PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I have been into horror movies since the age of 5. Don’t ask me how it started because it never really starts anywhere. I was always obsessed with monster movies and spooky things, while most kids wanted the G.I. Joe USS Flagg. By the time I was 11 years old, I faced a lot of grief. I began to feel like that monster inside that always made me feel safe. Over the years, horror movies have gathered much more meaning to me. They went from enjoyment to a safe place. Horror movies became a comfort food when I can’t take life anymore.
It’s Not The Heat, It’s The Trauma
Over the years, a lot of us have trauma bonded with the horror genre. I can say I have done that too. Horror movies are like our little peace of mind. We attach ourselves to scary things for whatever reason we can think of. A lot of us have witnessed worse in real life growing up. Most of us were raised in toxic environments from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. We attach ourselves to good nostalgic memories centered around pop culture. It’s over 40 years later and I don’t think we have even become adults yet.
Horror movies are a good way to drop off all my baggage from the day. If anyone upset me I could replace them with a character in a movie and watch them meet their end. I already blur the lines between reality and fantasy, it’s one of my symptoms. Reality is terrifying, and for some reason, horror is the ultimate combatant to my symptoms. Horror movies dive right in to save the day each time I need them. With our current technology, we can take those movies wherever we need them now. When I’m not feeling safe, I can escape and collect my positive thoughts back. I live under a rain cloud, and horror movies are those little bits of sunshine that warm up a cold day. I am passionate about this genre because I belong here, it saves my mental health repeatedly.
In The End
These aren’t just movies, horror is a lifestyle to me. It makes me giddy and comfortable, the gorier the better sometimes because let’s face it, there was so much more passion in those classic movies. I have to stay away from most modern horror movies. It has become a lot more suspense-based. But I embrace the new age of slashers and monsters. Those classics will always be willing to take me back to that time and place. It is like an old song that hits so hard you can open your eyes and visualize that moment again.
I have been through so many ups and downs these past 41 years. But in the end, I am still here. I am always going to be here, and I am always going to run to the horror community. I belong here, and I never belonged in a lot of places. I put in the work to help myself cope, even if therapy and medications will always be a part of my life. This is just the way it goes for some people. I am beyond thankful for the horror community, it always picks me up when I trip over my shoelaces and into another depressive episode.
