FreshTalkingKids

In the spirit of Halloween, we watched a “scary” movie at school on Friday.  So I was thinking about that this morning, and I started wondering- what exactly makes horror movies and stories so scary? (and so fun!)  So, in case you ever want to film your own horror movie, here’s my list of things that are just plain scary.  (Note: these are just my theories, not actual facts.  They may or may not make sense to you.  But I thought I’d share them.)

1. Darkness:  We humans aren’t very good at using our senses.  We don’t have super-hearing ears like bats, or a super-sniffing nose like dogs.  Our greatest sense is our sight.  So when sight is taken away from us- like in total darkness- we feel weak and defenseless.  We can’t see enemies, can’t tell where’s safe to hide.  We have no place to go, and we can’t even see who turned out the lights!  Sound creepy?
2. Things Disguised as Humans: Humans are very social creatures.  We like being around others, and we are very convinced that our species is the greatest of all.  To be human is a great thing.  So if something bad- say, an alien- is disguised as a human, then our instinct is wrong.  We have that, “I can’t trust anyone” feeling.  Not knowing who is good and who is bad is a really spooky thing!
3. Camera Lenses: In this sci-fi movie I watched recently, there were a lot of weird  machines.  Some had giant blades and knives, but the creepiest one for me was the one with a big camera lens in the middle.  What is it that’s so fascinating about cameras and lenses? Here’s my theory: A camera lens looks a lot like an eye.  Eyes make us think of living things- only living things have them.  Not only that, but sight is also a human’s most important sense.  So when something that should be nonliving, like a metal robot, has eye-like lenses, it makes us think that maybe that “thing” is really alive.  And to me anyway, that is really weird!
4. All Things Mysterious: People are really afraid of things they don’t understand.  Death, for instance, is one of the biggest mysteries of the world.   A lot of classic scary things are supposed to be dead people. (zombies, ghosts, etc.)  As humans, we have an instinct to be in control.  With something we don’t understand perfectly, like death, we have no way to be in control.  That’s why it’s so scary.

Happy Halloween to everyone!