Theme enhances the intensity.

Last Halloween, I thought it would be hilarious to host a “scary” movie night with a twist: we would reenact the themes of the films we watched. For “The Shining,” my friend Bob came dressed as Jack Nicholson wielding a toy axe, while Sue showed up as a ghost with an old sheet and eyeholes that were clearly too small. Things escalated when we decided to watch “Jaws.” Bob, still in character, pretended to be the shark, flopping around on the floor. Meanwhile, I donned a lifeguard outfit and yelled out lifeguard jargon, creating a chaotic scene in my living room that was more slapstick than spine-chilling.
The combination of a haunted hotel and shark attacks set the stage for a ridiculous spectacle. Everyone was trying to take their roles seriously, but between Bob’s attempts to “sneak up” on us by flapping around and Sue gliding past with a disconcerting combination of grace and awkwardness, we couldn’t stop laughing. By the time we got to “The Exorcist,” we were all just a bunch of friends rolling on the floor, exorcising our own tension with bellies full of popcorn – and no real horror in sight, just a lot of creativity and giggles.