Journal #23 - Scary Movies/Stories

I know for me, I get scared pretty easily, so producers and authors do not have a hard time accomplishing their goal of making their work scary and enticing to their audiences. For a movie or book to be scary, it needs to be suspenseful. Eerie music in the background always add to the appeal of the scene. If someone is sneaking up on another character, quiet music being played that quickly speeds up and gets louder as the suspense rises always catches my attention. I think that it would be easier for someone to make a movie scarier than a book. With a film production, lighting can be used to its full effect, along with make-up, music, and other noises that contribute to the horror of the show. Just the other night I watched "The Omen" for the first time. Because it is an older movie, the music that was used was mainly strings and percussion instruments. In my opinion, creepy and old music like that used in this movie is the ultimate ingredient for a scary movie. Even in parts that I felt the need to hide behind a pillow, I was still on the edge of my seat because of the noises in the background. Another thing I think added to the scariness of the movie was the make-up. Most of the make-up the producers had to use was fake blood because a lot of characters in the movie end up dying. This effect allows for the audience to get "grossed out", which makes it even more creepy. As far as scary books are concerned, it is a lot harder for authors to portray horror through writing. Some techniques authors use a lot of the time are short and choppy sentences. This method of writing causes the reader to speed up when reading either aloud or in their head. A lot of poems I have read have used this appeal. The faster I read a story or poem, the more suspenseful the scene in my head plays out. I think that poet Walt Whitman does a good job of this effect in his many horrific and terrifying poems.