Halloween is coming so I am trying to place myself in that state of mind. I haven't watch any horror movie so far (except this short film), which is a shame, as I usually start as early as September or even August. And I did start watching this adaptation of Dracula, which is quite faithful to the novel but still not close enough (and there are a few miscasts and some questionable decisions). But I am mainly looking for books to read, stories to make me shiver pleasantly (here are a list of suggestions, which you can find online).
I have accumulated here a stash of scary stories: among them this book in particular, which I rediscover every year, re-reading old and forgotten classics (you can find here a list of the stories I particularly enjoy from it). I also borrowed another anthology from Oxford University Press, hopefully I will find time to blog about it this year. But I want to find something new, or at least new to me, some stories I never heard or read before. However great some scary stories are, however skillfully written they are, however you love them, they can never be as terrifying when you read them a second time. So I had an idea today: this year, I would try to extend my research to more local haunting and supernatural stories.
Now don't get me wrong: I do not believe in the supernatural, ghosts and creepy critters. Just like Lovecraft, so it's not an unknown trait among horror aficionados.That said, I have always been fascinated by folklore, and by local legends. I find it often just as scary, even more so, than what came from the imagination of famous writers. Of course, local legends often became the source material of great modern stories (I know something about it: as my francophone readers know, my cousin wrote his first book and bestseller based on local legends from the town where he grew up). Where I now live, there are plenty of small villages, local pubs, sinister looking places. There must be stories linked to them, stories that will give me shiver. I don't know if I can turn them into fiction like my cousin did, I don't know if I have the discipline or the patience, even though I have been thinking about it for quite a while now. But in any case, I will hopefully find something to make me shiver.
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To me horror stories that feature 'real' people like the Friday the 13th films are far scarier than the ones that feature fantasy characters. Human beings can be pretty horrifying, so I guess that's why. I don't know much about Horror fiction, or films, since I find most of them a bit silly. But a silly 'horror' movie that I absolutely loved is 'Shaun of the Dead'. Its dry British humour at its best, and while its silly humour its not stupid, and worth seeing if you haven't already. Good luck with your horror story search:-)
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