Skip to Content
Opinion

What SCARES You? (An Open Thread Discussion of Fear.)

We're getting spooky this week.

Wikipedia Commons

Greetings. Dr. Boller* here, scribbling in my notebook as you lay on a chaise lounge: What scares you? (*Mr. Boller is not a doctor; he graduated from a state school with a worthless journalism degree—Ski-U-Mah!)

As we careen spookily into the Halloween weekend, let's chat about scary stuff in the broadest and/or most specific senses. What stirs your existential dread (climate change, income inequality, creeping neofascism)? What phobias grip you (ablutophobia, coulrophobia, or, god forbid, samhainophobia)? What Minnesota locations "give" haunted "aura" (Glensheen Mansion, the Soap Factory, Cuzzy's)? Or, on a much lighter note, what sorts of frightening media do you enjoy (Rosemary's Baby, Stephen King, the Misfits discography)?

If these very prompts are giving you the heebie-jeebies, don't sweat it! This is your Friday Open Thread, so talk about whatever the hell (place the Devil lives, very scary) you'd like.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More Stories

Rock Is Back! Pilllar Forum, Mpls Reach Fire Code Agreement.

Plus Thomson Reuters hates your freedom, fears keeping local Muslims from making a pilgrimage, and canceled flights in today's Flyover news roundup.

MPLS Piecycle Club Promotes Group Rides With Adorable Antidotes to AI Art

Creating community with a little help from cycling squirrels, dancing bears, and anthropomorphic loaves of bread.

July 17, 2026

Tell Us About Your Unusual Hobby in This Week’s Open Thread

As we do every Friday, we're turning Racket over to you, the readers.

Freeloader Friday: 157 Free Things To Do This Weekend

Park festivals! World cup watch parties! Rock 'n' roll tees!

Love in the Age of Buckthorn: New Dating Group Seeks Romance, Annihilation of Invasive Species

Plus Mille Lacs v. Mille Lacs, Mpls rejects drones, and when not to call 911 in today's Flyover news roundup.

There Are Plenty of Movies to Watch This Week That Aren’t ‘The Odyssey’

Pretty much all the movies you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

July 16, 2026