Face your fears or learn to cope with them.

For the past few years, our family tries to watch as many horror movies as we can. We all have different tastes, so it’s always interesting to see how we all respond. It’s funny because when I was a little boy, the Universal monster films always scared me. I’d stay up late and watch them, and it was spooky. To this day, The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney, Jr., is my favorite. Sure, other werewolf movies may be gorier and stuff, but I love this one.

It’s funny because sometimes our fears change. Our perspectives shift. One would hope so anyway!

What I mean is the things that perhaps once scared us may not hold the same power as we grow and mature. Sometimes, the fears get worse or linger (you singing?). Two people watching the same movie can have such varied experiences.

My wife and I watched Hereditary. I really appreciated that movie. I thought subtle things were sprinkled throughout. There were some definite unexpected moments and creepy scenes that just stick with a person. It had perhaps a more significant impact on my wife, which has been fun to bring up time and again!

We have been watching Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Holy cow, what a creepy iteration. Granted, from what I gather, many liberties have been taken; however, that does not take away from the sheer creepiness and horror of this. I’ve always found things based on fact or things that could potentially happen were scarier for me. Devil and demon stories are probably my bane.

I worked in a prison as an intern—young back then. Getting processed/checked in and walking through the inmates as a young fellow was quite an experience. I met some humans that did some horrific things. While Silence of the Lambs sparked interest in my becoming a profiler, prison cured it.

Every day I’d drive there, it felt liked gloominess would settle in on the west side of Nashville. Years later, I took data from that prison for my master’s thesis. Inmates were always ready to get out of their cells; however, they weren’t always kind or willing to participate. That eeriness and gloominess did not fit into my future mindset. I wanted a family, and I didn’t see myself being able to balance all of it, the work and family life and do both well.

Yes, humans have potential, the potential to do evil (we see this all the time) and the potential to do good. I think the good is there, but maybe we need to train ourselves to look for it. The world can seem like such a negative place. I experience a lot of good, though. I try to do my part in creating good, too.

If you catch yourself focusing on the horror of it all, work on retraining yourself to see the good.

Meanwhile, enjoy the many great, scary, and creepy movies that are out there. I’m currently watching Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. I’m not sure what we’re watching tonight, but I’m looking forward to it. I keep hoping I can help my wife work on her clown fear. Magic 8-ball says, “Outlook not good.” I wrote a short story one time about facing one’s fears. Good luck; seek support if you need it.

Happy Halloween!

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