Don’t Get Spooked by a Crisis
In honour of Halloween, we’ve wrangled up five PR nightmares and practical ways to manage them so you don’t feel shivers down your spine
When a crisis hits, it can feel like you’ve wandered into a haunted house: You feel disoriented, unsure which direction to go next, and inevitably, panic starts to set in. But here’s the twist: the real horror isn’t always outside. In many cases, the call could be coming from inside the house.
That’s because most crises don’t appear out of thin air, they start as small issues that go unaddressed. A frustrated customer. A social post that aged badly. A safety or IT concern no one escalated. Left unchecked, those minor chills can grow into full-blown fright.
The good news? With smart issues management and a solid crisis plan, you can keep things from turning into a headline-worthy horror show.
Here are five spooky scenarios that don’t need to haunt your organization, and practical ways to stop them before they rise again.
1. The Jump Scare: A Crisis You Didn’t See Coming
Everything seems calm, until it isn’t. A complaint goes viral. Suddenly, your mentions are screaming louder than a horror movie soundtrack.
The fix: Build and practice your crisis plan before you need it. Identify who monitors issues, who speaks publicly, and who approves messaging. Preparation turns chaos into choreography and helps you face the jump scare before it makes headlines. If you hear about a similar crisis in the news, round up your team and talk about how you would respond if a similar situation happened to you.
2. The Vampire Statement: Sucking the Life Out of Your Message
When panic sets in, many teams reach for the dusty template: “We take this matter very seriously.” It’s lifeless, vague, and drains your credibility faster than a vampire at happy hour.
The fix: Bring your message back to life and make it authentic. Acknowledge what happened, lean into your values, show empathy, and outline your next steps. Transparency is your sunlight, strong enough to send a crisis back to its coffin.
3. The Ghosted Reporter
You see the journalist’s email and think, If I don’t answer, maybe this will just disappear. But ghosting a reporter rarely makes the story vanish, it only makes it more mysterious.
The fix: Don’t vanish into the mist. Even a short holding statement shows accountability and keeps you part of the conversation. A crisis ignored quickly becomes a horror story retold without your input.
4. The Zombie Story That Just Won’t Die
You dealt with the issue months ago… but suddenly it’s clawing its way back onto social media. The headlines are back, the comments are multiplying, and it’s clear the crisis wasn’t as dead as you thought.
The fix: Don’t just bury the problem, resolve it. Monitor coverage, provide follow-ups, and share what’s changed since. Transparency and follow-through are how you finally lay the story to rest: no sequel, no reanimation.
5. The Curse of the Copy-and-Paste Apology
A cookie-cutter apology might seem safe, but it’s the quickest way to lose trust. It’s cold, impersonal, and guaranteed to haunt you later.
The fix: Break the curse. Craft a response that’s specific to the situation and true to your organization’s voice and values. People forgive mistakes, they don’t forgive insincerity. Empathy is your magic spell here.
Final Word: Preparation is the Best Protection
Issues management, proactive monitoring, and crisis training aren’t just nice-to-haves, they’re your silver bullets, your garlic, your flashlight in the dark. Because when you’re ready, even the scariest situations can’t spook you for long.
Reach out to learn more about how Worthington PR can support you with issues management planning, crisis response and media training. Happy Halloween!
