The 7 Scariest Things You Can Do in Business Email (Halloween Edition)
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The inbox can be a dark, cryptic place. One wrong keystroke and your career can become a zombie—dead, but still shuffling. This Halloween, avoid these seven blood-curdling blunders that turn colleagues into screaming stakeholders and clients into vanishing ghosts.
1. The “Reply-All” Revenant
You meant to whisper a snarky remark to one teammate, and instead, you CC’d the entire company, including the CEO.
Horror factor: 10/10. The email lives forever in archives, rising every time someone hits “Search.”
How to cast out: Pause. Ask: “Does everyone need this?” Use BCC for mass sends. Save the drama for personal chats.
Think Twice Before Replying to All
2. The Subject-Line Succubus
Subject: “Hey” or “Follow-up” or (shudder) blank.
Recipients open expecting something unimportant, only to receive a cryptic invoice query demanding a response.
Horror factor: 8/10. It drains trust faster than a vampire drains… well, you know.
How to cast out: Write a subject that summarizes the ask and deadline: “Q4 Budget Approval Needed by 10/31 – Action Required.”
10 Business Email Subject: Field Tips
3. The Attachment Apparition
“I swear the deck was attached.” It wasn’t.
The recipient now sees you as the unreliable poltergeist who caused them to waste 20 minutes hunting for a file that never existed.
Horror factor: 7/10. Repeated offenses brand you unreliable.
How to cast out: Attach first, write second. Name files like a responsible adult: “2025-Marketing-Plan-v2-FINAL.pdf.”
Business Email Attachment Courtesies
4. The Tone-Deaf Terror
ALL CAPS, zero punctuation, or the passive-aggressive “as per my last email” dagger.
Horror factor: 9/10. Misread tone summons HR faster than a Ouija board summons demons.
How to cast out: Read aloud in your most robotic voice. If it sounds like a ransom note, rewrite. One exclamation point max; save the rest for actual emergencies.
Perceptions and Your Business Email Style
5. The Midnight Missive
Sending non-urgent emails at 12 a.m. with “no rush.” Your contact wakes to numerous notifications and assumes the worst. Do your best to send business emails only during business hours.
Horror factor: 6/10. Boundary erosion is the slow decay of careers.
How to cast out: Use “Send Later.” Let the email haunt their inbox at 9 a.m. like a civilized ghoul.
Business Email and Technology Etiquette eBook
6. The Thread-Jacking Poltergeist
Replying to a six-month-old chain about holiday parties to now ask for TPS reports.
Everyone scrambles to remember what “TPS” even means.
Horror factor: 7/10. Your email is like a creeky door opening to a cobwebbed house.
How to cast out: Start a new thread. Quote only the single relevant line if you must reference history.
When is it Time to Change the Subject in Your Business Emails?
7. The “To: Undisclosed Recipients” Mass Hex
Blasting 300 clients with visible email addresses, no personalization, and a broken unsubscribe link.
Congratulations: you just violated GDPR and summoned a spam-filter demon.
Horror factor: 11/10. Lawsuit concerns rise from the grave.
How to cast out: Use mail-merge tools and segmented lists. Test on yourself first to receive your own curse before unleashing it.
Do You Understand GDPR and Your Email Data Collection?
Final Boo-st of Advice
Treat every email like you aren’t some unwanted apparition:
Happy Halloween. May your inbox remain cleansed from troublesome entities. 🎃
