Outtakes 320

Bump in the Night

By Cait Collins

It’s that time of the year when the ghosts and goblins are center stage. Witches, zombies, vampires, boogey men roam the streets. Television stations air scary movies and horror books are front and center in the books stores. I’m not a fan of the horror stuff. I don’t like being scared. And I don’t enjoy books and movies that keep me awake.

While I can take vampires and mummies, I have a real problem with living, breathing bad guys. I will never understand why I bought a copy of Helter Skelter by Curt Gentry and Vincent Bugliosi. Bugliosi was the prosecutor for the Manson trial and he knew the story of Manson’s family and crimes. That book terrified me. I couldn’t read it but I didn’t want to put it down. That doesn’t make much sense, but I’d read it until I was afraid to close my eyes. But the more Manson’s insanity was revealed, the more frightened I became. I finally shoved the book under the bed and never finished it.

This real killer was scarier than Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, and a zombie apocalypse could ever be simply because he is real. True monsters are more horrifying than fictional characters just because they are real and breathing. They can be the stranger you pass on the sidewalk or in the grocery store. Maybe the monster could be a teacher, a doctor, or a cop. This kind of knowledge is enough to make me keep a baseball bat under my couch. I don’t like guns but I have no problems bashing skulls, breaking knees, or wrists. I just pray I never have to face my fear. I may talk big, but I don’t really know if I could take him or her out. It’s something I really don’t want to know.