Oh! The Horror!

Horror stories have always been a fascination to everyone. When your little you love the bedtime stories about ghosts and creepy monsters. As we grow older, this attachment doesn't fade. My Uncle David is no exception. He is the perfect example of this. When he was a kid, he used to pull all kinds of pranks on his siblings such as the old whoopee cushion on the seat trick, to rubber sipders and bugs in their beds. Halloween was his favorite holiday. Little David would jump out from behind places in grotesque masks, scaring has parents and siblings alike. Now as an adult, he has retired from scaring people that way. Now he would rather just watch scary movies and force others to watch with him.

Uncle David, to this day, takes pleasure in telling me about all of his favorite scary movies he has watch, and has made me watch them all with him. He loves to watch the Saw series of gore, the Texas chainsaw massacre movies, and the Chucky series. He is one of those people who watch the old scary movies just to scare himself to death and tell everyone else about it. Over my childhood years, my uncle has taken particular care to scare me half to death by telling detailed descriptions of his favorite haunting tales, and scary movies. The movie I remember him imposing on me the most was the first Alien movie. When I was ten years old, he came to visit me, and brought Alien as a “surprise” to watch with him. I spent the better part of the night cowering in my room while I could hear the screams of death emanating from the television. He felt a little guilty for terrifying a ten year old when it was over, but was soon over it and asked if I wanted to watch the Chucky to cheer me up.

People are always worried about whether or not they look crazy when they are loud and obnoxious while a movie is playing. Not dear Uncle Dave. He is always the one to laugh at the gore when others are almost using their popcorn bags as barf bags. Most would think having a crazy Uncle like him would scare you for life as a child and cause some paranoia about monsters and zombies for life. They are correct. But this does not make me love my Uncle any less. His craziness ads character to the family I like to think. His bravery is kind of admirable. Movies that even the most steal stomached people are unwilling to see, he is the first in line (usually dragging me along with him). It’s a comfort to know that most of these movies were not based on real events, but my uncle makes sure to describe them as if they were. A little thrill excites the life a bit. I have never asked Uncle David why he enjoys scaring everyone (especially me) so much. It seems that it is just a hobby from childhood that he never grew out of. I am not one to change that. So cheers to you, Uncle David, and your childhood fun.

For those who are now inspired to test their bravery, here is a list of five of the scariest movies from http://www.horrorfanzine.com (not in order):

1) The Shining

2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

3) A nightmare on Elm Street

4) Dawn of the Dead

5) Hell Raisers

Though not on the list, The Exorcist deserves an honorable mention for not only scaring the life out people when I first came out in the 1970's, but for still managing to creep people out today (also Uncle Dave’s favorite). Enjoy!

Links : Chuky trailer- youtube, top five movies- horrorfanzine.com