Isn't It Fun To Be A Little Scared?

They say to write about what you know. Thing is, they never tell you how. When you're working part-time in a department store and searching desperately for a creative outlet, writing seems like a particularly easy way to release. Plus, it keeps you from acting on all those murder fantasies involving you, your co-workers, and a chainsaw in place of your left hand.

When I was a wee lad, I owned a story and song album (the name of which presently eludes me) with an uneven assortment of musical stories and folk songs involving ghosts, monsters, and the like. The closer was a soft lullaby entitled "Isn't It Fun To Be A Little Scared?" I knew you were curious about where the brilliant title for this inaugural post originated. Anyway, the song posed a challenging question to my disturbed young mind. It is fun to get scared. It's that surprise, that uncertainty about what's lurking just out of sight, that makes horror so thrilling. Of course, the principle is the same in comedy too. A good laugh isn't generated by the outrageousness of the proceedings, not entirely. It relies on a well-executed shock. That's why humor and horror often make for such a winning combination.

None of this is a big revelation, I'm aware. Ever since the internet first gained steam, bloggers, journalists, and myriad others with writing skills more sharply defined than my own have put fingers to keyboard, reviewing books and movies, analyzing horror's place in society, and arguing over whether Evil Dead II is a remake or a sequel. I doubt I'll bring anything new to the blood-soaked table, but this isn't about being a unique voice in the horror community. It's about sharing my passion with people who will appreciate it. It's about celebrating the best and worst that this world has to offer. It's about ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens, serial killers, demons, and curses. It's about drive-in theaters and haunted houses. It's about the fun of being scared.

So I'll do movie reviews. I'll tell you what I think of horrorpunk bands. I'll dig spook show posters and Universal Monsters toys out of my closet. I'll share forgotten drive-in ads and theatrical cartoons. I'll wax poetic about Halloween. They say to write about what you know. Here's to blood, babes, and bump in the night.