What’s a book or movie that genuinely scared you?
I avoid horror stories. Always have. My mind keeps whirring too long after the film is over, as though I’m still playing a supporting role. Which makes watching Pet Sematary in Rotterdam in my early twenties, after a few beers, a questionable decision.
The disturbance starts with the title. I still feel the urge to correct the spelling.
My friend chose the video, started watching and promptly fell asleep. Leaving me effectively alone, in the clutches of Stephen King, being scared out of my wits as quietly as possible. That film got under my skin. There’s something particularly unsettling about love and loss making a terrible decision understandable. The plot is hazy in my memory now, but the feeling remains horribly clear.
My friend slept. I definitely did not.
King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, incidentally, is magnificent. I’m much happier reading about how he does it than having it done to me.