The Scariest Stories for Me

I often think that October would be the favorite month for the writers of horror. After all, the goal of most horror writers is to completely freak out their readers. I tend to stray more toward the suspense genre for one simple fact. To me, horror is starting to feel like an excuse to showcase gore. I guess without the gore, then the genre would be called “scary” instead of “horror.” I do understand there is a gory aspect to horror, but I still desire a plot. 

I was watching American Horror Story: Coven last week. I thought it was meant to be because just a few weeks ago I was complaining there weren’t any witch stories. I gave up hope for this show when they showed a witch digging out the spleen…or some organ like that…of their torture victim. I can survive that scene if it weren’t for the feeling that I was missing a plot of the episode. Don’t get me wrong, there was one, but it wasn’t enough for me. Now, this show is hugely popular, so I know it is a matter of taste. To me, it felt like the show was going for the shock value rather than to really creep me out. 

That got me to thinking. What really scares me? What will cause me to look over my shoulder and feel shivers run up my spine? The answer is simple. It’s not the psychopathic killer that tortures victims (unless it is true story cases, which send my imagination running). It’s not goblins who eat people or vampires or demons. The ones that get to me are the stories of the spirit world.

I probably have always been afraid of ghosts and such, but I blame the 2002 film The Ring. The girl crawled out of the TV, flickered across the screen, and killed a character. I didn’t sleep for a week. I kept staring at my TV expecting it to turn on with the creepy girl with hair covering her face. 

While I said demons don’t scare me, I will say this is not entirely true. There is one type of demon that crawls across my skin. That is the child demon. There is something about the sweet, innocent voice belonging to such a dark character that unnerves me. In life, we like to believe children are the one thing we can always trust. They will never betray us…try to get their way, yes, but not openly betray us. They are innocent. This corrupted by a deadly beast is just too much for me to take.

So, as we make our way through the month that celebrates fear, I’m curious. What are the topics that scare you?