In honor of Halloween... (Laurie)

I have a confession. Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays. I do enjoy candy, and dressing up can be fun, especially now that I get to pick out adorable costumes for my kids.

But I hate being scared. I can't stand horror movies or books, and I don't do well with haunted houses or any other situation where someone might lurk in the shadows waiting to take me by surprise.

I'm one of those people who's super jumpy. Someone once burst out laughing next to me in a movie theater because I jumped so obviously during a scary part. If my husband comes home earlier than usual and I'm listening to music or watching TV and don't hear him come in, he can give me a near heart attack. This weekend we went to a Halloween party, and when we got to the door someone opened it, yelling "Boo!" After seeing the look on my face, his next comment was, "Wow, you scare easy, don't you?"

Yes, yes I do.

In addition to being jumpy, my ability to think logically seems to fail me completely after dark. Seriously, it's pretty pathetic. I once woke my parents up at 3:00 a.m. because I was hearing strange noises. Turns out, it was the water softener.

I'm very fortunate that my husband has only traveled for work once in the six years of our marriage. While he was gone, I couldn't sleep unless I locked the door to our mud room, the door going downstairs, and our bedroom door. Do we live in a dangerous neighborhood? No. Did I have any reason to suspect someone would try to break into our house that particular night? Of course not. Could I convince myself out of these extra safety measures? No chance.

It gets even worse... I was a girl scout starting in grade school all the way through high school. Our troop went on these amazing camping trips that were basically big sleepovers. One of our traditions was our leaders would tell us scary stories as we sat around the campfire. They got really into it, a few times planning for someone to jump out and scare us at just the right time in their narrative. I don't remember the details of the stories, but the one that has stuck with me the most involved someone looking in the mirror at midnight and seeing something frightening instead of their reflection.

Many years have passed since these camping trips. I'm now an adult, with a law degree, a husband, and two kids. I don't even remember what the person saw in the mirror in that story from girl scouts, but do I avoid looking at my reflection whenever I get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night? Absolutely.

So there you have it. I'm a great, big scaredy-cat. But acceptance is an important step towards healing, right? And at least I can poke fun at myself for it :)


How about you? Do you enjoy horror books/movies or haunted houses? What are your favorite or least favorite aspects of Halloween?


Thanks for reading!
Laurie


Attribution:
Photos from pixabay.com