...five days later I still have the heebie jeebies. I watched the movie by myself, mostly with the shield of my fingers up over my eyes to protect me from the scariness. That must not have been enough to protect me though because I thought I'd be over it by now. But some recent behavior is telling me that I'm not over it. Things like:- quickly pulling back the shower curtain when I go to the bathroom to make sure there's nothing scary behind it (an apparition of some sort? Or worse.).
- Afraid to go outside after dark.- A little convinced there's something in my closet. I mean, in a grown up way, of course. Not in a childish way.
- Waking up in the middle of the night and not wanting to open my eyes for a minute or so.- General feelings of goose bumpy-ness followed by a sideways glance.
I'm just not good with scary movies. This is something that I know about myself but pretend isn't true because I like watching them. Years ago I saw the movie "The Grudge" with a then-boyfriend and it scared me to death. My ex-boyfriend thought it was hilarious to make that horrible Grudge sound to freak me out all the time. It wasn't. Then he thought that seeing the parody movie "Scary Movie" would make me less scared since that particular Scary Movie mocked the Grudge. But that didn't work either. Even though it was supposed to be funny, it actually scared me too.
But I just can't resist watching an occasional scary movie. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it. Plus, it's almost campfire time so it's time to get those scary stories ready, right? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen? Any tips on getting un-scared?
6 comments:
A few years ago, I watched a scary movie with a friend during the middle of the afternoon. Between the bright sunshine, chirping birds, and our side comments, the movie lost all possible credibility as a horror flick! Also, commercial breaks can do that, too. When someone is about to go into a freaky basement in their pjs, and then the tv station cuts away to air a commercial, it breaks up the moment. :)
I stopped watching scary movies in the third grade. After that, my brother and then my oldest daughter made up for that deficit by insisting on telling me all of the details about the scary movies that I refused to watch with them in the first place. So I didn't have to watch the Amityville Horror or What Lies Beneath or The Sixth Sense. I have enough of the details from scared family members to last me for two lifetimes!! Linda
I totally heart scary movies but my friends and family do NOT heart seeing them with me (general screaming, grabbing and groping). My secret is I think of a disney movie before bed. I'll even hum a disney tune sometimes and then I'm not so scared. You should try it.
"Joseph...my room...father!" Man, that does NOT come across as scary when it's just written out like that. I think that the best way to de-scarify is to picture the scary people being tickled and falling over giggling. Or to tell yourself (which is what I actually do) that these people are just acting, and those monsters were just hired in for the movie. Once it's over, they're going back to their home planet or the graveyard from whence they came. No worries.
I tend not to watch movies that I think are going to try to make me jump with lots of smash cuts and loud noise cues--that's not fun for me and I think it's kind of cheap. (Sure, they scared me, but anything is going to scare me if stuff is jumping out at me, you know? That doesn't mean it's a good film.) So I tend to stay away from a lot of horror films.
However, the scariest movie I've ever seen is the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which I saw in college. That thing was so disturbing and genuinely spooky that it me nightmares for days. And recently, the first half of Right At Your Door provoked more realistic dread than I can ever recall feeling during a movie. (The second half slowly ground to a not-entirely-satisfying ending, but I'd still recommend it.)
As for unwinding yourself after a scary movie, I find the best antidote is to follow it by watching a hilariously bad "scary" movie on MST3K. Two hours of Tom Servo and Crow pointing out all the ways that it's just a movie--and not even a competent one at that--usually calms me way down. :)
I gave up scary movies, too. When I am pregnant, stories in the scriptures are even too scary... I stick with plotless shows now :). come over and we'll watch my friends tigger and pooh, but not the ones with the freaky heffalumps and/or woozles.
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