Are you MORE afraid lately since reading King?

[tuttle300]

He has admitted in multiple Author forewards and afterwards in his books that yes, he WANTS to scare you. He WANTS you to get so wrapped up in reading his work that you miss an appointment or you discover that dinner is burning in the kitchen.

But then, this thought came to me today and I thought I'd share it and start a discussion here.

Okay, so we Constant Readers know, going in, that King wants to keep us up at night. And yeah, okay, so he IS a noted horror writer and maybe the "wanting to scare you" statement is part of the standard, obligatory promotional schtick that horror writer's "have to say"

But, my question is....has he really done it?
Has he REALLY instilled fright into your normal everyday world, long after you've read his latest work of fiction?

And yeah, sure, many of us watch the local and national news. You almost have to in order to keep up (or at the very least, be able to assist the kids with their homework).

Wether your a new Constant Reader to the King Universe or a long time reader, do you find yourself making sure the house doors are locked before turning in to bed? Maybe going so far as to getting OUT of bed to re-check the locks? (Using the excuse to the little woman that you need a glass of water)

Do you stop for a second as you head into the basement, just before flipping the switch, and think-- what if there's something down here that's not supposed to be there?

Do you occassionally find yourself being more careful around strange dogs?

Feel those few hairs on the back of your neck tickle you when you step into an elevator with a complete stranger?

Pause for a moment when you reach for the cell phone and the display tells you that it's a PRIVATE NUMBER ??

Nearly anyone who has ever read "IT" will never look at clowns the same way.

Don't believe me? Look around you.

Do you have any friends who for one reason or another have never read Stephen King?
Do they seem more carefree than you do?
Do they seem to have less grey hair than you do?
Is it possible that what I'm asking has even a small bit of truth to it?

And let's be clear. I'm not saying that you should stop reading.
No.
Of course not.
That would be silly.
Right?

I'm just asking you to look in the bathroom mirror sometime today and ask yourself, seriously, if reading Stephen King has possibly made you a bit more frightened than you may have been had you never picked him up?

But make sure to check behind the shower curtain first!

[Haunted]

I have already admitted elsewhere on these pages that I cannot read Salem's Lot at night. I also had weird feelings re-reading The Shining recently.

Mr. King's words are very powerful and the images that I draw from his words may be my fault, maybe he didn't mean to create such a frightening scene (yeah, right ) but the scene is there and I have to cope with it. Sometimes I handle it well, (in daytime) or sometimes I don't (nighttime).

I remember Mr. King talking about when he was a kid that as long as all his limbs were under the cover he was safe from the creature under the bed. I still feel that way and it is a long walk up to my 'bee bie' after I turn out the lights.

The basement and the shower are other subjects.....sheesh

[Mjenn]

When I was a kid I was terrified of everything.... and I mean everything. I saw the movie Little Shop of Horrors and was convinced Audrey 2 was growing in my backyard. I refused to go out and play for weeks.

It was only after reading a book by Stephen King, at age 12, and then somehow getting the fabulous idea to see the movie as well, that I realized everything I imagined in my head was 10 times worse than any movie or spider I might find in the basement.

So in a way, SK helped me conquer my fears. After reading his books I became a lot braver, actually. The only thing I had a hard time doing, and only recently got over, was falling asleep with an SK book near my bed. Because if I looked at it, I would remember the contents, and not be able to sleep...

[littleone328]

He has admitted in multiple Author forewards and afterwards in his books that yes, he WANTS to scare you. He WANTS you to get so wrapped up in reading his work that you miss an appointment or you discover that dinner is burning in the kitchen.

But then, this thought came to me today and I thought I'd share it and start a discussion here.

Okay, so we Constant Readers know, going in, that King wants to keep us up at night. And yeah, okay, so he IS a noted horror writer and maybe the "wanting to scare you" statement is part of the standard, obligatory promotional schtick that horror writer's "have to say"

But, my question is....has he really done it?
Has he REALLY instilled fright into your normal everyday world, long after you've read his latest work of fiction?

And yeah, sure, many of us watch the local and national news. You almost have to in order to keep up (or at the very least, be able to assist the kids with their homework).

Wether your a new Constant Reader to the King Universe or a long time reader, do you find yourself making sure the house doors are locked before turning in to bed? Maybe going so far as to getting OUT of bed to re-check the locks? (Using the excuse to the little woman that you need a glass of water)

Do you stop for a second as you head into the basement, just before flipping the switch, and think-- what if there's something down here that's not supposed to be there?

