Confession time: when was the last time you were scared like an irrational child would be? I’m not talking at the movies where the makers of The Ring work their magic on you, I’m talking about afterwards at home when you’re wierded out alone at night b/c of the movie. I’m not talking about if someone jumped out and scared you or pulled a prank, I’m talking when you pull a mental prank on yourself and feel creeped out, like ‘damn gotta get to bed- open the door- thank god- under the covers- almost there- whew!’
I’m a rational 20 year old man. I’ve just seen too many movies, I guess. I had one of those moments recently. Carl Jung and evolutionary traits my ass, an adult should be able to do anything that would creep out a kid and not be scared- dark attics, alone in a dark creepy place, etc. I’m not talking phobias, either- those are different. I’m talking irrational fear of the dark and/or otherwordly fiends.
:rolleyes:
This is why I don’t like scary movies. It’s not that the movies themselves scare me, it’s how my imagination expands upon the ideas presented in the movie that scare me. Even the most ridiculous B-movie ever will have me imagining what it would be like to be in that situation (where the monsters or whatever attacking are real and not just people in bad costumes). I try not to let it get to me too much, it’s usually just a brief bit while lying awake waiting to fall asleep and my brain getting bored and trying to scare itself for some reason.
I did recently have a very upsetting dream involving my kitchen at home, which involved my normal routine of heading in there late at night to get a snack. Thankfully, it happened here at college and not while at home, so I didn’t have to face that situation shortly after the dream.
You asked for most recent. I was fully grown, with three kids. After reading The Exorcist I slept with the lights on for several nights. But after reading Helter Skelter I had a loaded pistol beside the bed for over a week. That was back in the 70’s. Since then, about the only thing to scare me that much, and it has been more of a vague dread than an outright fear or the like, was 9/11.
On Saturday I went to see Star Wars and before the movie I went into the bathroom and no one else was in it. It was really quiet and not very brightly lit and all I could think about is like, The Ring girl coming out and attacking me, even though I didn’t think the movie was scary. Then when my friend opened one of the doors as I was walking out of the other one, I allegedly jumped a foot in the air. Man that bathroom creeped me out.
A few years ago. I was working evenings, and a group of coworkers decided to go to the midnight showing of The Blair Witch Project. That movie scared the snot out of me anyway, since, like Yumblie, my imagination gets me far worse than anything on the screen, and you never see what’s after them.
I was house-sitting for my mom, who lives in a nice quiet suburban neighborhood with lots of trees and no streetlights, so I come home at 2 in the morning to an empty, dark house, surrounded by woods, after seeing that movie. I couldn’t get inside the house fast enough. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
I’ve never lived alone and I’ve rarely been home alone at night. I had 8 siblings growing up so it was rare that someone else wasn’t sleeping the night too. Then I went to college and stayed in the dorms and then I moved in with various sets of friends. Right now I share a two bedroom with just 2 other girls and so there are sometimes nights when I am home alone. Most of the time I am fine, but if I read about serial killers off of crimelibrary or watch some scary movie then I will freak out and not be able to sleep unless I lock my bedroom door. I feel like such a wuss. :o
The first time I was sitting home alone playing Sims 2 on the computer and kept thinking, “What if someone’s snuck into the house? Would I be able to hear it?”
Note: we have a whopping two bedroom apartment :rolleyes:
I kept turning around expecting to see a creature of pure evil behind me. I kept picturing something like The Leprechaun but taller and dressed in normal clothes.
Then there was the other day when I was taking a shower and started thinking about shower scenes in movies where the person turns around to find they are being stared by the psycho on the other side of the curtain/shower door. And then my brain added zombies to the mix.
Says my brain, “What if you turned around and there were 5 zombies just standing there in the bathroom, staring at you, waiting to eat me?!”
I said to my brain, “Don’t be silly. I would’ve heard them when they opened door and the knob hit wall and why would they stand around waiting to attack, anyways? They just do that in movies for the dramatic effect.”
Then my snarky brain replies, “Yes, but you left your clothes on the floor, which would stop the knob from hitting the wall and thereby alerting you. And maybe these zombies don’t like water so the only thing saving you right now is the fact you standing under running water, did you think about that? Huh? HUH? Whatchya going to do when the water runs out?”
Damn brain. :dubious:
I tend to do this when I’m driving at night, especially if I’m on a deserted, wooded road. One night I was coming home from a friend’s house and my brain, apparently deciding I needed some entertainment, began postulating a lanky-limbed pale dark-eyed creature that would lope along next to my car, staring in the driver’s side window at me, never blinking, never stumbling, but just loping along, effortlessly keeping up with me no matter what my speed, and - and here comes the truly horrifying part, although why this part scared me so bad I have no idea - doing the Macarena the entire time!
I also have a thing about closing my eyes to wash my face when I’m alone in the house. I don’t remember what comedienne said it, but to paraphrase: “It’s like I think there’s a serial killer in the linen closet going, ‘Ok, sheeee’s gotthesoapinhereyes! Now!’”
I tend to be a little too confident in the dark, and I have to be careful not to go wandering around empty areas at night now I’m living in a place where it’s not safe. Strange thing is, I sort of forced myself to be like that when I was younger because with the idea that no adult would ever be scared in those situations. Good job I didn’t know the truth…
I also live in a hall of residence, so I’m never going to be left alone. Sometimes when I brush my teeth, I’ll do the… what if, when I look back in the mirror, it isn’t me? But it always is… so… meh.
Thank you very much, Rilchiam. I glanced briefly at the image last night, and then spent two hours trying to get to sleep.
I am very easily terrified. It’s when I’m trying to relax and fall asleep, and my mental defences are down, that the monsters come for me. I am not allowed to watch scary movies, or The X-Files, or read frightening books. My husband is tired of having me sobbing from fright over something stupid.
Anything lurking in the shadows does it for me. Suggested danger is much worse than blood. Aagh.
I actually considered starting a thread about how I stupidly scared myself a couple of months ago.
It was a Sunday night. I had just seen The Grudge the day before, and found it satisfyingly creepy and scary; I love scary movies. So I was in the mood for ghost stories, and surfing the web yielded a message board wherein people relate their allegedly true supernatural encounters. I was prepared to do a whole lot of eye-rolling, expecting people who believe in that stuff to be self-deluded, illiterate twits. But to my surprise, many of the entries were exceedingly well-written and quite scary. I got sucked in for hours, alone in the house (my SO was away) late at night, reading ghost stories until I had given myself a thorough case of the heebie-jeebies.
When I finally tried to go to bed I was as wired as if I had drunk several gallons of coffee. Now, I am a hardcore atheist and non-believer in the supernatural, so I’m ashamed to admit this – but as I lay there alone in the dark, I allowed my imagination to run away with me. Every shadow and every little sound FREAKED. ME. OUT. :eek:
