It is getting closer to Halloween and I was thinking of why people enjoy getting scared. It is a huge industry. Horror films and roller coasters. Different kinds of thrills, but still designed to scare. I don’t know why it is that people enjoy being frightened, but I like a good thrill now and again. Perhaps it’s because never do you feel more alive than when you are scared. Thinking about these things made me remember the stories I heard as a child. All of the things that were “true”. That New York sewers were full of alligators, because people bought them when they were tiny, but soon tired of them and flushed them down the toilet. The hook story -about a couple that heard a newsflash on the radio while they are parked. Apparently a murderer has escaped from the local prison. He has a hook for a hand. The young couple, frightened, decide to call it a night. The young man arrives at the girl’s home, and proceeds to go open the door for the girl. There is a hook hanging on the passenger door side! Then there is the razor blade in the apple. Supposedly a trick-or-treater gets more than they bargained for inside an apple. We have a couple books full of these kind of stories. The Vanishing Hitchhiker and Curses! Broiled Again! both written by Jan Harold Brunvald. They are really fun to read [and a little spooky] You will be reminded of all the stories you have heard from people who claim they are all true. “This really happened to my friends mothers cousin!” I’m sure that as long as human beings pass along stories the urban legend will remain alive and well. Happy Halloween and remember never take candy from strangers.
Posted by Estel.