Weekend Assignment #240: Scary Stuff

Since Halloween has just passed, Karen wanted us to write about a time when we were scared in a fun or spooky way.

Weekend Assignment #240: Halloween is largely about fear, defanged and turned into fun. Have you ever been genuinely scared in a spooky or fun-scary situation?


I've been thinking about this since I read the post last Friday and I've been having trouble thinking of a time when this has happened to me. Not because I'm some super macho guy; I just try to avoid those situations. I don't go to amusement parks because I hate all the rides. I don't like heights, so why spend 50+ dollars to walk around in a sea of sweaty people? I can do that anywhere.

Now, I was scared of the dark as a kid. I remember when my mom used to make me get something out of the basement I would run as fast as I could. I didn't want anything to catch me. I think that is how I became a good runner later in track. Running from monsters everyday gets you into good shape.

I will say that I scare easily if you wake me sometimes. Ask my wife, I've freaked out on here many times. I know one time I freaked out so bad when my brother woke me that I scared him. I don't think he woke me in the middle of the night after that. I guess that is a funny situation. I guess I must have weird dreams a lot, so when you wake me I flip out. Maybe I should stop reading creepy books and watching freaky movies.

Oh, I remember a time at a haunted house that got a little scared. I was in junior high at the time, and the haunted house was put on by the local high school. It was relatively elaborate, but nothing really out of the ordinary as haunted houses go. You had the guy who chased you with a chainsaw, a witch telling you where to go, you know, the usual stuff. I remember going into one part with my friend, it seemed to be just a room with a strobe light and a grim reaper-type statue standing in the corner. On the far end of the room was a hole you had to climb through to get to the next part of the haunted house. We walked in, surveyed the scene and took our time walking to the hole in the wall. When we were about halfway through the room, I decided to look behind me. The reaper was now right behind me, and because of the strobe, he seemed to be floating closer. I yelled at my friend to go and I pushed him. Needless to say he didn't have time to duck and his head smacked the top edge of the hole. He recovered well and we made it out of there without the reaper getting his bony hands on us. Phew!

Extra Credit: Do you still dress up for Halloween?

No. I haven't in a long time. I did dress as Data once when I worked at Applebee's. It wasn't much of a costume, I didn't use face paint or anything. That was about 10 years ago. I'm sure I will sometime, for a party or something.
When was the last time you were scared by something?