On horror

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A few weeks ago, I had a conversation in the car with my 19-year-old about the difference between psychology and sociology. We were talking about a book I had just finished, Sociopath, a memoir by Patric Gagne.

I was sharing how the author went on a journey to discover what exactly defined a sociopath, as she had self-diagnosed herself at a young age. During her research, she learned that “sociopath” had been dropped from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). That seguayed nicely into conversation about whether sociopathy could be studied under sociology.

Let me just be clichéd for a moment and say there comes a “holy shit” moment in every parent’s life when they realize their children have become adults capable of critical thinking. That moment happened for me when my kid said “Sociology is about groups and how they shape a person’s place in the world. Psychology focusses on the individual and their brains.”

I wasn’t expecting to be schooled with such clarity by my “baby”.

And as I always do (and yes, this might be a sign I have low-level ADHD), I shifted the conversation to books, with a loose connection to psychology. Specifically, why I can read horror, but I can’t watch it.

And then I shifted again, talking about how as a film student, I was able to watch horror movies because I was deconstructing it for analysis.

It’s ironic that even though I know all the artifice behind a horror film, they still scare the shit out of me. I know the music, shot sequence, lighting, and framing is deliberate, but I still cover my eyes and block my ears.

If you give me a juicy, gory horror novel with edge-of-my-seat suspense, I can’t look away. I don’t want to look away. I want to read every bloody page.

Why?

When I read, I choose the pace and I can scrub my brain clean while I read. I am creating the visuals in my mind, so I get to decide how gross things look in my head. I can soften the blows, literally. Watching a film requires me to leave all control in the hands of the director. While I know all the tricks, my body and brain still respond to all of it. I have no control over my fear response.

The art of writing horror interests me, so taking a horror writing class is still on my list. That will have to wait for next year. This year, my writing plate is full: I have a new novel releasing in the spring (more on that soon), I am in the midst of writing a new novel, working on setting up for the audiobook version of Katya Noskov’s Last Shot, and will likely start the next Katya Noskov book later in the year (and MASSIVE THANKS to all of you who read and reviewed and asked for more from these ladies).

It’s going to be a busy year.

xo Dana

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Instead of What I’m reading, I thought I might share something different.

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