October is finally here! Welcome to Spooky Season.

It has been a rough year. A rough couple of years? Maybe even a rough decade. Everything feels terrible. The vibes are bad. Rancid, even! We find ourselves once more enfolded in Spooky Season’s velvet embrace, but many of us are so mired in unpleasantness that we gain little comfort in our annual celebration.

We embraced Creepy Cozy to fight the gloom last year, but I think that may be insufficient for 2025. I considered opting out of my usual October series, but figured if I could muster even a shred of enthusiasm, I would go ahead with the tradition.

Consider that shred of enthusiasm found!

I became obsessed with “Severance” over the summer. If you haven’t seen it, you should probably watch it – or at least read the explainer below. (Feel free to skip the description if you’re already familiar with the show.)

“Severance” is a science fiction streaming series about a company called Lumon Industries. In the show, employees have a brain chip that literally severs their work memories from their private lives. The original person is called an outie, and their work persona is referred to as an innie. Outies have no memory of their work lives, and innies have no memory of their lives outside the corporation. Innies have slightly different personalities from their outies, as they cannot recall the details that shape their lives. These employees are unaware of anything beyond their experience at Lumon. They don’t know if they’re married or have children – or even their full names, as they’re referred to as “first name, last initial.” Their entire lives begin at 9:00 a.m., last until 5:00 p.m., then begin again at 9:00 a.m. the next day with no gap. They simply enter and exit an elevator with no sense of time passing. They are separate people from their outies, and only exist on the “severed” floor of Lumon. Two of the main characters are Mark Scout and his innie, Mark S. Mark Scout became severed as a way to cope with the grief of losing his wife, but Mark S. has no memory of Mark Scout’s wife. Mark Scout has no idea what Mark S. does at work all day, and quite frankly, Mark S. isn’t really sure, either – though the work is “mysterious and important.” All of that probably sounds crazy, but it gets weirder: Lumon Industries is also a cult based on the teachings of the company’s 19th-century founder, Kier Eagen. Bonkers, right? (Truly excellent television, though!) One of the founder’s aims was to teach people to tame the four “tempers,” which Kier called woe, malice, frolic, and dread. How does any of that tie into the work of the severed floor? We’re not 100% sure! But it’s great fun to speculate.

All caught up? No? Just more confused? No worries! We’re going to jump in, anyway.

Considering I spend most of my time in a state of woe or dread these days, I thought we could do something with that for Halloween.

I think we should spend Spooky Season taming the four tempers this year.

(Caveat, because this is how the world is: The following information is for entertainment purposes and does not constitute medical advice.)

Woe
Translation: Depression, Sadness, Grief

I know it sounds reductive, but all of those basic steps for better physical health also work on mental health. Eat well, increase physical movement, improve your sleep, spend time in nature, and prioritize regular social contact. One extra step is to stop ruminating. Easier said than done! First, you have to recognize when you’re ruminating, then interrupt the looping thoughts. Making a gratitude list can serve as an interruption, and cultivating gratitude can also be beneficial on its own. If your grief is overwhelming or you’re deeply depressed, please seek professional help. I’ve literally been there, but I made it through to the other side, and you can, too. Mourn where you need to, but don’t mourn alone. Find your people by joining groups that share your interests, and more importantly, your values. Make time for the people and activities that fill your cup. Try to make sure you have something to look forward to, even if it’s tiny. I’d say the opposite of woe isn’t happiness, but something closer to contentment.

Malice
Translation: Harmful Intent, Ill Will

Malice isn’t just anger; it’s action with the intent to harm. Stop hurting other people. Stop hurting yourself! Be honest, but be kind. I’m not telling you to “turn the other cheek,” just don’t be the problem. Most people are on the edge; you don’t want to be the one to push them over. Have patience with collapsing systems and the people who work within them. Letter carriers aren’t losing your packages on purpose, right? Retail workers aren’t your punching bag, figuratively or literally. Be gentle – both with others and yourself. Be ethical. Don’t spread rumors or disinformation. Be sensible when you know you’re going into a stressful situation. Do your HALT check: Are you hungry, angry, lonely, or tired? Take care of those things before you go Karen on an innocent party. Refuse to engage with delusional people. You’ll never win an online argument, no matter how right you are; just close the app or browser and walk away. Don’t be a troll and don’t mess with trolls.

Frolic
Translation: Mania, Superficiality, Flippancy

Even frolic can be a negative state if you consider it a form of manic revelry without any thought to future consequences. Second-guess your knee-jerk reactions and move away from black and white thinking. Look for nuance. Use discernment. Question your coping methods – are you just manipulating your dopamine levels? Interrupt impulsive behaviors. Reckon with your screen habits. Are you finding beauty and art to admire? Are you learning and growing? Or are you coveting “Amazon must-haves” and TikTok shop garbage? Remember: Influencers aren’t your friends; they’re living infomercials. You can’t shop the darkness away. Pursue deeper meaning. Build breathing room into your schedule wherever you can. Slow down. Think clearly. Opt out. Study the subjects that interest you most and learn something new each day. Stay grounded.

Dread
Translation: Anxiety, Worry

Most things are outside of our control. Plans fail, our bodies get sick and age, our government falls apart. Realistically, you and I can’t do anything about most of these things, no matter how hard we worry about them. Acceptance is the first part. I think the second part is action. You need to tackle something that gives you a sense of agency. When you fall into the spiral, literally walk away – change locations and do something physical. Take a walk, create something tangible with your hands, clean your bathroom – anything that pulls you away and forces you to focus on the physical world directly in front of you. Just do something. Move toward a goal, however fuzzy it might be. You can course correct later. During times of unusually high stress, it’s important to “complete the stress cycle” after the initial stressor has passed: Breathe deeply; give or receive affection, in conversation or physically; laugh or cry; express your creativity by dancing, singing, painting, or writing; or engage in strenuous physical exercise. These activities signal to your body that it’s safe, so your nervous system can calm down and reset.

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I want to be very clear: We need to experience our emotions, even when they’re “negative.” I’m opposed to malice on principle (seriously, don’t hurt people), but woe and dread are simply part of the human experience, and frolic, as I interpret it, is a kind of coping mechanism gone rogue. The issue isn’t having feelings. The issue is being mired in a specific emotional state – being stuck in a way that’s difficult to manage. I want us all to live as well as we can, even during times like these. We have to take care of ourselves in order to continue our work in the world, whatever that may be.

Finally, in my opinion, there is one antidote to all four tempers: Joy. We must cultivate joy – everyday joys, extraordinary joys, any tiny shred of joy you can find. If you’re reading this, I assume you find joy in the Halloween season. Let’s celebrate that! Find humor where you can; laughter is a form of exorcism. Stay curious. Be kind. It’s not enough to stop doom scrolling. You have to actively seek out the light.

This year – this bleak, horrifying year – let’s cultivate joy even as the darkness grows. Praise Kier.

• Apologies to the materialists in the crowd: Some of this year’s posts are going to get pretty weird. A few of you are new, so please don’t be shocked when we start discussing various aspects of the paranormal. It’s a thing we do here in October.
• Expect a short piece of horror fiction every Friday in this month.
• And if you want to try your hand at some Severance-style macrodata refinement, give it a go here.

More soon. OKAY, BYE! 🖤