Kim Wilbanks

Halloween is over.  Halloween 2020, the scariest of years, with a full moon, the weekend before the most contentious of presidential elections.  It’s enough to make you want to hide under the covers.

I don’t like being scared.  I never have.  So Halloween has never been my favorite holiday.  I think I may have watched three scary movies in their entirety in my life. That doesn’t count the campy B movies we used to watch on Saturday afternoons.  You know, like the ones with Godzilla, the Werewolf, Dracula, Frankenstein, Aliens or giant spiders.  

Ghost Story

Back in 1981, scenes from a supernatural horror movie were filmed on my college campus, Stetson University, in DeLand, Florida.  Students of the university had the opportunity to be extras in the scenes filmed on our campus.  One of my best friends and roommate was chosen to be an extra and even got to speak a line in the movie.  It was very exciting.  

A couple of months after the movie was released, I was staying with her and her family and we decided to go see the movie — Ghost Story.  Can I just tell you that I watched the entire movie slouched down in my seat as far as I could and through the tiny slits between my fingers as I covered my eyes with my hands?  It was terrifying.  I have only watched it one other time since.  And, honestly, it’s not even that scary compared to the more current horror flicks. I can’t even watch the trailers of those. 

Paying To Be Scared

Then, there are the horror experiences.  My nephew’s birthday is at the end of October, right before Halloween.  For several years in a row, he and some of his friends have driven south to attend Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios.  I cannot fathom paying big bucks to purposefully allow myself to be scared half to death.  I don’t even like the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World.  To each his own, I guess.

I don’t like to be scared but I’m not really afraid of the trappings of Halloween.  The ghosts, zombies and various monsters don’t scare me.  I do believe there is evil in the world and have a healthy respect for that, but I don’t cower in fear.

What I Really Fear

The things I fear the most are different.  You can’t dress up like them on Halloween, but they are the things that sometimes keep me awake at night.  Things like:

• Not being able to breathe
• Losing the ability to use my hands
• Being old and alone
• My husband getting Alzheimer’s like his dad
• My country falling apart
• People I care about missing heaven

You Don’t Have To Be Afraid

The good news is, there is a remedy for these feelings of fear.  As a believer in Christ, I have the ability to talk to Him in prayer and also to read His word in the Bible.  It is full of encouragement and promise.  My favorite verse is the second part of Hebrews 13:5 — “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you”.  How can I be afraid when the living God of the universe has promised to never leave or forsake me? I am not alone!

One of the most frequent commands you see in the Bible is “Fear Not”.  I guess God knew that this was one of the things his children would struggle with the most.  

How about you? Are you a fan of scary movies? What are some of your fears? How do you fight your feelings of fear? I’d love to hear.