“Halloween decorations are so scary now,” a friend of mine said last week. I know what she means.

This month, both in Virginia and in Kentucky, I’ve seen skeletons, monsters, spiders and other elaborate displays of seasonal fright. More than usual, it seems. Decoration inflation for sure, and maybe something else? Faux anxiety masking the real thing?

Back home, there’s a werewolf on Fox Mill Road that steps menacingly out of the woods. The first time I drove by him, years ago, I almost jumped out of my skin. Now I’ve come to expect him. But I wouldn’t want to bump into him on a dark forest stroll.

Just next door to me here in Lexington is an entire skeleton family, including two adults carrying a casket with a baby skeleton inside. I’ve seen faux graveyards, spider webs, and inflatable creatures of all types, including Jack the pumpkin from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

One of the most fearful sights I’ve seen this season is this nun zombie I passed on a walk in Reston. Maybe it’s the eight years of parochial education I endured … but for some reason I find her the scariest of all.