I've been chewing on one of the quotes I posted for you to chew on:
"Where there is no imagination, there is no horror." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I've been defending myself with this quote since before I knew it was a quote by someone. I don't like scary movies. I don't watch them because I know they're going to freak me out. Here's a short list of "scary" movies that have caused sleepless nights/nightmares/sleeping with the light on:
The Blair Witch Project
The Sixth Sense - didn't sleep for a week after this one.
Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
These are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Anyway, I've been claiming for years that I think horror movies scare me so bad because of my vivid imagination. I'll explain.
The Blair Witch Project -*spoiler*-if you haven't seen it, and plan on watching it, skip this paragraph - Remember at the end when Heather is in the house, and she goes down stairs looking for her friend, and he's standing/hovering in the corner? That guy standing in the corner is what I saw every time I closed my eyes. It immediately induced a great feeling of panic. The panic was worst in enclosed places, like the shower. I'm known in my family for taking really long showers(because you're not clean until the hot water runs out), but for a few weeks after this movie, I was in and out in under 5 minutes. I couldn't sleep in my bed because my window was at the top of the stairs leading to our apartment. I slept on the couch until after we moved out of that apartment. I was living with Sean and Karissa at the time, and Karissa, with her super warped sense of humor(which I totally love about her), got great joy from f-ing with me during this time.
The Sixth Sense -*spoiler*-if you haven't seen it, and plan on watching it, skip this paragraph - Remember the little girl ghost played by Mischa Barton, the one who's mom poisoned her, and was poisoning her little sister? K, remember when she reached out from under the bed, and scared the crap out of Cole? So, I sleep in an antique wrought iron bed that sits really high up off the floor. After seeing this movie, to get into bed, I would stand in my bedroom doorway and literally leap onto the bed so that nothing could reach out and get me. I think Sean and Karissa may be the only people that knew that, if I even ever told them. Anyway, so I'd leap into bed, with the light on, and lay in bed awake freaking out all night long. I didn't like walking down my hallway because I was afraid I was going to see the kid that wanted to show Cole his dad's gun. 2 days after I saw it, my friend Trisha had a baby, so I went and sat up all night at the hospital playing with the baby and keeping her company since I couldn't sleep anyway. That baby, Raini, is 6 now, and I still have a stronger bond with him than anyone else. That's the one good thing that came out of seeing this movie.
Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan - I lived a pretty sheltered life when I was younger, and this was my first scary movie. I was 13 at the oldest the first time I saw this one. My best friend lived across the street, and it was the first time I stayed the night at her house. So we watched it, then went to bed on the pull-out in her den. Every time I saw a shadow, I knew Jason was coming to get me. At one point, I opened my eyes and thought I saw Jason standing in the doorway. I wanted to go home so bad that night, but I didn't want to tell my parents I had watched a scary movie and was freaking out, so I toughed it out, but I didn't get much sleep that night.
I also remember one time when I was in the second or third grade a story teller came to our school and told a really good detailed story about a panther scratching through the roof of a woodsman's cabin. I slept in Sean's bedroom floor for 2 weeks after that. My mom went to the school, there was a meeting with the principal, and at that young I felt so much shame for being so scared by a silly little story.
Anyway, if you ever ask me to a scary movie, and I decline, these are my reasons why.
Have a nice day!
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