HALLOWEEN HAUNTS: The Perils of Taking Your Family to Spirit Halloween
by KC Grifant
The hoisting of the Spirit Halloween sign is an annual landmark for my family—as soon as we see the logo go up, we immediately plan the first of many visits to the store. From rows and rows of devilish and overpriced costumes, wacky accessories and deliciously frightful animatronics, we relish our time in the store. However, not everyone in our family feels that way.
Our daughter used to not mind scary sights (she had even been to Midsummer Scream one year, peering out from her stroller at the elaborate cosplayers without much reaction). But about four years ago, a jumping witch statue at the store set off something in her. Much to our dismay, now, at age 8, she seems uninterested in horror. I tried: we introduced her to age-appropriate scary books and movies, which she rejected. I took her on the Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride this year, which many of her friends had enjoyed. She hated it—cried most of the way through.
Everyone’s introduction to horror is different. Many of the horror writers I know saw or read a scary book or movie “too young,” at around 4 or 5 years old. For so many of us, that early exposure left a deep impression. What scares us also fascinates us. But why do some lean into horror and others reject it? Why is it fun and enjoyable for some and repulsive to others?
Our love for horror had been too enthusiastic, I concluded. Us pushing it on her had culminated in a full-fledged rejection when our daughter encountered that towering witch’s glowing eyes as it jerked toward us under the fluorescent lights.
Her fears have trickled into school, when she recently became distressed after her teacher read a book that had a “scary” scene in it. I explain that being afraid isn’t a bad thing, and books and movies help us to understand and deal with what scares us. Similar to coaching her through nightmares, we talked about how oftentimes fears are our minds trying to understand or process something.
It’s the same message I share on panels for the public when introducing them to the diverse, broad genre of horror. Horror is good for so many things: education and survival tips (never go into the basement alone, check) as well as the catharsis of having vicariously lived through something scary. It can also operate as cheap exposure therapy (I give the example of obsessively watching the movie Arachnophobia as a kid while I was dealing with my extreme fear of bugs). Horror can also produce exciting adrenaline boosts and social bonding, like when you go on a rollercoaster or tell a scary campsite story alongside friends. We remind her that horror is different for everyone, and she can partake or abstain as much as she wants. We encourage her to remain open-minded, to think about what she’s scared of and why, and to talk about it with us.
On our annual pilgrimage to Spirit Halloween this year, she was excited to shop for a costume, as she loves fantasy and make-believe. She was careful to avoid the center-aisle animatronics though her orbit grew closer and closer to them as the hour went on. (Our 4-year-old meanwhile, ran around to squeal in delight at the zombie dolls and walls of gaping monstrous masks.)
“What does that one do? Step on it,” my daughter commanded me from a safe distance, covering her ears as I dutifully stomped a footprinted pad to trigger a giant fly’s flapping wings. She steered clear of the mini-haunted campsite walk-through but asked me detailed questions about the clown monster she could glimpse from the open window.
“His face opens to reveal a demon,” I told her.
“Was it scary?”
“Yes!” I smiled encouragingly as she shuddered.
After we narrowed down our costume choices (Disney villains, dinosaurs, anime characters…) we drove off with a plan to return next week and make our final selections.
“How did you like going?” I asked.
She mumbled something.
“What?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.
“It was scary, but…” She trailed off.
“What?” I prompted again.
In a near-whisper, she adds, “I kind of liked it.”
END
KC Grifant is a former science journalist and award-winning author and editor based in Southern California. She writes internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west fiction. Her books include the award-winning western fantasy Monster Gunslinger series and the collections Shrouded Horror: Tales of the Uncanny and Fantastica Horrifica. Dozens of her short stories have appeared in podcasts, Stoker-nominated anthologies, games, and magazines.
She is a creative writing instructor at the University of California, San Diego, an associate editor for Stars & Sabers Press, an editor for various anthologies (most recently Dread Coast and Women of the Weird West), a board member of Women in Horror, and a mentor for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). She is also the co-chair of the San Diego Horror Writers Association (HWA) chapter, which she founded in 2016, and co-creator of Monster Gunslingers The Game. Her classes on creative writing have been presented through Clarion West, Reach Your Apex and elsewhere and she has been a guest on numerous panels, podcasts and media outlets to discuss genre storytelling. When she’s not building imaginary worlds, KC works as an award-winning science communicator and does her best to keep up with two small wildlings. Learn more at www.KCGrifant.com.
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Saddle up. The Old West is weirder than you think.
In this bold reimagining of the Old West, dive into haunted canyons, frontier towns hiding cosmic horrors, vast deserts, and far-flung worlds where women take center stage.
Women of the Weird West features 25 original speculative poems and short stories set in landscapes both familiar and strange. Gunslingers, outlaws, dreamers, and survivors face overwhelming forces both human and supernatural.
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Edited by KC Grifant and with a foreword by Kasey Lansdale, the book features short stories and poems by: Eugen Bacon, Jennifer Brody, V. Castro, K.M. Chavez, Deborah Daughetee, Sarah Faxon, Jendia Gammon, Anastasia Jill, R.J. Joseph, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Angela Liu, Christine Lucas, Anna Madden, Tiffany Morris, Donna J.W. Munro, SJ Myles, Nico Martinez Nocito, Cynthia Pelayo, Grace Quon, Stephanie Rabig, Rebecca Rowland, Tammy Salyer, Lisa Timpf, Angelica Urquizo and Mathilda Zeller.
Perfect for readers who enjoy supernatural westerns, dark fantasy, cosmic horror, historical reimaginings and speculative fiction.