SHEDDING SOME LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT
I really enjoy suspense books and stories but have you ever noticed that whenever the subject enters the scary room, they never put the light on?
When I go out and know it will be dark when I come home, I usually leave the outdoor lights on and one light inside the house, even so, before I go into my home after dark I instantly turn on lights before I walk inside. My arm snakes round the door frame and I switch on the light before entering any room.
I guess the film makers know that keeping their subjects feeling their way round dark rooms will increase the suspense, until they fall over the corpse or put their hand into something heart-stopping.
When I was a little girl we had no such thing as night lights, it was either the main light was on or off so, naturally, it was left off at bedtime. I would plead for the staircase light to be left on but no, it had to go off. For some reason I was terrified of the dark and still am to some degree. Because of my fear of the dark I couldn’t get out of bed without a light being on, for this reason I wet my bed well into my teens. I was just to scared to throw back the covers and get up into the unknown so I would convince myself I could wait until morning, of course this meant wet sheets.
Dave thought I was nuts when we first got married when I insisted he stand outside while I used the outside facility. I was convinced that he would walk back inside the house so I asked him to talk to me or sing. It was only young love that made him perform this service and standing in the cold winter air was not a fun thing to do. When we had been married for eighteen months, we could afford to have an indoor bathroom installed and from then on, he could stay warm while I relieved myself. Oh the joy of electricity!
As a mum I always allowed a night light or some form of low lighting, why put kids through the agony of night terrors? Being scared of the dark is very real and if you do not suffer from this fear then you probably think it is silly but it is no laughing matter to the sufferer.
Our home has no street lighting but the friendly glow of a neighbours yard light gives me enough light to find the ensuite however, my arm still does it’s advance round the doorway and trips the light switch before I go inside.
I don’t know if it is the fear of the unknown but I do not like to sit with my back to other diners when we go out to eat. I always try to take the chair that is in the corner, with it’s back to a wall as I have a strong dislike to sitting “exposed” to what I cannot see.
Where do these fears come from and why do I have this love of suspense stories that put these strange ideas into my head? Who knows, maybe I should stick to reading fairy tales, however these are also full of horror stories, big wolves trying to eat little girls, or innocent little pigs, a nasty witch fattening Hansel and Gretal up so she could eat them or children being taken to Neverland while they are supposed to be safely in bed. We read our little ones these stories then turn the light out and expect them to have sweet dreams, what kind of weirdo’s are we to put these ideas into sleepy little heads?
No wonder I am neurotic!
(Editor’s note – after a nice holiday Pat is back on the streets of Oliver – thank God)