Few things that endure today are as old and as constant as humanity’s relationship with fear.

For as much as we dread the experience, we simultaneously crave it. Horror tales are a tradition as old as campfires, and today are a sprawling industry and aesthetic that many of us at The Express favor, if you can’t tell by our various October celebrations every year.

Yet, a key element to horror is our ability to turn the lights on.

The duality of horror is crucial: not just the spike of fear, but the calming wash of knowing that you are safe.

Our society, in 2025, is wholly consumed by fear.

Social media ensures a constant drip of atrocities from all around the world.

If that pervasive background noise isn’t sufficient to terrify, there are always those who seek to prey upon our differences as Americans — the melting pot of the world, formerly to our pride and now seemingly to our shame — to keep us afraid and pliable.

If you are educated and researched on the state of the world, you are at least potentially afraid:

— Of macro-fears, things like climate change, famine, microplastics and so forth;

— Of geopolitical fears, things like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, along with other regional conflicts and coups throughout Africa and southeast Asia;

— Of domestic fears, things like the effects of laws and executive orders from President Biden, formerly, or President Trump, currently;

— Of financial fears, things like being able to afford groceries and a roof over your head, new clothes and car repairs, or maybe even retirement, if you’re fortunate;

— Of health fears, things like family histories, mysterious lumps and allergies, surgeries and healthcare;

— Of other various concerns and worries…this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list!

If you’re a caring and empathetic person, it is likely that you also have at least some of these fears for people you know and love, as well.

That’s a lot.

Drink that in for a moment. Really sit with it.

Why do we allow this? What stops us from being able to just set it aside and enjoy the good things in our lives?

The answers to that question are ancient and varied. They are the domain of philosophers and psychologists and priests, and nobody has the same response.

What we do feel confident in is the need for the release of safety.

Turn the lights back on. Breathe.

There’s a long-running joke about Clinton County and being in a bubble — that we are a few decades behind the rest of the world and that life moves slower here.

We imagine many rural communities feel that way.

Traditionally, it is paired with a sense of derision — a sort of longing for modernity and respect. However, at a time when the world is so scary to so many, we would argue that the time has come to lean into the image.

Yes, we do live in a bubble. It is safe inside the bubble. We can be safe here.

If we work towards it.

Recently, there was another protest by a group opposed to policies of the Trump administration — in concert with nationwide protests the same day, including examples in Williamsport and State College.

This was a community event, and as such, we printed a photo of it and a brief cutline on our community page. It was also shared to our Facebook, where it received the usual firestorm of us vs. them political comments. Some accused the ralliers of being paid, invoking bogeymen like Democratic donor George Soros.

Fear.

Maybe that does happen. Maybe there are legitimate cases of billionaires like Soros — or Elon Musk — using their wealth to purchase opinion.

But not here.

We — all of us: left, right and in-between, need to get over our fear of one another.

The only people who win when we fear one another are those who couldn’t give a rat’s behind about Clinton County in the first place.

We have more than enough of our own, home-grown problems — like diminishing healthcare options, low wages, strife at the school district and many other things that we regularly write about.

There’s no need to drink in the problems of the world, to bathe in the fear that social media algorithms and television pundits are fond of pushing.

Who remembers the Satanic Panic of the 1980s — when parents became afraid that their children, many of whom are now in their 50s, were straying towards evil because they liked Dungeons and Dragons (a board game) and hard rock (a musical genre).

We’ll be honest: we don’t, because our editorial staff are all younger than that. But, existing in a world where Dungeons and Dragons is a cool thing to do with friends and hard rock is now viewed as music that dads chill to with beers in the garage, we’re pretty sure it’s safe to say that the fears were unfounded.

There’s plenty of things to be afraid of in the world. We don’t need to take up false burdens in addition to our real ones. A lot of the moral panics of the day — things like the outrage over transgender athletes (who have been playing sports to no acclaim for decades) — are distractions.

If you truly are seeking things to be afraid of, turn your attention to the local community and try to help build resilience. The recovery for Hurricane Debby still isn’t complete, and we are approaching storm season again. The amount of repeated devastation throughout Appalachia from storms and floods is harrowing, and we, as a river community, are just as vulnerable.

There’s a famous quote from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first inaugural address –itself possibly a reference to Henry David Thoreau — that is often abbreviated: “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Here’s the full quote:

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.”

Do not waste effort on nameless, unreasoning and unjustified terrors. Instead, focus on working with your friends, neighbors and community members on making our home a place of safety; a happy bubble in the woods, to the best of our ability.