Scardey Cat!

I love horror. Three simple words with dire consequences! As far as I can recall I have been completely mesmerized by horror. Forget mesmerized, i think the appropriate word would be consumed. My mum told me that when she was pregnant with me, she used to watch nothing but horror! Now i know mothers make their babies listen to Beethoven or read them bed time classics even before they are born; moulds their character while in the womb itself they say! I used to think that was complete nonsense but hey I am such a believer now! Ask me favourite anything and I assure you that most of the answers would have some relation to horror, blood, guts and gore! One would think that a person so interested in horror would be impervious to the side effects of the same; the biggest side effect being scared of one's own shadow! Now look...I am definitely not scared of my shadow...maybe I was when I was a kid...Ok maybe I am a little scared even now but that's not the point! I just find it funny that someone who is so into horror is also such a friggin scaredy cat! I have friends who practice the art of Ouija every day and laugh about it as casually as buttering bread! I for one won't sit in the same room with an ouija board for company. I have a brother and a sister and when we were kids, watching horror flicks would be a special treat indeed. My parents would be out for the day and as usual my brilliant mind comes up with the suggestion of watching a spine chiller! The poor kids could do nothing but nod their heads and agree, I was their "good example setting" big sister after all! So we used to drag our pillows and blankets to the TV room, sit all bundled up surrounded by snacks...and the movie marathon would begin! Obviously the kids would wisely have their eyes closed or heads buried under the blankets and I would be the one staring mouth open, absorbing each scene. Once the chill fest was over, the only way we would walk around the house would be in the form of a human chain! We would practically switch on every light in the house and sit in a corner shivering waiting for our folks to get home. Suprisingly, both my siblings grew up without being scarred for life! My brother sleeps alone and has a nasty habit of walking all groggy downstairs to get a drink of water at 3 in the morning. My sister walks around from pillar to post in the middle of the night without a care in the world! I on the other hand, used to bunk in my parents room for a good three months when I shifted back to Cochin on a permanent basis. I did try to sleep alone the first day I came back home. The result? I sat bug eyed till 6 in the morning when there was a trickle of daylight and only then did I manage to get some shut eye! So yes, a good three months was spent listening to my dad's snores and my mum's gossip sessions late into the night. Despite them both being in the same room with me, I used to avoid looking under the dark crevice of the bed lest something pops out and grabs me like the clown in Poltergiest! A few years back, there was even an incident where I had to, simply HAD to visit the loo in the middle of the night and after my business, I was just too chicken to set foot out of the well lit bathroom! I ended up bawling for my mum who dragged herself all bleary eyed from bed and asked me if I wanted a friendly visit to a counsellor! One would also think that someone who's such a scaredy cat would aleast avoid situations that resulted in sleepless nights. No way no sir! I think horror keeps me alive. I don't know if my brain is twisted but I sure admire the way horror makes one's imagination go all haywire. My fiancée is the icing on the cake! We speak late into the night and knowing I'm the biggest scaredy cat in the world, he happily asks me to NOT stare into the dark corner near my wardrobe, and to NOT go to the loo between 2 and 4 in the morning (which I obeyed out of fright and almost ended up wetting my bed!)and what not! I manage to sleep alone nowadays and trust me that in itself is a huge achievement! And how did I manage to accomplish this? Three simple rules: 1) Watch/ Read/ Listen to anything remotely connected to horror only when the sun is shining bright and the birds are chirping 2) Keep my fiancée up and chatting till as late as possible so I have the company 3) Run to my cousin's place next door with the excuse of a sleepover if the first two rules don't work out! But give up horror? NEVER!