In honor of Halloween tomorrow, I feel like I have to do the obligatory fear post. So here goes: a list of the ways books and movies have made me afraid of things.
1. Ebola. Specially, a genetically-enhanced super-strain that turns into a worldwide epidemic and leads to one of the most painful deaths imaginable. Thanks, EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy. Honorable mention: the movie OUTBREAK.
2. Clowns. I should never have read Stephen King's IT when I was 13 years old.
3. People who pick up hitchhikers. Thanks to UNDER THE SKIN by Michel Faber, I know that these seemingly helpful souls have nefarious intentions.
4. Being locked in the attic with my siblings. Thanks, FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC by VC Andrews.
5. Room 101. This is the place, according to 1984 by George Orwell, that all your worst fears come to haunt you. No thanks.
6. Being buried alive. In KILL BILL PART 2, The Bride gets out of her 6 ft deep coffin using her special skills. In the Alfred Hitchcock episode "Final Escape", the woman prisoner is not so lucky.
7. Dark subway tunnels. If ENCLAVE by Ann Aguirre and the film 28 WEEKS LATER have taught me anything, it's that nothing good lurks in dark subway tunnels. Do not enter.
8. Being trapped in darkness for all eternity. Thanks WES CRAVEN'S THEY for making me have to sleep with a nightlight again.
9. Having a kid who turns out to be a killer. There are quite a few of these, but most chilling are Lionel Shriver's WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and the film THE GOOD SON. (Note: I have no children.)
10. Every other scary thing in horror books and movies. This is why I avoid them whenever possible.
What fears have books and movies cultivated in you?
1. Ebola. Specially, a genetically-enhanced super-strain that turns into a worldwide epidemic and leads to one of the most painful deaths imaginable. Thanks, EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy. Honorable mention: the movie OUTBREAK.
2. Clowns. I should never have read Stephen King's IT when I was 13 years old.
3. People who pick up hitchhikers. Thanks to UNDER THE SKIN by Michel Faber, I know that these seemingly helpful souls have nefarious intentions.
4. Being locked in the attic with my siblings. Thanks, FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC by VC Andrews.
5. Room 101. This is the place, according to 1984 by George Orwell, that all your worst fears come to haunt you. No thanks.
6. Being buried alive. In KILL BILL PART 2, The Bride gets out of her 6 ft deep coffin using her special skills. In the Alfred Hitchcock episode "Final Escape", the woman prisoner is not so lucky.
7. Dark subway tunnels. If ENCLAVE by Ann Aguirre and the film 28 WEEKS LATER have taught me anything, it's that nothing good lurks in dark subway tunnels. Do not enter.
8. Being trapped in darkness for all eternity. Thanks WES CRAVEN'S THEY for making me have to sleep with a nightlight again.
9. Having a kid who turns out to be a killer. There are quite a few of these, but most chilling are Lionel Shriver's WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and the film THE GOOD SON. (Note: I have no children.)
10. Every other scary thing in horror books and movies. This is why I avoid them whenever possible.
What fears have books and movies cultivated in you?
