I love horror stories! Nothing gives me a greater thrill than reading words that send actual shivers down my spine. It all started the first time I read Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart". His short narrative starts with, "True! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am: but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them." Well, reading those words made me nervous too but I was drawn in and it did not disappoint. Poe remains one of my favourite writers of all time. Another of my favourites in this genre that I cannot pass up mentioning is H.P. Lovecraft.
There was something about the words that Lovecraft used and the way he put all those words together that just made every sentence he wrote sound creepy. He is also the only horror writer to date who penned a story that gave me nightmares. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" was this one story. I couldn't sleep for weeks! Thankfully, this doesn't normally happen when I read horror. I can put the book down and go gently off to sleep without a horrific thought in my head. Unfortunately, I can't say the same when it comes to horror movies. I am just not able to watch them. They do most certainly destroy my sleep.
I have to admit it. I'm a chicken. When I watch a horror flick I jump at the slightest change in music, cringe and hide my head throughout most scenes, and wish that it would just be over. I don't scream, however. I'm not sure if that's because I'm too scared to scream or if it's because I'm too embarrassed to scream, but for whatever reason I keep the fear to myself which I am sure is appreciated by the people sitting near me. And I'm not too proud to even admit the movie, "Gremlins" scared the crap out of me, but I was young when it was released so I find this to be perfectly understandable.
I've always found it a little odd that I cannot watch horrors. I love all things Halloween, as do the majority of my family members, and as mentioned I love the stories. I just don't love being scared to the point I cannot sleep. I think part of the reason might be because my imagination when reading the bone-chilling words of most horror writers is not near as vivid as the directors who produce these films, such as Wes Craven and Clive Barker. What ends up coming up on the screen is usually one hundred times scarier to me than what I imagined in my head while reading the books. It's almost as if when reading horror everything happening is taking place in the wonderful world of Oz and if I just click my heels three times I know everything will be OK. Of course, it might also be because my family, whenever possible, likes to take advantage of my fear so that they can create a great laugh for themselves. I did say they liked all things Halloween, right? That includes scaring people.
I was 15 years-old when I watched the 1979 film, "When a Stranger Calls" directed by Fred Walton. I really enjoyed the movie, although it kept me awake for a few days afterwards. A short time after that my sister called and asked if I could babysit my two eldest nieces who at the time were just babies. I had completely forgotten the movie at this point and was really happy to have some alone time with the little ones. We lived in a townhouse with neighbours on both sides and two large picture windows in the front living room which is where I was sitting and playing with my nieces. It was wintertime so it had become dark fairly early, and I didn't see my brother, who is eight years my senior, as he walked by the house and peeked in the windows to see me alone with the kids. Instead of coming in he took it as an opportunity! He knocked on the door of one of the neighbours and asked if he could borrow their phone. The first call came and I picked it up. The voice on the other end was low and screechy. "Have you checked the children?" is all I heard before I panicked and hung up the phone. The second call came about 5 minutes later. Same caller. Same low and screechy voice. Same question. "Have you checked the children?" I became hysterical, hung up the phone, took it back off the hook and immediately called my sister and pleaded with her to hurry home. I then kept the phone off the hook for the next 20 minutes waiting for my sister to arrive. Logic told me it was someone playing a prank and most likely someone who knew me well enough to know that a) I was a huge chicken and b) I just watched this movie a few weeks prior. But logic doesn't reason with me when I'm afraid like this. After my sister arrived my brother decided to show his face, a face that was filled with utter glee and laughter over the practical joke he just pulled. Jerk!
Oh, but it doesn't stop with my brother. No! Even my own mother got into the fun about a year later. I hadn't watched another horror flick since "When a Stranger Calls" but had watched a couple prior to it. "Friday the 13th" was one of them and it happened to be playing on TV one school night when I had a lot of homework to do. Not to disturb me as I did my homework in the living room, my mother decided to go downstairs to our basement family room to watch the movie. She also decided to turn up the TV loud enough so I could hear all the eery music being played. I tried to ignore it but there's just something about that music I can't block out. I knew from the sounds exactly when someone was going to be hacked up into pieces. So I started to turn more lights on because the dark was just freaking me out. I was still doing homework when my Mom finished watching the movie and came into the living room. She told me she was going to bed and not to stay up too late. I thought, "Good! Now I can finally concentrate and turn off some of these lights!", but as she ascended the staircase she looked back at me and said, "Oh Mar, I forgot to tell you something!" I looked up at her as she continued, "Jason loves the light!" Well, dammit! I didn't know whether to turn off the lights or keep them on, but I could hear my mother laughing all the way to her bedroom.
