I am afraid of many things, yet I fear nothing ~ Alicia Dean
Pretty profound, huh? Or maybe just confusing? Let me
explain. Although there are a lot of things that scare me, it’s okay, because I
love to be scared. Don’t get me wrong, if someone was about to shoot me in the
face, I probably wouldn’t enjoy that kind of fear, but I love scary movies and
things that go bump in the night.
When I was a kid, I had the reputation as a daredevil and
nothing frightened me…well almost nothing. There were a few things that gave me
the heebie jeebies:
- Werewolves (not the new, hot kind we have these days like Alcide on True Blood and Tyler on Vampire Diaries). I’m referring to the scary, old-time Wolfman played by Lon Chaney, Jr. Sure, it looks fake now, but when I was a kid, it looked real enough to scare the bejeesus out of me, and he still gives me the creeps
- The Grand Canyon (we visited when I was 8, and my dad leaned back over the railing to take our pics and I could see him plummeting to the bottom of that huge, endless rocky monstrosity)
- Sharks (enough said)
- Lastly, the witch on the Wizard of Oz. Not the Wicked Witch of the West, although she was plenty scary, but the part that creeped me out was when her sister’s feet curled up beneath Dorothy’s house. I saw the movie a few weeks ago in IMAX 3D, and after all these years…still scary.
I understand that all of these fears are unreasonable.
Werewolves and the Wicked Witch of the East are not real (or are they…?). If I
stay out of the ocean I’m unlikely to encounter a shark, and if I stay away
from the Grand Canyon, I won’t fall in. But isn’t fear really more about our
imagination than any real danger?
As a writer, my imagination runs wild, which comes in handy.
I love horror movies and haunted houses and supernatural creatures and darkness
and all of that fun stuff. I love the rush of being frightened out of my wits.
My three children are the same way. I allowed them to watch horror movies when
they were very young. They loved them and still do. Our favorite is the
Halloween franchise. We had the pleasure of visiting Michael Myers’ house in July when
we went on a Vampire Diaries tour in Atlanta. It was the house from Rob
Zombie’s remake, not the original Halloween movie. It was pretty awesome...and eerie. Here are two of my
children standing in front of the house. See how happy they are? I told you, we LOVE
to be scared.
My affinity for fear is why I love to write paranormal. I’ve been told some
of my stories are ‘creepy’ which I consider a great compliment, even though I
don’t believe it was intended that way. :)
My latest release is Liberty Divided, Isle of Fangs Book 2, my YA Vampire Novella Series. This one is mild compared to some of the
things I’ve written, but I’ve still had a few people tell me it scared them…ha!
Wimps.
One
man can fulfill her destiny…the other can fulfill her fantasy.
To quell the rise of evil
vampires, Liberty Van Helsing must embrace her newfound Hunter destiny. But she
has a great deal to learn, and Eli Barkley—the vampire who has been teaching
her—has already betrayed her once. Her goal is to shut Eli out of her life and
become a better hunter on her own—and to focus on her new romance with hot
Australian, Ryan Kelly, a human she can trust.
But when a rogue vampire
begins savagely killing young women, the authorities insist Liberty work with
Eli to find the murderer. Liberty must overlook Eli’s epic betrayal and find a
way to get along with him if they are to stop the unknown maniac and protect
innocent lives.
Yet, the more time Liberty
spends with Eli, the more her unwanted attraction to him grows. She starts to
question her feelings for Ryan—are they real, or could Eli be ‘the one?’ As Eli
and Liberty delve further into the murders, clues surface that point to Eli as
the culprit. Can she trust him now? Or will she have to plunge a stake into his
heart, breaking her own, just when she’s learning to believe in him again?
You know what isn’t scary? Liberty Divided will be FREE on
Amazon October 24th through the 26th
So…how about you? Do you avoid scary movies or are you a fear
junkie like me?
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
16 comments:
It, too, watched the old time Wolfman at a very, very young age. Scared the beejeebers out of me. A horror movie, and there were many, was a must see at the slumber parties of my youth.
Yes, Margo, mine too. We loved staying up late in the dark and watching scary movies. :-)
I enjoyed the old horror movies. But I don't know if I've watched a single scary movie after Silence of the Lambs.
My son and I were just discussing how watching scary movies at a young age sticks with us.
I loved creature features. Every Saturday night, I'd get my bowl of buttered popcorn and wait for the world to be saved yet again.
Yes, the original Wolfman still gives me fits! And the Invisible Man gave me shivers!
BTW - Your opening line reminded me of a Peter Gabriel song - "I have my fears, but my fears don't have me."
You got me with your dad leaning over the fence. Heights scare me! I've been to the Grand Canyon & I stayed way away from the railing.
Silence of the Lambs is a good one, Anna. I consider it more thriller than horror. But there is a bit of horror too it. I like those kind better than just gory slash em ups. :-)
Yes, it does, RT. I can remember Night of the Living Dead when I was little. OMG! Freaked me out. Mom and Dad wouldn't let us watch The Exorcist because of the satanic element and I've still never seen it to this day. But they let us watch other horror movies.
Yes, the Invisible Man...what you can't see CAN hurt you! :-) Hmmmm, are you saying I should be a songwriter?
I know, Diane. Makes me weak in the knees just to think about it. I don't think I'm all that afraid of heights, but as my dad used to say, I have a healthy respect for them. :-)
My fave horror flick has to be the original Halloween. Also love American Werewolf in London - which isn't that scary but is very cool.
Ooh, not me! I'm a scaredy-cat! The television in my house gets no play time the entire month of October because sometimes the commercials creep me out. Can it get more lame than that? It's okay, I sleep at night ~~Emmly Jane
Yes, Jannine. American Werewolf in London was a very cool movie. I haven't seen it in ages. I should watch it again.
Hahaha, Emmly. Yes, that's pretty lame. ;-) I sleep at night too, I just sometimes have really wicked dreams!
First, have to say I love the "Liberty" series, and I don't normally read that genre. As far as the Wizard of Oz, I was terrified of the Wicked Witch of the West. I remember when I was around four, running to my mother, jumping into her lap and hiding my face in her neck. :-)
Thank you so much for the kind words about Liberty. I'm so glad you like it! Err...love it, you said, right? :) How funny about the Wicked Witch of the West, yeah, she was pretty evil.
Post a Comment