I have always been a fan of horror films. Fear is the truest emotion that can be given by an artificial source, such as a film. It gives you adrenaline, wakes you up, yet paralyzes you as well.
I remember a day in my childhood where I was upstairs in my bedroom, sitting on the floor in an unlit room at the base of my bed, staring at my TV screen. A scary movie was on, to this day I cannot tell you what movie it was.
The scene I remember most had three people in or near some wooded area, the two guys had the hood open on their truck and were trying to figure out what was wrong with it. The female was inside obviously distressed by the darkness since this was all taking place at night. I didn’t yet even know what sort of scary movie this was, whether a slasher, monster, or what?
The next scene I saw showed the young lady look out the passenger side window, up the hillside, and saw the shadowed figure of a man, outlined by the night sky and the moonlight. Despite the background noise of the two fellows arguing over the truck, you could hear her gasp and you knew instantly what was going through her mind. I remember distinctly the hair on my head and down my back standing up on end, that rush of fright that instantly tightens your muscles and makes you breath in deeply, but prevents you from looking away.
For just a few seconds, nothing else mattered. The scene cut away to the two arguing boys, the girl looked again at the hillside and despite that she saw nothing but empty space, in my mind, I could still see every detail of his outline.
This feeling is what horror is all about. It is why us fans will watch countless movies, even what is seemingly the dumbest movies ever made, for just a chance on experiencing that feeling again. The hair crawl. The blood rush. The deep breath. True horror at its finest.
I can’t say that I’ve seen every horror film out there, but I’ve chased that feelings for more years than I care to mention and will do so for who knows how many more. The least I can do is let fellow horror fans know what I’ve found.
