Decorations have always been a big part of the Christmas season. They can be as modest as a wreath of the door or as overwhelming as rooftops covered in lights with giant figures of Santa Claus and reindeer on the front lawn.  But a recent trip through Worthington neighborhoods with my grandchildren showed that outdoor decorations have also become a big part of Halloween. My son has contributed to that trend by turning his front lawn into a scare-filled landscape of gravestones, demonic characters, and various creepy-crawlies.

So, when did Halloween decorations become a thing? I would suggest one reason for that phenomenon is the popularity of horror books and movies. One of the figures adorning my son’s lawn is a likeness of Pennywise, the murderous clown from It. The journey through Worthington brought us close to characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Scream, Pumpkinhead, and Friday the 13th. Old-timers such as Frankenstein’s monster and the Mummy were also out and about. Evidently, some people see Halloween decorations as a path for artistic expression. I was especially impressed by the intricate spider webs that spread out across trees, lawns, and garage doors. The giant spiders that crawled over these webs — in my opinion — were scarier than the inflatable Halloween figures. Artistic touches could also be seen in vignettes of knife-wielding creatures with decaying faces and hapless victims “heading” to the guillotine.

The popularity of Halloween decorations ties into a broader question: Why do people enjoy reading horror stories and seeing horror films? To put it more simply, why do we like to be scared? Stephen King, in the introduction to his short-story collection Night Shift, offers an explanation. “Horror fiction is like a central subway station in the human psyche between the blue line of what we can safely internalize and the red line of what we need to get rid of in some way or another.” Farther on, King explains this metaphor with a second one. “The tale of monstrosity and terror is a basket loosely packed with phobias; when the writer passes by, you take one of his imaginary phobias out of the basket and put one of your real ones in — at least for a time.”

If King is right, then horror books and movies, as well as the images associated with them, serve a cathartic purpose. They allow us to escape from real horrors by focusing our attention on false ones. This allows us to feel relief and maybe — just maybe — gain more power to deal with real horrors after the movie or book ends.

I hope King is right. Because it goes without saying the real world offers more than its share of genuine horrors, whether its school shootings, COVID, political violence, or Internet bullying. If a horror story or movie or even a scary Halloween decoration can distract us from these real-life horrors, they may be worthy investments of our time and money. One caveat is necessary, however. No matter how entertaining, horror stories and films should never be confused with real-life dangers.