There are many movies and TV shows that are related to the extremely popular time of year known as Halloween. During Halloween, one of the most used tactics for scaring is to wear a scary mask. This idea of masking and developing a different identity goes hand and hand with doubles and doppelgängers and the uncanniness they can have. Dressing up allows individuals to be someone completely different. It also allows them to adopt a multitude of different personalities. They chose to become a doppelgänger of the figure they have decided to dress up as.

Many movies such as Scream, Halloween, The Purge, Jason, The Strangers, and many more all feature this idea of wearing masks. While the mask itself induces fear, it is also the uncanniness behind the mask that creates fear as well. For instance, the long face presented in Scream, the solemn and dead-eyed mask presented in Halloween, the many different bloody and horrific variety of masks presented in The Purge, the hard and scratched up mask presented in Jason, and the doll like masks presented in The Strangers. No matter what mask it is, there is an overarching feeling of uncanniness which induces fear.

Furthermore, each of these movies presents that idea of adopting another personality. However, adopting these personalities also has to do with the fact that most of these characters experience mental health and are all ultimately serial killers. When individuals dress up as these characters for Halloween you can’t help but feel uneasy. Masking your identity to adopt another one is quite simply a definition of uncanniness.