Halloween has been adapted throughout the years. One of the most prominent in modern Halloween celebrations is spooky activities such as haunted houses, which feature monsters. However how did these monsters come to be? What gave the creator the idea? Monsters actually tend to embody a certain fear. Many people enjoy Halloween for its scary atmosphere. When we get scared our bodies release adrenaline, and Halloween offers safe spaces to get scared. But the question is what makes these monsters scary?
Vampires are one of the main symbols of Halloween and have been popular over the years. However they are not just legends, they are the embodiment of people’s fears of exploitation. Vampires are known for sucking blood which can translate to being exploited in toxic relationships and being co-dependent.
Werewolves represent the fear of the monster within. There have been many theories that humans are naturally evil by nature. This is prominent in a lot of stories, including horror. Werewolves are known as highly aggressive beings; this aggression represents anger and fear of giving into that anger and losing control.
Zombies represent the fear of Conforming to society. Zombies are known to be brainless and move as a group. Zombies can be used to symbolize fear of mindlessly following the crowd or just existing stuck on auto pilot.
Witches are known to have supernatural abilities. This represents an old fear that still influences our society today: the fear of powerful women. The most famous example is the Salem Witch Trials. While the victims were not all women, a majority of them were. This was used as a way to display a woman’s intelligence in an evil light. This likely stems from insecurity and internalized misogyny.
There are many other examples of monster-embodying fears such as ghosts representing unresolved issues, Frankenstein’s Monster representing the consequences of creation, demons representing giving into temptation and addiction, The Grim Reaper represent fear of death, skeletons representing mortality, and mummies representing the fear of change. So next time you enjoy the thrills and chills of Halloween, consider that what you may really be facing is the embodiment of a fear.