Podcast host Alexa PenaVega says haunted houses unsettle her in a way she once thought nobody else understood: she notices a smell that she associates with death.
“To me, it’s the smell of death,” she said in a clip from LEXLOS shared on her Instagram account.
PenaVega’s description goes beyond disliking a frightening attraction. In the post’s caption, she explained that Halloween has long had a particular aroma for her, and that she had assumed she was alone in noticing it.
“There is something spiritual happening,” she said in the clip, describing how she interprets the experience.
She brought that question into a conversation with her husband and co-host, Carlos PenaVega, and the couple’s pastor, Mark Evans. Their Oct. 29 episode description says Alexa encounters the same smell in haunted houses and seasonal pop-up shops, and spent years assuming something was wrong with her.
Related: Colton Dixon Explains Biblical Hope Behind Halloween-Season Song ‘Bones’
The question reaches beyond whether someone enjoys a good scare. Her account raises a familiar question for families deciding which seasonal activities to join. What do you do when something other people enjoy leaves you deeply uncomfortable?
“Halloween has always had an aroma and I thought I was the only one who could smell it. Turns out that’s not the case!” PenaVega wrote alongside the video, inviting followers to share whether they had experienced something similar.
The podcast’s published notes also describe Evans reconsidering Halloween after seeing his own children become frightened before anyone had taught them to regard it as fun. The same description says Alexa acknowledges judging others over the holiday, bringing another concern into the discussion: how to hold a conviction without looking down on someone else.
Those two concerns belong together. Parents can take a child’s fear seriously and choose a different activity without making another family’s plans the center of the conversation.
Scripture also gives discernment a purpose beyond identifying something unsettling. In 1 Corinthians 12:7–11, Paul includes distinguishing between spirits among the Spirit’s gifts and explains that their purpose is the common good.
The passage names the gift; it does not describe recognizing a particular smell as its test. PenaVega’s spiritual explanation remains her account of what she experiences, rather than something that the passage independently establishes.
For families weighing Halloween plans, her story offers a reason to slow down and talk honestly about discomfort. We can listen to our children, examine the entertainment on offer and make room for an evening that doesn’t require anyone to pretend they’re enjoying being frightened.
Read Next: Ex-Psychic Makes It Clear: ‘Halloween Is Not Redeemable’
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
