What Makes You Jump?

‘The Scream’ - Edvard Munch (1893)

Do you like horror? Do you enjoy a good ‘jump scare’? Some folks love that adrenaline rush and look forward to those Halloween haunted houses. They look forward to those stop-your-heart surprises and gotcha moments. Some love a good horror flick. Freddy Krueger? Chainsaws? Mad clowns? Bring ‘em on! Walking down creaky steps into a dark cellar where something or someone jumps out at you? My response? No way… never… nuh-uh… absolutely not!!!

There’s a lot of thought and psychology that goes into a good horror flick or a good haunted house venue. It’s more than spider webs brushing against your face or dark rooms or bloody bodies hanging in a doorway. To be truly convincing, good horror’s got to key in on all the senses… sights, sounds, smells, touch. It has to unleash your primal fears, build up your expectations and angst to a crescendo, and then… back down and do it all over again!

Scaremasters will tell you it’s a clever combination of setting- the creepier, the better; good actors, some to whom you will relate and others who make your skin crawl; believable makeup and special effects and a good story; and all those sensory explosions that make you feel unsafe and out of your comfort zone while knowing logically that you are safe and nothing is really going to hurt you. After all, you paid for a ticket; they don’t really want to kill you. They just want to scare you. Nothing says the haunting won’t continue after you leave the haunted house or the theater, though. I remember feeling a bit unnerved swimming after watching ‘Jaws’. And taking a shower after ‘Psycho’? Yikes! What about you?

Check the Internet. You can find lists of ‘the best jump scares’ of all time. The top 10, the top 50. It’s that tension and suspense that slowly builds and builds and builds. You beg the main character to turn around and run. Don’t go into that attic or down to the cellar. Then BAM! You get knocked out of your seat. Your heart races. Maybe you scream or shriek.

There are plenty of ‘jump scare’ movies out there… some horror, some thrillers. ‘Wait Until Dark’, ‘Jaws’, ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Psycho ’, ’ Carrie ’, and ‘The Shining’ all delivered memorable, heart-stopping, shriek-moments. Alfred Hitchcock, Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, Stephen King… these guys know how to scare you.

As a kid, I remember watching ‘Dracula’ and all the Frankenstein monster flicks with my Dad. I snuggled close to him and still got scared. I’m definitely not a ‘jump scare’ kind of girl. I’d rather close my eyes (and ears) when the suspense gets too much to bear. Even now, when the tension builds, that’s when I head out and make popcorn. Don’t pause the movie on my account.

And haunted houses? For me? Not even a consideration. There are several here in Las Vegas at the moment. ‘Horror Unleashed’ and ‘Scarea 15’ top the bill, but there’s a host of pop-up spook spots around town, too. None of which do I have even the slightest inclination to visit.

I do enjoy Halloween and we are participating in some Halloween activities, but none of them will scare me… they’re all PG-rated.

What about you? Do you like jump scares and scary movies? What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever watched?