31 Days of Halloween { guest author + giveaway } What Scares You? by Beth Caudill
Today we are joined by Beth Caudill, writer of paranormal and fantasy romance short stories. (Warning: spoilers for the remake of Fright Night are included!)
Tick tock goes the coo coo clock. It’s eleven thirty and my kids are asleep and hubby is across the country on business. The house is silent and I’m ready to go to sleep. Except did something flash by in the dresser mirror. Or is the bedroom door slowly creeping closed. I get up turn on the lights and nothing is there, the door is exactly where it should be. All is well.
Or is it?
The nice thing about being a writer is I have an active imagination. The bad thing when it comes to being alone in the house is I have an active imagination. I can’t go to sleep because I’m thinking about all the things that could go wrong…every little noise that means someone might be breaking into the house.
Suspense, thriller and horror writers take advantage of situations to engage your imagination. When you’ve thought through all the possibilities and accepted nothing bad is going to happen…BLAM that’s when they hit you with a knife in the chest.
In August I went to see the Fright Night movie remake with a friend. I wasn’t particularly interested but she wanted someone to go with her and I can watch scary movies. The movie started as I expected. Standard vampire fair: a dark sexy stranger moves in next door and people around the neighborhood disappear.
I was lulled into a semiconscious state when our hero decided to rescue a damsel in distress. He breaks into the villain’s house and has to hide to avoid exposure. The villain feeds from our damsel and then goes downstairs. The hero and damsel get free and creep downstairs, trying to remain undetected. They make it outside and the illusion of safety when BLAM sunlight hits the damsel and she bursts into miniscule particles.
The movie makers did a great job of building the suspense with the action and music. You imagine all the different ways the villain would catch them and it’s almost a disappointment when they get out. Disaster strikes at that instance of relief and then our movie makers add to villain’s creepy factor by showing his face right after the damsel explodes. You see his smile and understand he let them escape to teach the hero a lesson.
I have to say I paid more attention to the movie after this scene. It became more interesting and if nothing else, I will remember this scene because it scared me.
Are there normal mundane things that scare you or is it a moment of movie magic that gets your heart racing?
Giveaway
Leave a comment and your email address to be entered in a drawing to win a pair of flower earrings. Contest ends November 8th.
About Beth
An avid fan of fantasy and science fiction, Beth Caudill writes paranormal and fantasy romance short stories. By day she creates new and far reaching worlds while at night she acts as kitchen slave and chauffeur to her two baseball crazed sons. Her husband and King Charles Cavalier Spaniel fear for her sanity and feed her chocolate in the hopes of saving her. You can find more information about Beth and her stories on her website.
