Why I Don't Find Horror Movies Scary

This one came to me as I was reading Facebook posts from friends talking about how scared they were of Freddie Krueger and the new "Nightmare On Elm Street" remake being released later this month. I started commenting on how movies don't really scare me, but for some reason I just couldn't get over that thought. It wasn't a statement of arrogance, just an observation I had made about myself.

So, I got to pondering: why am I not scared by horror movies?

Obviously, the answer is more complicated than just a simple, one-point conclusion, but let's explore the conclusions I have come to in this exploration of my own psyche. The first question I had to answer in order to know why I'm not afraid of horror movies is this: what does scare me?

I'm creeped out by insects and spiders. In fact, I'm more creeped out by insects than spiders, due primarily to the fact that I know spiders are solitary creatures and they eat insects, which makes them the lesser evil. However, the "creepy" feeling isn't really the "scared" feeling. I separate the two.

I haven't been truly scared by a movie in years. I have come across a few "creepy" movies, like "The Ring" and a few old, low-budget slasher flicks (the special effects are kind of nauseating to look at), but the last movie that actually scared me was "Event Horizon" with Sam Neil back when I was still in elementary school, and now when I see that movie, it just seems silly.

I have been occasionally scared by video games. Survival horror games have a way of building tension in such a way that you are actually involved in it, I think. When you are in control of the lead character and around any corner there could be a horrible monster that is not only scary but that you have to deal with yourself, it's a bit of a different beast, but I don't think that's the difference that makes video games scary and movies not. I think it goes deeper than that.

What truly scares me are the real scary things, and by that I mean quite literally real. Like any person raised in an abusive household, I'm naturally afraid of my mother. I'm afraid of seeing anyone in my family get hurt, especially my nephews. I'm afraid of losing everything I have because I can't earn enough money. These things are real things that are far more terrifying to me than any bogeyman. I dealt with the bogymen when I was a kid; I now have the real dangers to deal with.

Want to know what movie really scares me now? "Pet Sematary". Not because of the evil things brought back when something is buried in the old indian burial ground, nor because of the creepy psychotic killer child at the movie's climax. The thing that scares me is the very real threat of a child being hit by a truck on the highway. The thought that that could happen to my nephews is a true horror to me.

What makes this even more disturbing is that these are just the horrors I have come across. I can't imagine what it must be like to fight in a war, or to live on the streets. These are things that are so beyond my situation up until now that I can't even comprehend how frightening they must be. I'm scared of losing all my money, but what would I fear if I didn't have that money to begin with?

So, if you find it odd that I laugh at Freddie Krueger or Michael Meyers slashing people to bits, remember that to me that is funny. It's cartoony, it's fake. The scary things are not the monster under your bed but the tax collector at the door or the mother who wanted you to be miserable just so that she had control over SOMETHING. Those are the things worth screaming over.