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Relationship to Fear
We are discussing horror, and specifically horror stories. I don’t mean horror literature necessarily, nor horror movies. Stories run deeper than any modern media, and horror stories are perhaps one of the oldest, if not the oldest sort of story ever told. Horror goes back to the start of language, as we have always had…
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Terror and Horror
There is a difference between terror and horror. Terror is an unthinking reflex. We are terrified of loud noises or falling from high places. Certain things trigger instincts in us almost universally that set us off, sudden unexplained noises, that bump in the night, or motion that we can’t link to an observable object. It…
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Daily Horror
We have a sense of what is right and feels safe, even pleasant, but this rarely inspires stories. The root of religious story is horror, those moments when we are made to understand that the world isn’t human hearted, that granny can have hurtful intentions, and that the minister might be willing to force himself…
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Advice on Fear
My advice on fear is not about object choice, or even about control or elimination of fear, it is recognition of how intrinsic it is to your mundane thinking, and discovery of what sort of impact it is having in your life right now. Do you go away unscarred from your personal horror stories? Unmarked?…
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Pick Your Poison
Is it best to be insane or normal? Well, here is something interesting perhaps. Does your life make sense to you? Parts of it. I couldn’t say the entirety The older I get the more sense it makes, because I feel more able to adapt to the changes. It suggests I should make sense of…
Category: Horror
We have always had a tendency to feel anxious for our safety, and be concerned about what might be present just beyond the range of what we can see. Fear is a natural part of our awareness, and we do need it. We need to have a relationship to fear.
Terror is an unthinking reflex. Horror is a combination of fear and loathing. We tell ourselves horror stories daily. We can’t help it. Our minds naturally elaborate on, “What could happen?” A big part of the problem is not that people tell themselves horror stories, but that they immediately try to cover it up. I recommend horror, highly. The over exaggeration is a useful tool in dealing with your own horror stories. It’s actually better to be terrified than numb. If you are terrified, you know everything is still there and you are still alive. It reminds you that things are real and not just persistent memories.
“All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called “Facts”. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain.” Thomas Hobbes
“All of us have our individual curses, something that we are uncomfortable with and something that we have to deal with, like me making horror films, perhaps.” Wes Craven