It’s getting close to that time of year again. Not the foliage color change, sweater weather or the pumpkin spice invasion, although those are all coming as well, I’m talking about spooky season. It’s getting dark earlier, the coyotes are getting louder, and new seasons of The Walking Dead and American Horror Story are starting. The small period of time when us lovers of the macabre are able to get our thrills before the seven weeks of Christmas.
It’s my daughter’s favorite time of the year, a time of witches, goblins and all the other creepy stuff that she seems to prefer over unicorns and fairies. She’s bugging me to take her to see the new Goosebumps movie, has been warned not to mention in school that she “thinks demons are cool”, and has begun defiling some of the dolls that she received this past birthday.
It’s also a time for bravery. Her favorite parts of the season aren’t the candy, she eats plenty of junk year round, or the dressing up, that is a normal weekend routine around here. Her favorite part is testing herself, whether it’s the scary displays at the Halloween Store or walking the neighborhood after the decorations start to go up. I’m not sure if she really likes scary stuff or if she just likes proving that she isn’t scared.
Last night that bravado was tested as never before. Another thing that this little lunatic likes to do is ride roller coasters, so for the past two years I’ve invested in a season pass for Six Flags, a large amusement park about a ninety minute drive away. I buy one for myself, take advantage of “bring a friend free” days and only need to go a few times to feel that I’ve gotten my money’s worth.
One of the my only complaints about this system is the need to show up in person to renew each year. With a small window left available to me this season to get this done we headed north after an afternoon soccer game, warnings given that it would be a relatively short visit.
I didn’t need to worry about having to drag her out of there. This weekend also marked the beginning of “Fright Fest”, something that more and more of these parks are doing to try and capitalize on a customer base that already naturally consists of thrill seekers. The entire park is decorated in Halloween decorations, there are stage shows, haunted houses set up for an added cost, and more relevant to this story, roving bands of scary characters wandering around trying to frighten people. My wife and I went to something similar at Universal Studios in Florida last year and had a blast.
She did great while the sun was out, reminding me often that nothing we were seeing was real, dancing through the smoke machines and laughing at some of the animatronic displays.
Night time was a little different, a little scarier for a seven year old, no matter how brave. The Corpse Bride and Chainsaw Maniac in particular she did not find amusing at all.
All in all, it was a positive experience, or so I’m claiming. She was never fully brought to tears, some much needed humbleness was restored, and I was able to make it home early enough to watch an episode of the new Purge television series with the wife. Perhaps most importantly she went to bed and made it through the entire night without any nightmares or need for sleeping companions, proof that she really is a pretty brave little kid, and proof to my wife, at least temporarily, that I didn’t do any long standing psychological damage by bringing her.
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This post was previously published on Thirsty Daddy and is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock