Is Halloween Still About The Scare?
October, where the nights get darker, pumpkins start appearing on doorsteps, and the air feels a little more electric with a potential scare. But lately, I’ve been wondering… is Halloween still about the scare?
Somewhere between slasher reboots and pumpkin-spiced everything, it feels like the build-up to Halloween has changed. We used to wait all year for that one night of jump scares and horror marathons, but now the scare seems scattered. A little less seasonal and a little more anytime.
In the Media: Has the Scare Lost Its Season?
Horror used to have a season. October being the stage. The time when cinemas dimmed their lights, and you could guarantee at least one big release that would have you clutching your popcorn and whispering “don’t go in there!”.
Now, though, horror films seem to come out whenever they please. The newest instalment of I Know What You Did Last Summer arrived in July 2025, Scream VI missed its Halloween window entirely and released in March 2023, and Nosferatu, of all films, came out on Christmas Day.
It’s not that we don’t get any Halloween or horror releases around October anymore, but the build-up…that buzz of marketing that once made people want to go and be scared at the cinema, has really fallen flat over the last few years.
Back in 2022, Halloween Ends, the finale to John Carpenter’s legendary series that helped elevate horror beyond just creatures and gore, premiered on 14th October. Yet many people still weren’t ready to go back to cinemas after the pandemic, and who could blame them? Just like when Halloween Kills premiered in 2021, a lot of viewers chose to stream it at home instead.
Of course, horror can exist year-round. But without that build-up, that shared anticipation, do we lose a bit of the magic? The feeling of everyone collectively bracing for a good scare together? Halloween used to be the moment we leaned into the shadows, now it feels like the scare has stretched itself across the calendar and lost a bit of that October anticipation.
Real Life Has Been Scary Enough
Maybe part of it is that real life has been frightening enough lately. Between politics, wars, cost-of-living pressures, and the echoes of the pandemic, the world hasn’t exactly been short of fear.
I think back to the Covid years, the scariest thing wasn’t a clown in the closet. It was catching the virus or losing someone you loved. That kind of fear was all too real, and I wonder if it changed how we experience fictional scares.
It makes me think back to popular media after World War Two. The “Psycho Thriller” era of the 60’s and “Slasher Boom” of the 70’s were for a whole new generation. That evolution of horror wasn’t just new, it was popular. They didn’t directly feel or experiences the horrors of war. Then passed along that love of those movies to the next generation.
Perhaps people just want a break from adrenaline. Maybe we’ve had enough of the unknown, the jump scares, and the what-ifs. Maybe this is the generation where real horror stories are already playing out on the news, and Halloween has shifted from fear to comfort.
The Shift Towards Cosy
Maybe that’s just part of growing up. The older I get, the more I swap jump scares for a Chinese takeaway and Hocus Pocus.
When you’re a kid, the boogeyman feels real. As a teenager, you want that @whose behind the corner” feeling. Maybe even the blood and gore and the thrill of a haunted house. But somewhere along the way, you start craving cosy. That soft, amber-lit kind of Halloween, that’s more about atmosphere than adrenaline.
I think there’s still tradition in that. In making the night special for little ones, carving pumpkins, or decorating your living room with fairy lights instead of fake cobwebs. Maybe as we grow older, we move behind the scenes a bit. Like at Christmas, we become the ones creating the scare rather than chasing the fear.
Is Halloween Just For The Kids?
What if, you are reading this and Halloween hasn’t lost its scare at all. Maybe it’s just changed who it’s for. These days, it feels much more like a children’s celebration: dressing up, sweets, and imagination.
Some kids still love the classic monsters. Your mummies, vampires, and Frankensteins. But others go for fairies, superheroes, or even Kpop Demon Hunters, which honestly, I think will be a trend this year. And maybe that’s what this era is for. Evolving Halloween into whatever feels magical, rather than menacing.
It doesn’t have to be terrifying to be fun. Sometimes the best kind of Halloween is one that makes you smile more than scream.
A Halloween Thursday Thought
So, has Halloween lost its scare?
I think, in many ways, it has. The horror genre has evolved so much over the years. Whether you’re a film fan or a reader who loves a good fright. But I would agree with those who would say it has become a little stagnant. Not that there isn’t love there for a lot of the films and franchises.
It goes without saying that for some, that thrill to scare and be scared will never fade. But it does make me wonder…Are creating enough of a scare for the spookiest season of the year? Let me know what you think below.
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