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Halloween Haunted Houses
inyo
Explorer
Hi,
I've never been to a scary Halloween haunted house. My friends want me to go with them and I'm curious and kind of interested. I generally try to avoid scary and violent stuff though, similar to how TNH suggested to avoid or at least limit negative things. In your opinion does a Halloween haunted house fall into this category? Is it something to be avoided/limited like violent/negative/scary movies? Would you go?
thanks
0
Comments
My 5 year old daughter would say she wanted to go but then run away when we got there.
My two year old son is scared of Bananas in Pyjamas so he wouldn't go!
Boo!!!!!
I read somewhere recently that watching scary movies or reading Stephen King is because we're practicing what we would do in these types of situations...it's very human to want to get surprises - of the darker variety - but agree with Master TNH, that it should be kept to a minimum - and everyone has different levels of acceptability.
When my son was young, I took him to a scary Haunted House on Halloween, but he had to be taken around the scarier room. A bit too much too soon.
@bunks lol well, I'm 26 and I may end up like your 5 yr old and running away when I get there.
@silver reminds me of why we have nightmares, some say to practice what we'd do in these situations.
On one end I'm pretty stable with scary stuff and then again the Wheel of Time gave me nightmares haha.
Yeah, it sounds like fun!
Depends what you want to do. Those things affect everyone differently. I love a good/bad cheesy horror movie. They are awesome at this time of year. I've done haunted houses and hay ride and corn mazes. Tons of fun! But I personally don't consider it to be violent most of the time just because of how goofy they are. I don't watch the ones like Saw and Hostel etc, but the old 80s onces that still scare the pants off me yet I enjoy it.
I agree with TNH about not filling your mind with garbage. But I like to have fun, too, and for me cheesy horror is part of it. It's not as if anyone will be hurt at the haunted house. But other people are very sensitive to it so not a good idea for them, perhaps.
Fruity ghosts eh ...
All about context and personal practice requirements. Tantrists over the mental age of two might be quite happy with a pear of demons and the local scary Banana-Lama ...
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/23334/feeding-your-demons
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/17052/meditations-to-heal-anxiety
Personally I find the news often terrifying but a scary house just somewhere to practice metta. If you find any ghosts, send them to me and I will pass them on to the appropriate emptiness
Also watch out for Catholic Jesus houses aka Churches, they have 'Holy Ghosts' in there I hear and people nailed to bits of wood, ... ay carumba ...
Reminds me of a joke I heard Ajahn Brahm once tell. A kid's math marks went up when he went to Catholic School. His parents asked him why, and he told them that he knew they took math seriously there when he saw the guy nailed to the plus sign hanging on the wall!
I was invited once, to a haunted house do, with some friends.
I can't begin to tell you how silly it all was. I believed it to be trite and childish, while my friends all huddled together, room to room, cowering, screaming, terrified....
Afterwards, someone asked me "Weren't YOU scared?"
I replied, "No, but there again, I didn't come with the intention of wanting to be.
You all did.
Part of your terror, was playing the part of someone frightened.
I came with no expectations at all, and was not disappointed."
I didn't get invited the following year.....
What is scary about haunted houses is some of the parents.
Same at athletic events.
Around here, there's a "fully immersive haunted house" that lasts 1hr 15 mins, and there's even a safeword.
The one I went to with my wife (not the one linked above!!) was a bit gruesome, but was fun nonetheless. Kept us on edge and suspenseful most of the time, thinking anything could jump out and startle us.
But!! I think that the "jump scares" are pretty cheap thrills, even with most horror movies. None of it is truly scary or disturbing if that's what you're going for. Unless you're actually afraid of spirits/ghosts I suppose.
To respond to your query, @inyo, I honestly think it's fine to go, so long as you're clear about why you're going and what you expect to take away from it. If you know you're going to be traumatized or have your head filled with violent thoughts afterwards, don't go. But if you're apprehensive because you want to make sure you're being a "good Buddhist," then I would suggest you drop all notions of what a "good" Buddhist is and just have fun with your friends. Maintaining good relationships is more important.
Mine did too, but it was mostly due to a fear of being whacked over the knuckles with a ruler by nuns!
I'm a kill joy in this type of situation - if I know I'm going to a 'themed' party then there is no chance I shall be afraid - it's a party after all - I would still be susceptible to a shock fright but otherwise, it would remain that it's a contrived event.
That may say a lot about the standard of Halloween party that I've been invited to - perhaps if someone really made an incredible effort with special effects then I would be taken in... hasn't happened so far.
A scary movie is not necessarily a negative thing or a positive thing - it depends on the situation I suppose - if one tries to avoid fear, I've found it only becomes less manageable - one method I've personally employed is to directly face fear and walk at it, to investigate it openly and I approached a tiny part of this by watching horror movies that I found frightening and investigating my response in an otherwise relatively safe environment.
If invited by friends, I would probably go - why not.
This might be good....
I'm just not good at carpentry... 'sides, our front door is a doubler-glazed one.....
Well....we're ready for Halloween !! Adjua is going as a cheeseburger....Kofi is a zombie. I have 3 parties this week end and the treat bags are done. And, yes...I used coupons....hahahahaha.....I have been saving them...and a local store had a sale for one day only on the fun size bars ....and...you know the rest....hahaha
I was hoping to go to WV to see our resident NB monk take some vows....but....that's not going to happen....life in the way....you know how that goes...anyway...Oh...AFA the OP...I don't do Halloween haunted houses....they get me screaming everytime...lolol...But you know...I think Halloween is the death meditation party....
Work party was fun.......I did veggies trays and fruit and a sweets bar. It turned out super cute!!! I had 3 costume changes. Long story short...I was a devil, a cheesburger, and a cat. why? hahaha...well...PC, of course. hahaha...My two veg head friends would have had a heart attack....and then the church party I couldn't go as the devil, especially bec we just had to push a legal separation of church and state case around about work prayers...anyway....it was blast changing though. I got invited to all the building parties and nah....didn't get much work done...hahaha.
Suburb/block/neighborhood parties tomorrow....
And the Fall colors....beautiful!!! growing up in a Florida...I only saw fall colors in books...didn't move to Memphis until age 22. Wow. Nature....at it's finest.
My sister has not been out for months. By reminding her it was halloween, when even zombies go out, was able to get her to visit a local graveyard. We then recorded a message for our cousin who had organised a pumpkin themed gathering. I went as a semi wrathful Buddhist. I wore my bone mala, offered to say grace in Tibetan (offer accepted) and brought a skull as a pressie. Relatives remained in a state of shocked awareness.
Keep an eye out for the 'Great Pumpkin'. Some kid has been waiting to see him for an awfully long time.
In the meantime, Jack is going to rattle some bones...
The merchants and dentists of the Halloween World say 'Hurray!!!'
And the grandchild will have a jolly time.
Stay safe
The Great Pumpkin was playing on the DVR last night, and we carved pumpkins. Eating pizza and getting costumes together.
Life's good. Gratitude.
I went to the "haunted house" and it was a lot of fun! I wasn't scared like I thought I'd be, though I did continuously hold onto my friend's jacket. It wasn't negative or disturbing...things would pop out that gave a jolt, but nothing creepy. I recommend to try them out if you haven't been. It's fun with a group of friends...something out of the ordinary to do.