We screamed a lot. We screamed like little girls. Welcome to the Only Child Diaries podcast. I'm your host, racy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life, that you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting, while doing so with humor and light. Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries podcast. Diaries podcast.

Today I'm going to talk about scary movies. It's a timely subject, given that Halloween is at the end of this month. Do you enjoy scary movies? I admit I'm a little bit of a chicken when it comes to really scary movies. I've learned not to watch them alone and not to watch them, maybe, right before bed. And while I don't mind watching some scary movies, there's some others, the real gory ones, that I'd probably not rather watch, like the really, really scary gross movies. I mean things like Alien. Those just aren't for me. But some of the more psychological or smart scary movies, I mean, is there a smart scary movie? I enjoy those Things that are kind of more well, things that are more well thought out, storylines that are better constructed.

I have to admit that when Nightmare on Elm Street came out, I was kind of a big fan. I liked the idea that you could be scared by someone in your dreams and so you didn't want to go to sleep, right? That was more of a thought process like an intellectual or an intelligent idea of how to be scared. Poltergeist is also one of my favorite scary movies that I like to watch this time of year. Just the idea that the house could be holding on to the little girl and the reasons why are understandable given the circumstances. But I do enjoy that movie, even though it is a little disgusting in parts. Let's see what else. Well, the Shining that's a really scary movie. But there are times when I'm watching a horror movie with my husband and I'm getting ready to jump, even before the the jump part has come right, when you know that they're setting you up for a moment but it hasn't quite come yet and there's something about that. That's fun, isn't it? I mean, we enjoy it because, well, I guess it's not happening to us. Well, I guess it's not happening to us. We watched Carrie the other night and it was the new version of Carrie, which had some different elements to it than the original Carrie, which is kind of a classic in my mind. It had some, well, maybe some improvements if you've seen it. And then there's all the Halloween movies. The original Halloween film with Jamie Lee Curtis is really a classic, isn't it?

In the Halloween genre, the horror genre, it was filmed here locally, in South Pasadena, for a low budget. I understand Jamie Lee Curtis has said that they shopped for their own clothes at JCPenney I guess there wasn't a wardrobe budget, kind of bare bones and it's gone on to be one of the most successful films, cult classic. I don't know if it earned a lot of money, but everybody's watched Halloween. And then there's all the subsequent remakes, right. And you end up watching most or some or all of them and you wonder why can't Michael Myers just die? I mean, everything's happened to him. He's been shot, stabbed, burned, he's fallen great lengths, right. I mean, how can he still be alive? That's the wonder of horror film, of a horror film. Then there's the old time, or the older versions of horror films, like the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I mean, that's an older story but it's still scary even today.

There are some psychological reasons why we enjoy horror films and I'm not sure that any of them really play into why I watch a horror film or a scary movie. Some of them say, well, there's the stimulation that a horror movie can be mentally or physically stimulating and can trigger the release of adrenaline. I'm not sure about that Curiosity. I think I'm definitely curious sometimes about how scary a movie is going to be A sense of accomplishment that you've made it through the film without fainting the social experience. Horror movies can bring a positive social experience when it brings people together to watch it. And recreational fear Recreational fear, I guess. So that's an interesting way of thinking about it. But I guess that's why they have all these fright nights or scary farms or whatever at the local amusement parks where you can go and be scared out of your wits by living monster characters who come up really close to you and scare you, you and scare you.

Now I have to bring up my late friend Gina. We were friends for a long, long time and we went to Knott's Berry Farm Scary Farm a couple of times and I have to say it was absolutely terrifying. It was kind of like for me being in a real zombie experience or something, because there were hundreds of people dressed as characters in makeup, and they were very convincing and it was their job to scare us and, for whatever reason, two women being by ourselves who, well, let's face it, we screamed a lot. We screamed like little girls. They enjoyed scaring us and so it seemed like for a while they were really picking on us and everybody was racing over to scare us and scare us. They did, but it was fun. I mean, yeah, I remember the second time we went I was actually really nervous when we got there that I was going to be scared out of my mind, but in the end it was pretty fun. But in the end it was pretty fun.

So these are some of the ideas and things that happen around Halloween. There's a lot of scary movies on TV, or our streaming services, if you will. There's a lot of opportunities to be scared and really the movies and the TV shows run the gambit from mild to, you know, like hocus pocus, to really severe. But whatever you like, I hope you will enjoy it and have fun with it, because that's really what they are. I mean, often I'm finding myself screaming at the TV don't go in there. Don't go in there, run the other way and, of course, they never listen to me and they end up getting killed. So it teaches you, maybe, what you should do if you were in that situation. Hopefully not. Anyway, now I'm going to go watch Nightmare on Elm Street. That's all I've got for today.

Next week we'll tackle another topic together. I hope you'll join me. If you like this episode, please follow the Only Child Diaries podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on and consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review. It helps others to find us. Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well. Visit my Instagram page Only Child Diaries or Facebook Only Child Diaries Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Tracy Wallace and these are the Only Child Diaries.