Yes, around my family you must never show your weaknesses!
But I do have hope for the future! This past Halloween I was able to watch the entire "Halloween" series of movies with very little flinching. Perhaps soon I will finally get up the nerve to watch "Psycho" or "Rosemary's Baby". Or maybe even "Chucky?". That doll totally creeps me out. Well, we shall see!
One thing I know for sure ...
When I do it won't be anywhere near a member of my family and I will definitely be wearing red, glittery shoes!
I've always found it a little odd that I cannot watch horrors. I love all things Halloween, as do the majority of my family members, and as mentioned I love the stories. I just don't love being scared to the point I cannot sleep. I think part of the reason might be because my imagination when reading the bone-chilling words of most horror writers is not near as vivid as the directors who produce these films, such as Wes Craven and Clive Barker. What ends up coming up on the screen is usually one hundred times scarier to me than what I imagined in my head while reading the books. It's almost as if when reading horror everything happening is taking place in the wonderful world of Oz and if I just click my heels three times I know everything will be OK. Of course, it might also be because my family, whenever possible, likes to take advantage of my fear so that they can create a great laugh for themselves. I did say they liked all things Halloween, right? That includes scaring people.
I was 15 years-old when I watched the 1979 film, "When a Stranger Calls" directed by Fred Walton. I really enjoyed the movie, although it kept me awake for a few days afterwards. A short time after that my sister called and asked if I could babysit my two eldest nieces who at the time were just babies. I had completely forgotten the movie at this point and was really happy to have some alone time with the little ones. We lived in a townhouse with neighbours on both sides and two large picture windows in the front living room which is where I was sitting and playing with my nieces. It was wintertime so it had become dark fairly early, and I didn't see my brother, who is eight years my senior, as he walked by the house and peeked in the windows to see me alone with the kids. Instead of coming in he took it as an opportunity! He knocked on the door of one of the neighbours and asked if he could borrow their phone. The first call came and I picked it up. The voice on the other end was low and screechy. "Have you checked the children?" is all I heard before I panicked and hung up the phone. The second call came about 5 minutes later. Same caller. Same low and screechy voice. Same question. "Have you checked the children?" I became hysterical, hung up the phone, took it back off the hook and immediately called my sister and pleaded with her to hurry home. I then kept the phone off the hook for the next 20 minutes waiting for my sister to arrive. Logic told me it was someone playing a prank and most likely someone who knew me well enough to know that a) I was a huge chicken and b) I just watched this movie a few weeks prior. But logic doesn't reason with me when I'm afraid like this. After my sister arrived my brother decided to show his face, a face that was filled with utter glee and laughter over the practical joke he just pulled. Jerk!
Oh, but it doesn't stop with my brother. No! Even my own mother got into the fun about a year later. I hadn't watched another horror flick since "When a Stranger Calls" but had watched a couple prior to it. "Friday the 13th" was one of them and it happened to be playing on TV one school night when I had a lot of homework to do. Not to disturb me as I did my homework in the living room, my mother decided to go downstairs to our basement family room to watch the movie. She also decided to turn up the TV loud enough so I could hear all the eery music being played. I tried to ignore it but there's just something about that music I can't block out. I knew from the sounds exactly when someone was going to be hacked up into pieces. So I started to turn more lights on because the dark was just freaking me out. I was still doing homework when my Mom finished watching the movie and came into the living room. She told me she was going to bed and not to stay up too late. I thought, "Good! Now I can finally concentrate and turn off some of these lights!", but as she ascended the staircase she looked back at me and said, "Oh Mar, I forgot to tell you something!" I looked up at her as she continued, "Jason loves the light!" Well, dammit! I didn't know whether to turn off the lights or keep them on, but I could hear my mother laughing all the way to her bedroom.
Yes, around my family you must never show your weaknesses!
But I do have hope for the future! This past Halloween I was able to watch the entire "Halloween" series of movies with very little flinching. Perhaps soon I will finally get up the nerve to watch "Psycho" or "Rosemary's Baby". Or maybe even "Chucky?". That doll totally creeps me out. Well, we shall see!
One thing I know for sure ...
When I do it won't be anywhere near a member of my family and I will definitely be wearing red, glittery shoes!