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Take a Brief Step Out of Reality

© Julie J. Murelle

"Aaaaaieeeeeee!!" You jump as a blood curdling scream echoes throughout the theater. Your body tenses as the demented fiend du jour slices, dices and makes a fine puree out of the defenseless victim. Your coat slides onto the popcorn boxes and candy remains that surround your feet, as your hands fly to your face, attempting to cover your eyes from the gore. You don't even notice your coat's new position because the whole film is a nightmare and you can't take your eyes from the screen.

Fear invades your body like maggots devouring a decaying corpse. As fear envelopes you, paranoia creeps in and you feel the urge to peek over your shoulder to be sure that there is no one suspicious seated behind you.

When the movie is over, you thank your lucky stars that you are alive, you congratulate the patrons around you, who have also survived and then you flee the theater, swearing that you will never, ever, ever, ever go to a horror film again. Not even for big wads of cash, a date with the star of your choice and a lifetime supply of Hostess products. Never!

Funny thing though, is that a lot of people, even those with this severe of a reaction, usually will flock to the theater, once the newest slice and dice is released.

This is an odd phenomenon. I know that many times I have asked myself, why do people come like gangbusters to the theater to see horror in motion? Why in the world do we want to be frightened? Is there not enough stress in the world with out this insanity? The answer lies with in the previous question. You see, when your world gets this stressful, this is the exact time to scream in a controlled atmosphere. Now, I am not talking about letting a scream go that would wake the undead, but I have been know to let out a yelp when something pops out on the screen. And it is refreshing and freeing.

Secondly, when you are afraid of something, your body tends to tense up. After two hours, give or take, of tensing every muscle in your body, it is fair to say that you are going to be very relaxed when this film comes to its gory conclusion.

Third, it's not real, so you know that ten to one, nothing terrible is going to happen to you while you are sitting safely in a cushioned movie chair, munching on popcorn and sipping a soda.

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