Here we are at the end of April, where
summer is a promise beyond the horizon, with time at the beach and beach
reading. What are you planning to bring to read on your summer vacation?
Romance? A good mystery. Thriller? How about a good, scary read? Horror is a
good read beyond the month of October. You could read it in the DEAD of winter,
when the leaves DROP DEAD in the fall, and even in the frightening BLOOM of
spring. Why not summer? After all, Jaws was a terrifying book about a shark in
the ocean.
Any excuse to be scared to death.
And dark fantasy and horror can be read by the light of the day. Just watch out
for sharks!
Fear is an emotional response to a perceived
threat. It's a basic reaction to a stimulus, such as pain or dangerous threat.
Fear is separate from anxiety, which occurs without external threat. It means
to terrify, or to frighten.
Physical reactions from fear are:
Rapid heart rate
Increased blood pressure
Tightening of muscles
Sharpened or redirected senses
Dilation of the pupils
Increased sweating
So why would a person get a scary
book when these symptoms of fear take over them? For the imagination is the
greatest bringer of fear--you read a few pages and suddenly, there is a shadow
in the corner. Did it move? Was there a sound when you should be all alone in
the house?
But being frightened is good for
you. Just as laughter is. Fear is that rush that brings out the prey in all of
us, from our caveman days.
So go ahead. Pick up that book and
buy it, or check it out. Read it. You know that shadow didn't more and the
sound was the house settling. Nothing more.
I think about this exact topic from time to time.
ReplyDeleteOur readers do love to scare themselves. I believe you are spot on in your post. It is really up to us to lead the reader to a place where their mind fills in the dark shadows and terrifying monsters that lurk around every corner. Our readers minds really do the work for us in some respects.
I have read some stories where the author goes too far and leaves little the imagination. I hate that and it makes for bad story telling. I like to allow my readers the chance to fill in the blanks a little bit. A good story should lead them down a path towards the unknown, without really telling them what that unknown us until they are so immersed that they have little hope but to turn that page.
Thanks for the past Pamela! I really enjoyed it.
-Your Friend, Bryan the Writer