I mentioned before that I’m listening to Duma Keys by Stephen King. I’m halfway through exactly and I keep waiting to be scared out of my skin. King is on a slow move in this one so I’m sure the wait will pay off. Or maybe not, since his goal is to terrify his listener. So the question begging to be asked is, what am I getting myself into??
Why the horror kick? Hummm. Started when I was a kid. Two of my older boy cousins always watched them on Cable then taunted me and their sister because we were afraid. I hated horror movies. But hated being called a baby, sissy, chicken… more. (although I really was sort of a baby being around 8 when this all started) So I watched. And then I paid.
Eventually those two weren’t around to bother us anymore. But then she and I would challenge each other to watch some a few times a year. We would psych ourselves out and go for it. Then tremble. One of those was Psycho. That… I never should have watched. I think I was 42 before I could shower in a house alone without waiting for a knife to come through the shower curtain!
I backed away from horror once my cousin and I moved away from each other, when I was around 20. But then along came my sons. Specifically John and Zach loaded with nerves of utter steel and the topic of horror returned to my world. They wanted to watch them as a general rule, like I would want to watch anything but. And they came out of me! I marvel. With John I just refused to view them with him and didn’t allow him to, although he did anyway without my knowing for a long time. Till about six years ago. There was something he wanted me to watch so I did. So reignited this personal dare to randomly watch scary, here and there.
About four years back I got into writing and found “On Writing” by Stephen King. Not being able to ignore the huge amount of shelf space he gobbled up at B&N and yet another movie coming out all the time I couldn’t help but yank that book off the shelf and lay the money down. I devoured it and was hooked. I had to see how he wove words together. So I dove, nervously, into his works and discovered what a fabulous, sometimes wordy, writer he is. Scary yes, but terrific all the same.
I was further spurred by Zach who, two years ago, began to make incessant requests go to scary movies. It was a John re-run. Except his timing was perfect and he had Stephen King to thank. And we began. From there I chose very selectively. Selectively for him and his age and me, his chicken mother! If it weren’t for John2 I never would have made it through “1408″. Although by the end I thought it was a fabulous movie and have re-watched without a hitch. Okay, I watch it fine, but then when it’s night I can get a little jittery.
But this desire to be able to watch scary without terror driving me to keep every light in the place burning brightly has been something that stuck with me since I was a kid. And for some reason it won’t leave me alone. Haven’t been able to put my finger on it till lately. I am beginning to see that there’s another underlying drive for me to watch horror. Every time I watch/read horror, esp. King, I see something. Something that lies there like a glittering jewel. A message for the unconscious. Possibly that’s where the horror actually lies in those movies . . .
Theresa Jane
-who may one day watch horror and not jump through the ceiling or need the lights on! But will never watch such choices as Saw 1,2,3,4… I don’t classify that stuff as horror. That, IMHO, shouldn’t be filmed. Another topic for another day.
Okay, I have to share! Hope the “boss” isn’t looking”.
fromhousewifetofilmmaker
