Prompt: What’s a book or movie that genuinely scared you? 

The one movie that scared me was the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). I saw the movie at a young age, and I haven’t watched it since. 

I always watched horror movies as a kid, and they never bothered me until that movie. Monster movies do not bother me. I know that Frankenstein, Dracula, Godzilla, The Wolfman, Jurassic Park, King Kong, etc., are not real. They’re fun to watch, and I know there’s no such thing as vampires, werewolves, etc.

Since I became a mother, the horror movies that depict people doing horrific things to other people bother me. Those things can and do happen in real life. I can’t watch movies like Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, Monster, Zodiac, and Psycho. 

Throw one of the Final Destination franchise in the DVD player, and I’m out of the room! As entertaining as they might be, they truly cause me great anxiety. In those movies, it’s not people doing bad things to other people, but bad things do happen. It turns my stomach! 

I can’t help but think about my kids when they were in their teens watching movies like Saw and the sequels. I couldn’t even be within hearing range!! It didn’t bother them, though. It still doesn’t bother them. 

I always wonder if I had never seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, would I be able to watch more horror movies?