It’s almost Halloween, which means people on TikTok are engaging in necromancy and bringing a trend back from the dead: the Michael Myers challenge. The challenge, which originally went viral in mid-2022, involves people running to their front doors as quickly as possible while a friend, pretending to be Michael Myers of Halloween fame, chases them.

@its.adama yea none of us are equipped for that situation #michaelmyerschallenge #college #ncat26 #fridaythe13th #fyp @Kyla @jada ♬ original sound - BEEN1NTENSE

In a recent video, a bunch of college students recorded themselves participating in the trend. The first girl was incredibly quick and made it inside safely, even having time to flip off “Myers” before closing the door. Four of the girls “died” when they couldn’t unlock the front door, a common occurrence with this trend — clearly not enough people have such scenarios in mind when choosing locks for their home, but obviously, they should. One of the girls made it safely inside but got murdered anyway because she didn’t lock the door behind her, allowing “Myers” to follow her inside.

Commenters were quick to point out one major factor that people in these challenges often overlook: The person playing Myers almost always walks too fast, meaning more people than not end up getting caught. If the actual Michael Myers were chasing you, you would have a much better chance of outrunning him — isn’t that comforting?

Take this scene from the original Halloween. Laurie is staggering from house to house, wounded and trying to get help, and Myers still can’t catch up with her until she’s trapped inside one — the dude is seriously that slow.

@livdeclavasio #michaelmyers #challenge #fyp #housemates @johnfamos ♬ Halloween Theme Song - Ultimate Halloween Bash

Older videos from the challenge are the perfect example of that problem, like this one from June 2022 with 13 million views. Every participant gets caught because the person playing Myers walks too fast, something every commenter was quick to point out. This family had a bit more luck, although grandma was doomed from the beginning (it’s pretty messed up for Myers to kill someone’s grandma, tbh).  

Ultimately, what this challenge teaches us is that not everyone is meant to be a final girl — most of us would probably die in Act One, crushed beneath a garage door or trapped in some impossibly f----up trap.