Halloween is a mere month away. Did you know that it is either the second- or third-favorite holiday of the year for most Americans? (That’s according to my very unscientific Google search of the topic.) And judging by the popularity of Halloween-ish stories, it’s clear we love being scared, at least in fiction.
Curious about this phenomenon (why people like being scared), I went to Google and found some interesting theories.
According to a few articles I read, you have to know that you’re not in any real danger to enjoy the feeling of fright. Like when you go through a haunted house at an amusement park, you know it’s all staged, so even when that monster jumps out at you from behind a door, you can laugh it off. (Although the haunted house I went through as a kid felt VERY REAL. I could have sworn those were real rats nibbling on my toes as I walked down the rat corridor. Ugh.)
Anyway, the enjoyment apparently comes from the intensity of the flight-or-fight hormones, followed by that almost instantaneous comprehension that you’re not in any real danger.
Another article I read speculated that we need that come-down effect on a psychological level, not just physical. That we push ourselves to experience fear so we can have an accompanying sense of satisfaction at having survived and vanquished that fear. … Um, really? I’m not sure I buy that one.
All I know is that I like scary books and movies. (I’m not counting slasher films. Those aren’t scary to me, just gross.)
I know that when I read a book, or watch a movie, and I find myself holding my breath, motionless, or the hairs on the back of my neck lift, or my skin starts to prickle, I’m hooked. And when the story is over, I wish I could stay in that make-believe world—scary and all—just a bit longer.
That’s the joy of story-telling isn’t it—to forget who and where we are, even for a short spell.
So in honor of those great scary/suspenseful story-crafters, I thought I’d share a few that have impacted me most.
Books
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
If you haven’t read this classic Gothic novel, go to your library and grab a copy, read the first line, and tell me you aren’t sucked right in. The dark and mournful tone throughout. The imagery. It’s just perfect. Here’s one of my favorite quotes: “The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.” Love it.
The Taking by Dean Koontz
I have to preface this by telling you my sister recommended this book to me. My sister who likes light, comedic mysteries, like the Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, recommended this terrifying book filled with dark and disturbing visions that kept my eyes glued to the pages for several nights…so much so I could not close them long after putting the book down. Thanks so much, sis.
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Another epic novel that kept me turning pages as I read one horrifying scene after another, and decided that the world could indeed be overrun by vampire creatures. I haven’t had the guts to try the sequels yet.
Movies
The Terminator (the original from 1984) with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. Every time I watch this movie, no matter how much my logical brain tells me I’m watching 30-year-old fiction, I’m transported to that city with poor Sarah Connor who is running for her life from this…this… merciless, relentless, killing machine that looks like a man. The ending few minutes where the machine’s red-eyed endoskeleton is hunting Sarah through the flames—every time I see it, I try to scrunch myself into the couch….back, back, back so the monster can’t get me. (I’m scaring myself just thinking of it!)
The Wizard of Oz
Admittedly, the doesn’t have the same effect on me now as it did when I was in pre-school, but that Wicked Witch of the West and those horrible flying monkeys … I shiver just thinking about them! You know what I’m talking about, right?
The Birds
Many people say Psycho is Hitchcock’s scariest movie, but for me, it was The Birds. Again, it might have been because of my age when I first saw it, but there is something so disturbing about a bunch of seemingly harmless birds sunning themselves on an overhead wire, then suddenly start circling overhead, then gathering and swarming, then attacking. For days after I saw that movie I ran inside the house with my arms over my head and face…fearful the neighborhood sparrows would peck my eyes out!
Legends
There’s only one that truly scares me – the Jersey Devil. This mythical hoofed, leather-winged monster has been terrorizing residents of the New Jersey Pine Barrens for … well, as long as I remember.
The legend tells of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Leeds who lived in what is now Atlantic County in the mid-1700s. Upon the birth of their 13th child, Mrs. Leeds shouted, “He’ll be the devil,” or words to that effect, at which point the newborn turned into the creature that to this day haunts the woods in the area. It is cruel and heartless … and relentless, like the Terminator. Or think of the velocraptor chasing the kids in the lab in Jurassic Park … which would have been a fourth in my movie list!
Historians claim the whole thing started as a political prank, by Benjamin Franklin of all people. But those of us from Jersey who grew up hearing the stories…we believe.
What are your favorite scary stories and legends?