Why I won’t watch paranormal movies

Number 1 reason …. OK I am a bit of a scaredy cat. Put anything remotely scary or violent on tv and I can’t handle it. I spend a lot of my time with my hands over my eyes and it usually results with me having to sleep with the light on. It wasn’t always this way. Movies have become a lot more real and violent over the years, but I do blame my husband and his best friend for my current stance. I remember the torture they used to put me through during any remotely scary movie. Like at a home screening of House on Haunted Hill. They were constantly poking me and scaring me to make me jump. They left a fake hand written note in the printer trying to convince me that none of them did it and it was a ‘ghost’. Sitting in the movies during Urban legend taking turns scaring me and laughing when everyone would turn around to see who has screamed. Who can blame me?

A few years ago in London I went to Maddame Toussards and the ‘Escape from the chamber of horrors’ was terrifying for me. Walking down a long dark corridor with fake spider webs, life like wax figures of some pretty disgusting things and men dressed as decaying mental patients all trying to ‘escape’ chasing you, grabbing, screaming at you. Why would someone pay for that? It was horrible! If it wasn’t for the few glasses of wine I had at the pub beforehand, I wouldn’t have even dared but I thought well when in Rome … (or London in my case)

I don’t even watch movies like Annabelle or Paranormal Activity. Often when a new movie that is about ‘ghosts’ comes out, people tag me on social media expecting that of course I must be heading out to see the latest spooky movie! The answer is NO. Cheap scares, graphic scenes, it is just not for me.

But aren’t you a paranormal investigator?

That is why it is quite surprising for a lot of people to hear that I don’t like these sorts of movies as they know me as a paranormal investigator. I’m the person excited to spend overnight in an abandoned insane asylum. Im the person that drives for hours to sit in a dark cell at an old gaol. How can I walk around in the dark of an empty building and not be scared? The thing is, an investigation or even a haunting is not like the movies. A girl in with long brown hair and a hospital gown is not lurking at every corner to scare us. I am still waiting to be thrown across the room. People are not murdered by unseen forces and there is no blood coming out of people’s eyes and pretty much most of what you see in the movies doesn’t actually happen in a paranormal investigation, hence why it is called a movie. People aren’t going to pay $22 a ticket to watch a bunch of people sitting in a room for 2 hours asking ‘Is anyone here with us?’ That’s just bad business.

In reality, most of the time on a paranormal investigation, nothing is happening at all. There is a lot of waiting around. The is a lot of sitting and being quiet waiting. Sometimes things happen, but they may not be paranormal. A slamming door yes can be scary, but it is usually the result of the wind. That is not to say that what some people consider to be a genuine paranormal experience during an investigation is not terrifying and emotional because it is for them. Even then though, it still isn’t like the movies. A lot of people in the paranormal community love all things paranormal and hence love all of the paranormal movies. They will agree that it is not a correct representation of what actually happens in a haunting but enjoy the thrill and are usually unfazed by the violence and don’t get scared. I often hear the term ‘I’m a ghost hunter, it takes a lot to scare me!’

I’m here to tell you loud and proud, I’m a ghost hunter and I am terrified of scary movies. Thankfully during an investigation I’m quite level headed and it does take a fair bit to scare me (lets forget about the one time I ran out) and the people I investigate are not my husband and his best friend so we respect each other and don’t go for a cheap scare. I can tell you though if one of them did do that to me, you would in fact see someone thrown across the room and it certainly wouldn’t be paranormal!

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