Face Your Fears: Samhainophobia

Samhainophobia: A fear of Halloween or the fear of the festival of the dead.

Halloween, or the Hallow E'en as they call it in Ireland, means All Hallows Eve, or the night before the All Hallows. It is thought to have originated around 4,000 BC, which means Halloween has been around for more than 6,000 years.

Typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, Halloween celebrates the end of the lighter half of the year and beginning of the darker half, and is sometimes regarded as the Celtic New Year.

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld opened on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home, while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks.

Anyone with samhainophobia would do just about anything to avoid Halloween activities. This includes giving out candy, wearing a costume, or even acknowledging that October 31 is a holiday.

The most common symptoms of this phobia include breathlessness, excessive sweating, dry mouth, feeling sick, trembling, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying or a full blown anxiety attack. So for the sufferer, it can be a pretty nasty time.

It is not known why people develop a phobia for this holiday, but like all fears and phobias, samhainophobia is created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. In some cases the actual cause or initial reasoning for fearing Halloween may be unknown.

A little fact for you - Harry Houdini, one of the most famous and mysterious magicians who ever lived, strangely enough died in 1926 on Halloween night.

So, how do you cure your fear of Halloween? Well, we recommend coming down to The London Bridge Experience and London Tombs for an exciting and terrifying late night Phobophobia Halloween show. It is sure to scare you beyond belief, shock all of your senses, and test your nerve - but it is also so much fun that you will want to come back again and again!