I am NOT a big fan of scary movies. Surprisingly enough it is never the zombies, vampires, etc. that instill terror within me. No. In fact, supernatural creatures fascinate me to a point where I find myself looking up their origins and backgrounds. One of the things that really make me jump out of a chair is that creepy background music. I am not sure what it is, but no matter how scary a movie is, for me, it becomes ten times scarier with suspenseful music included. It doesn’t even have to be music – the sound of a door opening will have me shaking like a leaf. I guarantee you that when watching a scary film my palms will be glued to my ears. Just last year, my tennis team set up a mini-camp in someones backyard (sounds lame but it was the best decision we ever made,) and created an outside theater with a help of a white sheet and a projector. The majority of the girls wanted to see something scary so we went with “The Shining”. Needless to say I had to bury myself in a pile of blankets.

Another reason why I don’t watch scary movies is that I GENUINELY believe that some of them could potentially happen. I am not saying monsters are real (then again, what do I know), but things that have to do with exorcisms, spirits, etc. really freak me out. We don’t know whats out there! If there is a positive other-wordly presence out there (such as God), who is to say there is not a negative one? After all, for every one, there is always a negative one. People depict encounters with the supernatural and many movies claim to be based on real events. Sitting through a scary film knowing the unfolding plot that is being shown is something that COULD happen to me is an activity I do NOT find enjoyable.

The title of the show is very misleading and I will be the first one to point that out. “Teen Wolf” does not sound like it could be something enjoyable for anyone else but a tween girl obsessed with the mainstream appeal of the supernatural. Sure, the show has all the ingredients of a potentially bad plot: attractive actors/actresses playing characters in distress, overly dramatic music and werewolves. Majority of the world has deemed werewolves no longer as something feared but cool. Thus, many do not stop and try to give Teen Wolf a viewing it deserves. Honestly, I find the show to be extremely entertaining. The past 3 seasons had incredible story lines and some unforgettable characters, Personally, I especially enjoy and appreciate how much effort the writers put in the backstory of the monsters that the viewers come to know over the course of the show.

There is always great attention and inspiration taken from various mythology backgrounds as well as history itself. One of my favorite monsters created on the show was a nogitsune – a dark fox spirit who feeds on pain and chaos. It was originally called upon by a fox (another supernatural creature) in order to seek revenge on the soldiers at an internment camp for the japanese during World War II. After possessing a body of a person the spirit became uncontrollable, killing everything in sight and was soon stopped. In the present day, due to certain events the spirit was accidentally unleashed yet again and it took over one of the main characters, Stiles Stilinski. Throughout the season we see an internal fight within his best friend Scott Macall as to whether or not the consciousness of Stiles is still present in his body to be potentially saved or is he forever lost under possession and would have to be killed. What would you do if you’re best friend was suddenly committing mass murders, sending out freakish mass hallucinations and indulging from emotional vampirism? I would certainly be lost in action.

I, like many, do not have many memories from my early childhood. It is always amusing to hear of the little quirks I had as a kid. One of the things my dad had always laughed at was the way I approached scary content. He has told me that whenever I would get scared I would simply run out of the room and close the door, but just enough so that there was a little peephole left for me to watch through (although I don’t really understand why my parents allowed to me to do this haha). It is crazy that at such a young age I felt the need to battle through what was obviously scary. Even then, although I knew I hated whatever was on the screen, there was something inside that urged me on to continue watching. Fast forward to my junior year in high school and I am still doing the same exact thing. Last year, at our annual tennis sleepover, the girls had voted on watching Insidious. Imagine this: I had spent the entire movie covering the bottom half of my eyes with a blanket and the top half with a pillow whilst holding somebody else’s hand. You would think it’d be easier to just leave the room and chat to someone in the kitchen, but no. Twelve years later and a part of me is still intrigued by some horrifying movie.

There are days where I just really want to see a scary film, but knowing that I won’t be able to do it normally causes me to simply read the plot on Wikipedia in order to satisfy the subconscious calling for the gory. In some ways reading about a horror film  is natural for me (and significantly more interesting) since growing up I had loved the scary mythological creatures and more so later on since monsters have become so mainstream is tween literature (yes, I had a Twilight obsession for a week). I’m not sure exactly why I am not able to view horror films, but it is possible that is has to do with the unbearable sound effects (even the flat out silences) that make me cringe with terror. Another habit of mine: if you watch a scary movie with me, chances are I’ll be covering my ears most of the time. This just goes to prove how much effect sound and music have on us. Do you agree? When was the last time a sound/song made you feel such strong emotion?