What’s So Scary About Halloween?

Were you scared?

That’s all it used to take.

Back in the days of silent movies, radio and even in the comics strips a word could be shown and the expected reaction was fear.

My how times have changed! Yet, in some ways they haven’t.

People have always liked be scared (or so it seems). Some in a more direct way and some in a more cerebral manner.

The scariest thing about Halloween is, perhaps, how commercial it has all become. For Millennials of today there are opportunities everywhere – from food to movies to parties to in-person events and so much more.

This is designed to be somewhat of a fun post, but one that covers some of the things that Millennials can do with Halloween while Standing Out in their Career. Whether you are thinking of driving a social media campaign, creating makeup for a haunted house, baking deliciously scary cupcakes, or whatever you can scare up to capitalize on Halloween.

This is not intended to be a slight on what the native Americans did and still do to honor the harvest celebration.

Here are a few of the ideas that came to mind. Some are food related. Some are fun related. And some are scare related. I think there is a little bit of something for everyone. However, I’d like to hear what you’ve done to capitalize on Halloween in the comments.

Food: The Start of PSL Season

Even Starbucks is in on it. They have built up a demand for Pumpkin Spice Latte drinks. There is a fever pitch for them at Starbucks as evidenced by the Twitter hashtag #PSL … and a lot of other PSL flavored things at this time of year.

Fun: Scooby-Doo and Scream Queens

There is fun and making fun. In the case of Scream Queens – which is a new show on Fox – there is a next generation of Halloween mayhem combined with fun. If you haven’t watched … this is a show that features one of the original ‘Scream Queens’ Jamie Lee Curtis as the dean at a university where they have a lot of campy fun in how they dispatch students.

Scream Queens Reality Check:
This is not to make light of the acts they are observing, but they are making fun of it themselves. Which is the point. To send up the movies that made Jamie Lee Curtis famous.

In the case of Scooby-Doo there is always a bit of fun and mystery. That’s why they drive around in “The Mystery Machine” to all their zoinky hijinks and they hear that famous line at the end of every show … “I would have gotten away with it … if it weren’t for those meddling kids.”

Full Fright: Jason, Freddy and The Twilight Zone

In the old Rod Serling TV show “The Twilight Zone” (full episodes are on YouTube) the scares were mostly in your mind and your perceptions.

In the ensuing years there have been much more gory examples of Full Fright with everything from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Jason from Friday the 13th to Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series.

I don’t know about you, but Pennywise in Stephen King’s “IT” was incredibly scary.

Food, Fun or Full Fright

The point of the each of these elements is that there is an audience for all of these. If any or all of these are your passion – whether it’s writing, creating YouTube mashups, or extending your artistry through make up and special effects you can. It’s never been easier.

Bringing this back around to more fun and funny. For kids (and adults too) there are fun things like pumpkin patches, corn mazes and hayrides.

No matter where you live there are likely a few things you can do to capitalize on the Halloween theme. (In case you can’t tell … I lean more towards the fun & funny elements).

What’s So Scary about Halloween?

It seems the scariest thing about Halloween is ease at which insane clown profits can be made from something as simple as a modern day boo. Whether it’s a cupcake that looks like a bat or whether it’s the creation of a new book or animated feature or whether it’s a new take on an old theme of scaring people.

• What scares you (or makes you smile) about Halloween?
• What scares the masses? Or would make a lot people enjoy the Halloween Harvest?
• Will you create the next Freddy Krueger or the next Scooby Do?
• It’s up to you!

If you can do one or more of these … your customers might be chasing you all the way to the cemetery, err bank.

Happy Halloween!