1) What scares me, in a movie or book or probably real life, boils down to a lack of empathy. That sounds sort of silly, but the idea of something that can't see anyone else's point of view scares me silly. It's why, I guess, something like Jaws is scary: I'm not afraid of sharks in and of themselves, but the idea of being seen an lunch by a shark is scary. That's the only thing I find scary about serial killer books or movies: not the gore, just the fact that the killer doesn't relate to the victims as anything but targets, and can't imagine that they have an independent reality or an inherent right to exist.
I also seem to be afraid of anything really out of control, and that may be linked to the comments above: if the thing I'm afraid of doesn't see me as anything but a target, I can't talk them out of hurting me. (And yes, I use this in the mysteries I write. My sleuths have a really hard time imagining how a killer thinks. But I digress.)
2) I'm not sure I can lay hands on this, but to me fear is a condition I get into when I can't control what happens to me. Um. I'll think more on that later.
3) The scariest damn movie I've ever seen was, as noted, The Changeling, a lowkey 70s ghost story. George C. Scott is caretaker of an old mansion inhabited by the very angry ghost of a murdered child. The kid is too young to feel empathy and although he's looking for help, he can't deal with what happened to him or the fact it's irreversible. The very low-key creepiness of most of it, plus the underlying pain and anger permeating the atmosphere, scared the bejesus out of me.
(Scaries book I can think of is RED DRAGON, the first Hanibal Lecter book and later a movie. The main killer in it is both human and a monster, and because he has some recognizable but deepy twisted human feelings I pited as well as feared him. But again--there was nothing in there that could be touched, and that scared me silly.)
aliens have no eyesladyravenwoodSeptember 30 2006, 08:31:30 UTC
Thanks for the feedback. I relate to much of your commentary. I agree that something that lacks empathy is frightening (points to icon). And that mood and tone are signifigant aspects of the overall effect of a good scary film.
1) What scares me, in a movie or book or probably real life, boils down to a lack of empathy. That sounds sort of silly, but the idea of something that can't see anyone else's point of view scares me silly. It's why, I guess, something like Jaws is scary: I'm not afraid of sharks in and of themselves, but the idea of being seen an lunch by a shark is scary. That's the only thing I find scary about serial killer books or movies: not the gore, just the fact that the killer doesn't relate to the victims as anything but targets, and can't imagine that they have an independent reality or an inherent right to exist.
I also seem to be afraid of anything really out of control, and that may be linked to the comments above: if the thing I'm afraid of doesn't see me as anything but a target, I can't talk them out of hurting me. (And yes, I use this in the mysteries I write. My sleuths have a really hard time imagining how a killer thinks. But I digress.)
2) I'm not sure I can lay hands on this, but to me fear is a condition I get into when I can't control what happens to me. Um. I'll think more on that later.
3) The scariest damn movie I've ever seen was, as noted, The Changeling, a lowkey 70s ghost story. George C. Scott is caretaker of an old mansion inhabited by the very angry ghost of a murdered child. The kid is too young to feel empathy and although he's looking for help, he can't deal with what happened to him or the fact it's irreversible. The very low-key creepiness of most of it, plus the underlying pain and anger permeating the atmosphere, scared the bejesus out of me.
(Scaries book I can think of is RED DRAGON, the first Hanibal Lecter book and later a movie. The main killer in it is both human and a monster, and because he has some recognizable but deepy twisted human feelings I pited as well as feared him. But again--there was nothing in there that could be touched, and that scared me silly.)
Good luck on the paper!
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