. However, have you ever thought of taking this quote seriously? As in, not fearing the actual fear rather than just things that make us feel horror? I never feel as powerful as when I am afraid. My adrenaline goes up and I experience a sense of freedom that is indescribable. I am not telling you to go to a biker bar and get into a fight that might possibly end your life. What I am saying is to enjoy the things that cause fear, but deep down inside you know that you are safe. This is true freedom. This is the feeling of being invincible. Nothing feels better than knowing that you are afraid, because you are alive, however there is nothing that is threatening your chances of survival. Not only is fear important when it comes to feeling alive, but it truly is something that indicates your chances of endurance. I found that people who welcome horror are quicker to react when something is amiss in their lives. Those who welcome horror are also less susceptible to panic and anxiety attacks. This could ultimately save your life if you are ever chased or trapped.

(“Son, you’ll thank me one day when someone breaks into your house.”)

When you allow yourself and welcome fear your emotional intelligence also goes up. I enjoy disturbing movies, because in the end it tells us something about who we are as a human race. You learn something new about the human psyche every time. Deep down inside us we all have our monsters. Life is about acceptance. Not being able to enjoy horror is not accepting a huge chunk of what the human condition is all about. So go to a haunted house, ride some rollercoaster’s and jump of a plane with a parachute of course.

Go on and celebrate the spirit of Halloween by dressing up and shitting your pants.