Chuck it in the freezer!!

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I have never understood the charm of reading stories that scare you so badly you can't sleep for weeks.

Believe me, I learned from my mistakes. Based on the one ghost story book I read as a kid, and the one rather cheesy horror movie I saw as a teenager (the high school would occasionally show us movies as a treat, and they were usually pretty benign - I had no idea what I was in for!), I learned that I do NOT enjoy scary books or movies and I have avoided them ever since.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I have never understood the charm of reading stories that scare you so badly you can't sleep for weeks.

I normally don't, either. I was a fan of Heinlein's other books and didn't realize that The Puppet Masters has the edge that it does.

That was years ago, though. I recently re-read some of my old Heinlein books and wanted to chuck them in the freezer because of the offensive sexism.

[Anabana]

I've just never been frightened by a book or movie. I can't seen to 'suspend my disbelief' to that extent. When I want to scare myself, I ride rollercoasters!
I have had books upset and anger me. One I especially recall was Dibs, In Search of Self, (about 1965?). I can remember a few times that I had to stop reading it for awhile; slamming it down and being so angry that I would have liked to inflict some of the physical abuse to the parents that they used on that child.

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Me either. I still don't read or watch scary stories. I grew up in my own nightmare and had bad dreams from it. I don't need anything else to add to my imagination.

Whatever it was, I'm sorry you went through it.

I sometimes read scary stories of the psychological kind. Edgar Allan Poe, that sort of thing. I don't care to read or watch gory books and movies. They don't scare me but I find them repugnant. I know that many people enjoy them, including some of my friends, but they're just not for me.

[JSWolf]

I've yet to read a book that actually scares me. I'm still looking for one.

[BelleZora]

I began reading It by Stephen King just before taking a road trip through Maine. I drove into Rumford, Maine late one night, checked into a creepy motel, and finished the book. All night gurgling noises came from the plumbing. I regressed to the childhood era of monsters under the bed and demons in the closet. Never have I been happier to see the sun rise and take the road that led far away.

It's still the scariest book I've ever read, but I'm sure the inexplicable noises coming the plumbing in that Maine motel colored the actual memory of the book.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've yet to read a book that actually scares me. I'm still looking for one.

Yes, as I said, I am normally never "frightened" or scared by a book or movie, and I didn't think that Salem's Lot, {mumble} years ago had scared me, but I did wake up at night--a LOT. LOL!

Hitch

[voracious71]

My choice was The Road, and those kind of books scare me more than Horror, although I love horror books, movies and TV shows. I do gravitate more towards creepy rather than violent.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by voracious71

My choice was The Road, and those kind of books scare me more than Horror, although I love horror books, movies and TV shows. I do gravitate more towards creepy rather than violent.

I much prefer the creepy type of horror to the hack and slash type.

[GrannyGrump]

I too prefer subtle psychological terror to torture-porn. Nausea just is not my favorite sensation.

The only movie that ever got to me was the shower scene in Psycho (I saw it as a kid in first-run theater release, oh lord where did the decades go?) For months afterward, I would only take tub baths if I was alone in the house, because I kept hearing things that the noise of the shower *almost* drowned out.

The book I regretted reading was Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon" (Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, famed anti-hero of "Silence of the Lambs," remember him?) One scene gave me emotional whiplash, by describing a delicious recipe, and my mouth was actually watering, and then suddenly realized that Hannibal is practicing his cannibalism on a living victim. Harris wrote the scene very effectively -- I remember the emotions it invoked to this very day, 10 years after reading it.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I like suspenseful, atmospheric horror stories, not stories filled blood and guts and gratuitous violence.

The best horror films, I think, were the psychological ones and not the ones with a lot of blood and gore just to have blood and gore. The kind of film that had you remembering it for months afterwards. Now those are good!

If you ever saw Halloween, the first half of the movie was this way. Had me on the edge of my seat because I knew something would happen, I just didn't know when.

[GrannyGrump]

Does anyone else remember the movie "The Haunting"? Based on Shirley Jackson's excellent "The Haunting of Hill House." NOT the disappointing 1999 remake or the ghastly Stephen King "Rose Red" pastiche, but the original black-and-white film? I found it on vhs at a garage sale, I must get it on dvd.

No blood, no shrieking violins to jump out and go BOO!.
Just distilled quiet terror.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by grannyGrumpy

Does anyone else remember the movie "The Haunting"? Based on Shirley Jackson's excellent "The Haunting of Hill House." NOT the disappointing 1999 remake or the ghastly Stephen King "Rose Red" pastiche, but the original black-and-white film? I found it on vhs at a garage sale, I must get it on dvd.

No blood, no shrieking violins to jump out and go BOO!.
Just distilled quiet terror.

Love both the book and the original movie: "Whose hand was I holding?"

I remember the morning after I first saw The Birds; I saw a bunch of sparrows perched on a clothesline and nearly jumped out of my skin. And after seeing Jaws, for several days I was apprehensive about going near any body of water: a pool, a bathtub, a puddle ...

[Apache]

Originally Posted by grannyGrumpy

The only movie that ever got to me was the shower scene in Psycho (I saw it as a kid in first-run theater release, oh lord where did the decades go?) For months afterward, I would only take tub baths if I was alone in the house, because I kept hearing things that the noise of the shower *almost* drowned out.
.

I love Mel Brook's portrayal of that shower scene in High Anxiety.
Apache

Originally Posted by Catlady

I remember the morning after I first saw The Birds; I saw a bunch of sparrows perched on a clothesline and nearly jumped out of my skin. And after seeing Jaws, for several days I was apprehensive about going near any body of water: a pool, a bathtub, a puddle ...

This one was also great in the same movie.
Apache

[LovesMacs]

Twice I have read Voyage au bout de la nuit by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. I read it in French but it has been translated into English as Journey to the End of the Night. Unfortunately the book is unavailable legally as an e-book.

I bring this book up because I have very conflicted feelings about it. It's about a man who joins the French army during World War I and his experiences following the war. It's a very angry book, filled with tirades that are at times racist. There are graphic scenes of violence that can provoke physical discomfort. The author is a real virtuoso of swearing and colloquial language.

It's not the sort of book I typically read, where the characters wallow in such blackness and nihilism. And yet I find I enjoy the book because the author is so skilled with language and with painting vivid images that linger in the mind.