#9

The episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Fear Itself" is set on Halloween night, and gives an account of what Buffy and her friends take part in. Buffy seems to be reluctant to her friends ideas of Halloween activities in the beginning, and would rather patrol and be on vampire watch. Much to Buffy's dismay, they decide to go to a local fraternity for a haunted house/party to celebrate the holiday. Soon after their arrival, they find the frat house to actually be haunted. The demon that which took over the house feeds on the fear of the college students it is terrorizing. The group of friends is split, and the house proceeds to hone in on each individual students fear. After much chaos, the group manages to meet back up and regroup in one of the main rooms of the house. There they find a book on rituals, and take note of the demonic symbols painted on the floor by the frat at the beginning of the night. With the help of those who were in the house with her and Buffy's mentor, they manage to reveal the demon which incidentally turns out to be minuscule and harmless. The end and overall theme of this episode emphasizes the fact that fear tends to be something that is extremely built up and exaggerated in one's imagination. Perhaps it can be taken from this episode that things are not always as they seem. This is displayed directly through the experiences of Buffy and her friends on Halloween night, in the episode "Fear Itself".