Christine N Rifkin – Author

When I think back to being a kid, my favorite memories were spent in the living room.

My love of movies comes from my grandpa, but so does my love of horror. We would spend nights watching things like Tales from the Crypt, Outer Limits, and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. Family movie time usually involved the latest Stephen King miniseries, or whatever sci-fi/horror/action movie that recently showed up on cable. I grew up on Alien, Poltergiest, and The Fly. We visited haunted trails and the house was always decorated for Halloween. So when people ask, why horror? I say its in my blood.

I am someone who knows how scary real life can be, but somehow I still enjoy watching gore and trauma on screen. If I were to really dive deep, I’m sure I could find the real cause but I like to believe that its because my anxiety is relieved just by watching something that could possibly happen. I get to see the worst outcome right on the screen, so, naturally, I’m no longer scared of it. Except chainsaws…no matter what, they will always be scary.

No, horror is not for everyone, and I would never recommend forcing someone to like horror. They either do or they don’t. There are plenty of horror fans out there that actually can’t watch horror movies because its too scary for them, but they like the aesthetic. I like to say “It’s not for everyone, but it is for me” because that’s the truest statement I can make. I wrote a horror poem once that got shared on my English Honor Society’s Facebook page and one of the comments was “EWWW (*shivers*)” which I find is one of the best reviews of my poems I’ve ever had. We all have our triggers and we should find what makes us feel good as individuals.

For me, I will always see myself as that wild haired, wide-eyed child sitting in front of the TV screen as someone’s head explodes.