The Haunted House Inside Us Transformed into Home
As a kid, I loved Halloween haunted houses. My brother and I had a favorite routine.
The first time through, when the “monsters” jumped out, we were terrified like everyone else. When we finally stumbled out the exit, buzzing with relief and adrenaline, we would sprint right back to the end of the line to do it again.
The second time through, we were still scared, yet the fear loosened its grip. Knowing what might jump out next, we began to notice the masks themselves. Now and then we even glimpsed the kids behind them. The thrill was still there, but the spell was fading.
By the third time around, it was almost impossible to be truly fooled. We knew the corners, the timing, the shadows where someone was waiting. Instead of monsters, we’d see creative masks. And being kids, once the fear fell away, mischief arrived. In hindsight, we were terrible. Rather than letting everyone have their experience, we warned people walking with us about what was coming, pointed out hiding spots, and sometimes even tried to sneak up on the “monsters” to scare them instead. We’d lost the magic of the haunted house and, without realizing it, we forgot the kids behind the costumes were simply doing their best to entertain us.
Now, as adults, having become familiar with our own inner haunted house experience, do our “monsters” truly surprise us?
Our “monsters” leap out with familiar moves: anger, shame, anxiety, terror, self-criticism, defensiveness. Yet if we look closely, we know what’s behind those masks: A scared young part, ironically, trying to protect us, trying to play its role to take care of us.
So here is an invitation: As you walk through the haunted house inside yourself, through your inner world of your protective parts, can you remember who is behind the costumes? Can you meet each jumping out scary part not with fight, flight, freeze, or fawn or a mocking confidence, the way my brother and I once did, but with curiosity, warmth, and kindness?
Beneath every scary mask is an innocent child, waiting to be seen. And when we truly see them, our haunted house becomes a loving home again. As we find our way home to Self, life and the world often mirror that shift with innocence and love shining more and more through all things.