Do you occassionally find yourself being more careful around strange dogs?

Feel those few hairs on the back of your neck tickle you when you step into an elevator with a complete stranger?

Pause for a moment when you reach for the cell phone and the display tells you that it's a PRIVATE NUMBER ??

Nearly anyone who has ever read "IT" will never look at clowns the same way.

Don't believe me? Look around you.

Do you have any friends who for one reason or another have never read Stephen King?
Do they seem more carefree than you do?
Do they seem to have less grey hair than you do?
Is it possible that what I'm asking has even a small bit of truth to it?

And let's be clear. I'm not saying that you should stop reading.
No.
Of course not.
That would be silly.
Right?

I'm just asking you to look in the bathroom mirror sometime today and ask yourself, seriously, if reading Stephen King has possibly made you a bit more frightened than you may have been had you never picked him up?

But make sure to check behind the shower curtain first!

I am a constant reader. But I never look over my shoulder. Just don't want to get the flu.

[Nabila]

First of all, great thread tuttle300!

And I was already a 'careful' woman before SK books. We, in this Borneo region ( that would include places like Kalimantan, Indonesia etc. and Sarawak and Sabah Malaysia etc..), are already steeped in superstitions, and the rituals to protect ourselves from those pesky evil entities and spirits.

But perhaps that's the very reason I was drawn to SK's books. He gets it. And he respects it. I'm not the only SK fan in these parts.

And yes he still managed to make me even more careful. Well, Salem's Lot still scares me. Yea, it's the window thing But now I'm reading Cell and for me, it's scarier than vampires, Perses and evil clowns. What talisman can I use to protect me from the phone crazies? I only answer calls on my cell when it's my husband calling. My friends know that by now and they think I'm too paranoid. I never really trusted cell phones. It's the radiation.

I also don't get into elevators alone with another man. I just pretend I'm waiting for someone when he gets in even if I was there first. And basement parking at malls? Forget it. We don't have cellars here so no problem there. But silly me, I have a dear young friend in Europe who told me in her e-mail that the guy she's dating gave her the keys to his flat and cellar so she can use the cellar. I replied quickly saying please don't go to the cellar. Cellars are traps! She replied, " Is that from Stephen King? lol!" I told her it's not funny and to just humour me and don't go! I think it can be tiring to be an SK fan but at least you're prepared and conscious of what can go wrong in the most seemingly normal situations on a seemingly normal lovely day.

[psj77]

After reading Cell I wouldn't touch a cell phone for over a year. I recently just got my first new one since then.

[seedbeads]

I would like to say that this or that book has made me think twice about going about my evening, but sad to say I've always been this paranoid! To this day I won't do laundry after dark unless my husband has already gone down and turned all the lights on. Not to mention, I made him install all of the basement light switches just outside the rooms they light up. It's the basement, after all... spiders everywhere... I could stick my hand into a dark room and at that exact moment there could be a spider right on the switch - or worse, a house centipede! *shudder*

You see how paranoid I am?

But, despite not being more afraid, I do stay up to ridiculous hours reading and re-reading whatever I've pulled off the shelf (the last of the Dark Tower had me up until 4 AM last week). I think Mr. King can take partial responsibility for that one.

[constantreader1313]

I wouldn't say I'm more afraid, but I just finished reading Cell for the first time and just like many other of Mr. King's books this one is constantly bumping around in my head. Not fear, just the idea that with all the technology that is consuming our lives and becoming smarter everyday the possibility that something like that could happen is very real...kinda just makes me think that I probably would have been one of the 'phone-crazies' and my girls would be without me...

[psj77]

But if the light switch is out side the room some one could cut it out while your in there, & then who knows what could happen.

[Jaedpact]

I do not think of my self as being more afraid since falling into the Sk universe. But i have thought things to myself that fit so well into, well into the path of the beam. For instance I now use the concept of gunslinger to categorise persons of intrest to me. I wonder if John Lennon was considered a gunslinger. I think about twins. I constanly find myself day dreaming about Gan's navel. There are just certain things that come to me in terms of red and white. I think the most pervasive thought that sticks with me is "time the old bald cheater" (paraphrased but you know what I mean)
Man it's as if my merspective has changed just a little bit. Some times I categorise people as Lowmen and Women. I mean not in a delusion way but in a chortle/note-to-self kind of way.