I know what you mean. For my commute, it's dark both ways. The morning is a little less creepy to me, mostly because I see enough joggers and dog walkers out that it's not that bad. It's somewhat light by the time I get to the more sketchy, industrial, truck-stop part of my commute near work, too.

The problem for me is the ride home. It's already dark when I start, so I'm going through the above mentioned areas in full darkness. It's also fairly light on traffic in those areas, so I start doing a lot of the 'what if' thinking as well. I imagine there are 'bad guys' around every corner just waiting for the girl on the bike. (I'm sure they aren't really out there...but whatever). Once I get onto a main road where there is tons of traffic, I actually feel much safer. Tons of traffic means that the cars are moving a little slower...and since I'm so lit up, it's hard to miss me. I can't really explain it except to say that when it's dark and cold, I think of those huge metal beasts beside me as friends. Weird, I know. I just get spooked when it's dark and I'm all alone.

And no, I haven't really found a way around it. I try to suck it up, but in reality, my winter commute is way less frequent than it is during the fall and spring where I at least get daylight for one direction or the other.