I think it is safe to say that Halloween is a global event. It's history cuts across ancient Gaelic and later Historic Catholic roots used to mark the eve before All Saints day in the Church. These days (as with everything) it has taken a lot more secularized costume and is widely now reserved for Costumes, Candy and and an entertainment sector boosted by the demand for scary and supernatural tales.
Growing up I largely recall the things that scared me as a kid through to my teen and young adult years. There are a few scary movies that have managed to pull it off like 'A nightmare on Elm street' and most recently the Conjuring (Part 1) but that's about it. Moreso, am totally over those initial fears now and have watched both movies at least once more without the same feeling.
Of course it wasn't just movies but my fears largely circled around tales and superstitions that I managed to overcome one after the other. I also had an unexplainable fear of Rabies, even though the likelihood of occurrence was not high. Luckily, my parents were not the type to unnecessarily spook out their kids or render tales they know will ultimately live rent free in our heads. They were rather things we simply picked up from the broader community and people we grew up with.
My adult years have swapped those largely fantasied fears with less spooky, less supernatural but more scary and thought consuming version of my fears. I have swapped the fear of a supernatural occurrence that could say cause my death with the fears of losing my job, loved-ones, my identity, my purpose, relationships, isolation, societal fears just to name a few. The list goes on believe me,.
It is funny how both fears are largely irrational. It is true that the probability of my adult fears are completely justified in terms of likelihood of occurrence, yet I call it irrational because one can only do so much to control that which is in our powers to do so. I am also fully convinced that the anticipation is a lot scarier than the real thing. For instance I've experienced grief, heartache, loneliness (to an extent) yet am largely over them now.
I don't have to wear a costume for these fears because I am the costume and sometimes I try to hide them but a few times I don't succeed. It may not be the spooky Halloween story but life scares me everyday, beautiful as it may be.