I’m one of those freaks who prefers Halloween to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Skeletons over stuffing. Haunted rituals over heartfelt reunions. And this might be the first time I’ve stopped to ask: what does that say about me?

(Remember in one of my previous newsletters I shared how writing can be therapeutic for me? This is a good example of that.)

Halloween was my annual escape hatch. One day a year I vanished behind rubber masks and plastic fangs. The grotesque disguises of the '70s and '80s paved the way for the blood-soaked, wildly entertaining films that shaped my youth.

I was twelve when my older brother snuck me into a double feature of Friday the 13th Parts 1 and 2. I left the theater barely able to walk, drunk on adrenaline and dread. Possibly even traumatized. Did that stop me from watching horror ever again?

Of course not. It baptized me.

WHAT SCARES YOU? WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SCARY MOVIE? SCARY BOOK?

SHARE WITH ME AND GO INTO A DRAWING FOR A SCARY PRIZE.

Horror films inspired my first feature film, Ritual: Blood Bonds—the story of two college students with the misfortune of picking the wrong house for house-sitting. They discover evidence of a horrific satanic cult and must escape the woods on foot when their car breaks down. (Warning: the film was made on a shoestring budget. And not the entire string. A quarter of it.)

If scary films inspired my writing and production of similar fare then burying my nose in Stephen King books inspired me to write novels, and although my first three books are literary fiction, not horror, each contains a sprinkle of thriller/horror.

My fourth book, The Wick Effect, is more along the lines of a complete horror/thriller.

Do I have serious psychological problems because I love horror? Am I sick, sick man?

No.

Please explain? (More therapy coming.)

Horror activates your brain's thrill system, the fear center, but because you're safe on your sofa, you get the rush without the risk.

Horror satisfies your morbid curiosity, allowing you to explore the taboo, grotesque, or uncanny in a controlled environment. Horror fans often don't love fear itself, they love overcoming it.

Horror helps us rehearse our own survival tactics, whether we're battling zombies, serial killers, or haunted houses.

Horror is a perfect way to explore other themes or emotional extremes like grief, guilt, trauma, or absurdity in heightened ways.

In conclusion, I am a textbook example of human normalcy - if the textbook occasionally leaks red ink, sprouts teeth, and whispers grotesque incantations like The Book of the Dead.