Friday 5: Welcome to the Terrordome

Photo by sergio souza on Unsplash

What’s the scariest movie you’ve seen?

I don't know about scariest as such, but the most unpleasant movie I've ever had to watch is a Japanese one called Blood and Bones. Every trigger warning ever for that movie; I actually had to hit pause a couple of times and take a break for something more pleasant.

In the same vein, Pan's Labyrinth also messed me up. I went to see it with a bunch of friends on a Friday night, and afterwards the plan was to have a Dungeons and Dragons and beers session. Instead I just curled up in a ball on the couch without drinking or talking to anyone for the rest of the night.

I think the last movie thing that genuinely terrified me, though, were the TV commercials for Bram Stoker's Dracula back in the 90s. I had nightmares about vampires for a solid week after catching a glimpse of that ad.


What most recently startled you?

I guess my alarm?


What’s something in your residence that’s frightening?

I have a postcard with art that I guess someone might find frightening but I just really like. It's original art by a friend of mine, an altered photo she took of Buddhist statuary in Japan.


What kinds of social settings cause you anxiety?

Social settings where I'm not in charge of something or running something but where I just have to open-endedly interact with other human beings. So you know, most of them.


What’s something you are no longer afraid of?

I've 99% conquered my fear of getting hit by a car. As a kid I was terrified of blacktop pavement because I was afraid that cars lurked around every corner, waiting for me to step on the road just so they could run me over. (One summer when I was maybe 6 years old or so, I just straight up exposure therapy'd myself by running back and forth across the street in front of our house, as if proving to myself SEE NOTHING HAPPENED IT'S FINE.) I still get nervous crossing the street, but you don't have to carry me across parking lots anymore!