I have lived with this addiction, no, preoccupation my entire life, and there is absolutly nothing that could ever rid me of it. You wouldn't know it to look at me, would you? I know, I know, I'm a master of disguise.
So why the personal confession? Well, in case you haven't looked at a calendar lately we are already halfway through the month of September. Fall is in the air everywhere I go, which means that Halloween, the horror addicts most treasured holiday, is just around the corner. This time of year my mind cannot help but wander over to the dark side, over to thoughts of restless spirits, haunted locales, and things that go bump in the night.
In my opinion, there are a couple different kinds of horror addicts. I consider myself to be of the classic breed, the kind who are naturally drawn to unexplained tales of strange happenings and cases of the supernatural. The classic horror addict can appreciate a good campfire ghost story, and is known to partake in the original cult classic films of the horror genre (I'm thinking "Friday the 13th," "Halloween," and "Psycho" to name a few).
On the other side of the spectrum, there is the shock horror addict. A more modern breed, this is the addict who needs the blood and guts factor in order to appreciate a thrilling tale or movie. The shock addict thrives on the gore, demanding something even more outlandish and outrageous with each viewing. The shock addict mainly sticks to movies, as the visual appeal of blood and guts is usually too tempting to pass up. For this addict, the story does not matter nearly as much as the special effects.
Of course, there is usually some overlap between the two breeds. One does not have to be completely one or the other, but more often than not a person will fall into one category a bit more than they do the other. I am not here to say that one addict is necessarily "better" than another; we can't help what we're drawn to.
Being of the classic breed of addicts, I am currently fixated on the subject of urban legends. Tales passed down, often as warnings, meant to scare and to educate an audience. I'm not yet prepared to delve into the subject on this post, but you can expect one in the coming days.
For now I will leave you with this dislcaimer. For the next month (possibly longer) the posts on IMW will have a darker edge. There will be noticably less light shining through the windows as we close the blinds and prepare ourselves to explore the unexplained. We will be delving into the subjects of fear, of monsters real and imagined, and trying to get to the bottom of what we're really afraid of.
I think this is going to be an interesting ride.
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