Why You Should Face Your Fears

I hate haunted houses. Actually, I’m adverse to anything scary. No horror pics, Stephen King novels, or Fright Fests for me.

For one reason: I scare easily.

When my daughters agreed to play the role of zombies at the big All Hallow’s Eve event at our city’s living history museum, I was asked to help out. My spot? Manning the door of the most popular attraction: the haunted mansion.

Before the gates opened for All Hallow’s, the mansion actors asked those of us working out front to let them rehearse their vignette for us. As in, would we please be the first to go through the haunted mansion? Yeah, right.

It was daylight. And I had seen the costumed actors eating pizza earlier. But still… there was no escaping my fear. Except this has been my year of daring greatly. I have been pushing myself and my family to seek adventure and move outside our comfort zones. Going through a haunted house certainly wouldn’t make my bucket list. But doing so might be more satisfying than many things on the list.

What if I faced this fear?

So I did it. I went through the haunted mansion. Eyes wide open, looking behind me every second and not daring to watch the gory doll maker skit that caused my companions to scream. I hung back and missed the shock of a wall falling open to reveal a frightful person. And the exit door was close when multiple deranged “dolls” began lumbering at us from multiple directions.

I survived. But I hadn’t particularly faced the fear because I didn’t allow myself to get caught up in it. I had distanced myself.

The night wasn’t over though. In fact, it had barely started.

You see, there also happened to be a ghoulish character that creeped me out more than the haunted mansion. He wandered the grounds throughout the night, sneaking up on people waiting in line. Chasing frightened women up and down the walkways.

And finally climbing the steps of the mansion. Right up to the doorway where I was posted. Hovering in front of me with a menacing stare.

By then I had noticed a pattern. Those who laughed at him, he ignored or gave exaggerated looks and posed for pictures. But anyone who shrunk from his ghastly white eyes and bloody forehead became a target. Those were the ones he followed and occasionally chased.

In that moment, as he towered over me, eyes gleaming in the green spotlights on the mansion, I had a choice. I could shrink back and know he would intentionally lurk nearby to taunt me. Or I could stare him down.

And so I stared. He paused for a moment before moving across the porch where he could parade his spookiest looks for the waiting crowd below.

I breathed a sigh and shrunk back against the brick wall of the house. Then I invited the next group of visitors to wait up closer to the door, as a barrier between him and me. But the fear dimmed. And when he again came past me and took hold of the doorknob as I reached to close it, I felt bolder.

“Got it?” I asked him, looking straight into his beady pupils. “Go ahead.”

As he closed the door behind him, another door shut against those years of fear. I had stared it down. I was stronger than I imagined.

Because that is what we gain when we face our fears: a knowledge of our ability to survive and be strong. And that knowledge is worth it.

What fears do you need to face?

 Creepy character photo courtesy of Sharon Rezac