As Halloween approaches, I find myself in that “easily scared” mind-set that doesn’t help when it comes to going to sleep at a decent hour.
Add watching what is called one of the “scariest movies of the decade,” my mind-set goes from scared to down right too scared shitless to go to bed.
So I went to see Paranormal Activity a few weekends ago with a couple of friends. I had heard the buzz about the movie and overall pretty good reviews.
I don’t usually pay attention to reviews that much as I try to remain objective and open minded when I go see a movie, so I was rather excited to go see this new scary movie.
And yes, the movie was pretty scary, and I have to admit that I was a little too scared to fall asleep that night.
I hate that my mind-set goes there where I’m easily scared and frightened by any little noise after watching scary movies, but that’s what happens.
So I psyched myself out and entered this paranoid type mind-set where I find it hard to fall asleep because I’m thinking about creepy stuff right before bed.
The truth is, the movie is rather scary but in a different sense that scared me on a more psychological level than all those other gory scary movies.
Sure, those horror flicks like Friday the 13th and Halloween are scary in the blood and gore sense, but Paranormal Activity scares you on a different level that everyone can relate to: the fear of the unknown!
The movie got to me with certain scenes. Particularly the scenes where the one of the main characters, Katie, is seen standing over her bed just staring at her boyfriend Micah.
I’m sorry, but having someone staring at you while you sleep is so frightening to me that it is one of the reasons why I always have my doors closed and locked and all windows closed with the blinds shut.
How scary would it be to wake up to someone staring at you watching you sleep. I get chills as I type this. It reminds me of the scene in the movie Signs where the little girl tells Mel Gibson that “there’s a monster outside my bedroom window,” where to Gibson’s character goes to tuck her in and sees an entity staring into the window from across his yard! Creepy!
Yet still, as scared as I already am, I find myself going back for more. I’m the type of person that likes to read about stuff and research this and that, so I find myself up late at night reading up on hauntings and other paranormal type phenomena.
It doesn’t help my cause of going to bed, but when I get in a certain mind-set, it’s hard for me to get out of it. I can’t help my fascination with the paranormal and unexplained.
There are so many weird things in this world that I can’t help but wonder what is real and what isn’t. Yet still, I remain practical and a skeptical, but always with an open mind.
For now, I’ll try to ponder happy thoughts before I go to bed. But I can’t help but wonder in the back of my head if paranormal phenomena goes on after the lights go out. I think I need to get out of this mind-set and watch a Disney movie or something. Yeah, I think I’ll watch a comedy. Maybe that might get my mind off scary thoughts.
Luis Bahena is the City Times opinion editor
