I don’t know who Kate Ashfield is but I feel like we could be friends. But the younger me did watch scary movies like The Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Poltergeist, The Shining. To this day the smell of oranges makes me think of having premonitions. I read Flowers In The Attic by V.C. Andrews and am now scarred for life by thoughts of children trapped in attics and…worse. I also thought it was a good idea to watch The Cabin In The Woods. By. Myself. Spoiler Alert – nothing good EVER happens in dilapidated cabins in the woods.

But I love thrillers.There’s a fine line that separates the two for me. But what’s the difference? I found a great article that quoted Stephen King from Danse Macabre that shed some light.

“novels dealing with horror always do their work on two levels. On top is the ‘gross-out’ level […] the gross-out can be done with varying degrees of artistic finesse, but it’s always there. But on another, more potent level, the work of horror really is a dance — a moving, rhythmic search. And what it’s looking for is the place where you, the viewer or the reader, live at your most primitive level” 

Horror stories go to those deepest and darkest of places. The things that happen seem both impossible and all too real. They’re a person’s worst nightmare.

Until next time…

What about you? Who watches scary movies? And what’s your favourite?