As a kid growing up in Romania during communism, I wasn’t familiar with the Halloween costumes, stories and habits. Actually, Halloween meant nothing to me until my son and daughter went to kindergarten and found out about the Halloween monsters, stories, pumpkins and candies.

I remember back then I used to wonder whether children’s exposure to evil pictures and stories is healthy or not. To be honest, I’d thought about it even before, while reading children books. For example, it was Creangă’s famous story – “The goat and her three kids”. Have you read it? After having eaten the goat’s kids, the wolf left their dead heads in the window, so that, while coming back from the market, the mother goat would think they are smiling at her. What a creepy image!

Well, I have to confess: it looked terrifying from the adult’s point of view, my children were not so impressed, and they seemed more interested in the story line.

But that made me think: how do the other parents cope with this? And I went even further:

Why do we need spooky stories?

The urge of experiencing fear in a safety net

We are curious about the “dark side.” The fear of the unknown is one of the most natural and instinctive fears that we have — and it is also one of the oldest curiosities.

But, reading books, we can sense fear and still be in control. Unlike many of the things in our world which frighten us, this is a fear we have a choice over – we can read it or not read it. We can watch the horror movie or switch it off. Either way, a happy – or at least safe – ending for the reader or viewer is assured.

The changes in our bodies while feeling afraid

From a scientific perspective, our bodies are always on the lookout for danger. When we are afraid, we go into a state which, although unsettling and frightening, also gives us an adrenalin rush and a release of endorphins and dopamine.

We achieve a heightened awareness of every sound and sight around us. Our hearts speed up and we breathe more rapidly, our muscles pump in more blood, and the oxygen amounts increase.

Once we realize we are actually safe, we experience a gratifying sense of relief and well-being. Anything that gives us a wide range of emotions in a safe and controlled environment feels great.

Feeling closer to the others- a sense of togetherness

We might regard the biochemical flood released while sensing fear as powerful emotions shared with the ones we are spending time with at the time.

Living here and now

We all have our fears and anxieties. We are afraid of sickness, death, of being left alone, and so on.

While experiencing these intense feelings in the story, we forget about our real problems, we live the moment and we’ve got the safety net.

 Are spooky stories for everyone?

According to a survey published by The Guardian,  33% of the UK parents would  avoid books with scary characters, while 78% said that baddies helped children “differentiate between good and evil”, 53% that they helped children “learn to cope with difficult situations”, and 48% that they help conquer fears.

Marshall Duke, Professor of Psychology at Emory University, says many parents fear exposing their children to the so-called “bad stories” in which awful things happen to good people. “However, bad stories do more to immunize children and build resilience than happy ones.” As he points out, stories about defeating a monster help children to realize that when they come upon their own “monsters,” they will be able to overcome them as well.

Offer your kids the opportunity to explore their fears during the 2021 Halloween in a safe context!