Horror

Ah, Halloween, when horror takes over everywhere. Thing is, I never liked it. Horror, that is, not Halloween. I tended to really like Halloween, when the terror was formal and expected, the one night I did not have nightmares. Never really scared by monsters or body horror, even before my time in surgery doing pancreatic debridements*. Found it distasteful without any relish. Fake and ugly, screamy and loud is all. The startle factor, in a large crowd, can be entertaining, but that has more to do with suspense than with gore and red corn syrup.

Suspense is more my speed. The ordinary in unexpected contexts. The Last Wave haunted me deeply, mostly seeing the shaman in that suburban house without explanation. Attack the Block spooked me nicely, smart writing, a real menace, real concern for characters I liked. I Walked With A Zombie a classic B movie with an air of terror in the shadows my only other favorite. Although Army of Darkness has some appeal if only for Bruce Campbell being so camp and furious.



And that's only because I've seen Young Frankenstein so many times it's engraved in my head.




What got me as a kid were close ups of eyes, skulls, with those empty eyes. I think it was the sense of being stared at that unnerved me. Oh, and shadows. Or, what might be watching from them. I was 20 before I got over my fear of the dark. Sat on an upturned rowboat in the snow by a lake in the middle of the night, and felt the darkness hold me, softly taking the fear away.

Fear is not a friend, I've striven all my life not to succumb to fear. Courage is an undervalued virtue.



*The most like an evisceration, with fake-looking colors and damage.