Wednesday 26 November 2008

Horribly Horrifying


Humans are fascinated by horror. Indeed they are thrilled by terror, they marvel at the macabre and they flirt furiously with fear. That is why horror films continue to do well at the cinemas regardless of the cheap scares used over and over again by simple-minded directors (cue for creaking door sound effect and distant howl)


An article I read said that "many people are fascinated by evil and horror, so long as they’re not personally involved". That has a ring of truth to it, and from my personal experience it is exceptionally true when the type of horror is that of getting an earful from your specialist for not knowing your patient's case. 

Why exactly are people attracted to frightening things I don't know. It is even more perplexing when someone you know to be a bona fide scaredy cat suddenly turns to you one day and says 'Let's go watch that new horror movie Quarantine. I heard it's scary'. Could it be because the said friend secretly wants to scream out loud and cover his eyes for no reason yet doesn't want to be seen doing it without an excuse? 

Now that's a genuinely scary thought.

Myself, I am afraid of cockroaches. The reason being is because they have long bodies, even longer legs that are hairy and they can fly. My idea of a fate worse than death itself is when a flying cockroach ends up landing on my nose, or worse still, in my mouth. It is hard to think of a more spine-shivering thought than that.

I just hope that none of the readers out there will take advantage of me having known my weak point...