Halloween may be fun for some, but for others graphic decorations ...

With more than four decades of experience working in the police force, Josef Sestokas was thrown into more gruesome scenarios than he would have liked.

Warning: This story contains graphic details and imagery.

Key points:A hanging skeleton has triggered a flood of memories for Josef Sestokas, who attended many crime scenes during his police careerAround two-thirds of the world's population will experience some form of trauma in their livesAfter negotiation, the skeleton has been removed from the Halloween display

Working in varied roles across the Gippsland region, he was asked to attend the scene of many fatal accidents, including suicides, which he says were the most challenging jobs of all. 

His proximity to tragedy was not just limited to his day job. In 2017, his son-in-law also died by suicide.

It was these painful memories that came flooding back to him this Halloween.

He was driving home past a neighbour's front yard Halloween decorations, which included a skeleton hanging from a noose.

"It triggered me … it's a part of my working life I'd rather forget," he said.

"I can't unsee what I saw.

"They probably don't realise that there are members of the community who have been affected by this sort of thing."

The Rye family takes pride in decorating their home each year at Halloween.(ABC Gippsland: Oliver Lees)

Understanding trauma

Professor Richard Bryant is the director of the Traumatic Stress Clinic.(Supplied: Richard Bryant)

Richard Bryant is a professor of psychology and a director of the Traumatic Stress Clinic at the University of New South Wales.

As well as providing support for those with diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) his clinic helps people in all walks of life to process difficult events.

According to Professor Bryant, around two-thirds of the world's population would experience some form of trauma in their lives and it was not uncommon for it to lead to a diagnosis of PTSD.

"It's an anxiety condition where people are overwhelmed by an experience," he said.

"It's usually very confronting — either a real threat to my wellbeing, my safety, or somebody else's safety being threatened."

In Mr Sestokas's case, the lifelike nature of the Halloween decoration triggered specifically uncomfortable memories that he would previously have been able to avoid.

But Professor Bryant said not all triggers were so literal. They could be tied to things as simple as a specific smell, colour, or even a physical sensation.

"A firefighter, for example, may see bodies in the course of fighting fires. But then he might get triggered, subsequently, months and months later at a barbecue," he said.

"It might just be the smell of the steak that hits his nostrils, and that'll be a very vivid trigger, and the memories will come flooding back.

"But if you're going to make something very graphic, then I think we need to be very careful about how graphic that's going to be, because the worse it is, the more likely it will be confronting and triggering to a person."

Lisa and Ethan Rye spend hours decorating their home each year.(ABC Gippsland: Oliver Lees)

Embracing horror

For Lisa Rye and her son, Ethan, who designed the hanging skeleton to display at their home in Sale, Halloween is an annual opportunity to play.

As well as an elaborate front garden set-up, this year the Rye family was constructing an immersive experience in their carport for children to enjoy.

"I get over 200 kids come by, so I run out of lollies quite often," Ms Rye said.

Associate professor Lauren Rosewarne is a researcher in social science at the University of Melbourne, she said this embracing of escapism was a big part of what had driven the popularity of Halloween in Australia.

"Given the cultural obsession with true crime as well as the decades and decades of horror films, the idea that one night a year someone might go a little far in the celebration of the dark and gory isn't really a surprise," she said.

"What might be gruesome for you or me, might not be so for someone else."

Finding compromise

After discussing the issue as a group, a decision was made by the Sestokas family to approach the Rye household with their concerns about the decoration.

After Mr Sestokas' wife, Leah, and daughter, Amber, walked down the street and shared their reason for finding the decoration discomforting, the Rye family agreed to remove the skeleton.

Mr Sestokas said there was no hesitation once they heard his family's story.

"I just hope that it doesn't get repeated in different places, that people can listen and have a think before they act," he said.