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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR
It’s Evil Monster Time Again: Why Do We Manufacture Fear at Halloween?
Halloween is getting closer. We laugh at fake monsters, eerie smiling skeletons, and scary masks — to forget our real hidden fears
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In just a few weeks, it will be Halloween. It falls on the 31st of October. It all began in Ireland over two thousand years ago as Samhain. This Celtic festival marked the boundary between the living and the dead. When the Irish emigrated to America, they brought the Halloween rituals with them. This created festivities where pumpkins, turnips, colcannon, barmbrack, various nuts such as monkey and Brazil nuts, grapes, apples, and harvested vegetables were eaten and celebrated.
It evolved into bonfires, candy, scary masks, and apple tricks, such as apples tied on a string or in a basin of water (snap apple). The apple had to be caught in your mouth without using your hands, and of course, Halloween bonfires and fireworks marked the big occasion. But has Halloween become just another excuse for terrifying people and animals out of their wits? Is there any resemblance to the true meaning?
