Virtual Haunted House, Real Scares

Will 2020 Halloween Be Scary Enough?

Extended social distancing guidelines threaten to jeopardize some of Americans’ favorite Halloween traditions—spooky hayrides, haunted house tours, and ghost walks—so, are we in for a less scary Halloween? Set against the backdrop of 2020, which has been terrifying on its own, how can a virtual Halloween even compare? 

Our Halloween Culture Briefing discussed one of the first flops of this season, Orlando’s Haunted Road drive-thru attraction, which grossly underperformed in terms of overall scariness. The attraction advertised “blood curdling creatures” and “hundreds of shocking scares” but, as one entertainment professional put it, ended up as "the ‘Fyre Festival’ of haunted houses.” While the logistics and planning of the event were obviously botched, it’s also indicative that these drive-thru features designed with social distancing in mind may not live up to the fear that comes from physically walking through a haunted house. “It’s a lot less scary when a zombie comes at you and you can just roll up your window," said Director of Cultural Strategy Ben Grinspan.

While touring a virtual haunted house may not be ideal for hard-core thrill-seekers, it’s the best option during this pandemic Halloween. Many notable haunted sites, such as the Salem Witch Museum and the Eastern State Penitentiary, are offering a variety of virtual tours and 360-experience videos. Perhaps the virtualization of these terror-filled traditions makes them more inclusive and accessible to those more faint of heart, especially given this year. This makes sense as we see trends like Mashup and Extreme Safety growing during this time as consumers look for safe and comfortable ways to reinvent their favorite Halloween traditions. 

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Conspiracy Theorists Seek More Than The Truth

The pandemic has been an accelerator of many things in 2020, from e-commerce to telehealth to even conspiracy theories. These radical theories may ebb and flow, but their potency in 2020 makes particular sense. In times of uncertainty and rapid change, people often look towards alternative and extremist forms of reasoning, explaining why we see such growth in trends such as Shadow World and Extremism during the pandemic. Our Culture Briefing on the Age of Conspiracy Theories discussed how conspiracy theories are critically different in 2020, but how also, foundationally, they’re the same. 

 In many ways, popular conspiracy group QAnon is the reflection of Trump’s America: paranoid, deeply critical of experts, obsessive in its self-defense. Zoom out though, and QAnon is the amalgam of a long history of doomsday cults and religious movements. One of the reasons QAnon has become so popular in 2020 is that it has something for everybody—there are theories for anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, and 9/11 truthers alike. QAnon has also become extremely successful in creating a sense of comfort within their community during this period of social unrest, however backwards or toxic that community may appear.

Members of conspiracy groups such as QAnon are perhaps looking for more than just the truth. While QAnon borrows ideas from decades of conspiracies, its followers are empowered to “remix” them, adding their own modern take and contributing something new. This gamifies the experience, giving followers the distinct feeling that they are working to uncover some secret. Some are also just looking to create drama within the current political climate, or “throw molotov cocktails at the political discourse of our country” as SVP of Cultural Strategy Robb Henzi said.

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Nostalgia, Reimagined

Nostalgia has always been a strong trend amongst Millennial audiences. It harkens back to simpler times of Saturday morning cartoons, Beanie Babies, and Lisa Frank. But as we long for the carefree days of music festivals or sitting indoors at a restaurant, we may see a new type of pandemic-nostalgia start to develop that will color the way we celebrate holidays. Perhaps this is why we’re seeing such growth among trends such as Kidult and Refreshed Classics during this Halloween season.  Halloween has always been an optimal time to express nostalgia through costumes and decorations, and this year we may begin to see that nostalgia expressed in a way that acknowledges the extreme cultural shifts that have happened between February 2020 and now.