I was such a wuss as a kid, and hated horror movies. But one of the most disturbing was not horror movie at all: *batteries not included. It’s a family film with Jessica Tandy, for chrissakes. The decrepit building, the palpably unstable slumlord, the erratically flying aliens with glowing eyes made a very unsettling ride for little Jenny.
As for books, there are two that stand out: The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright and The Secret Bedroom by R.L. Stine. I still read them, that’s how much impact they had on me. The idea that dolls move about when you’re not looking and recreate scenes of an unsolved murder was unnerving enough. But Stine’s tale of a girl with a secret bedroom (an introvert’s dream!) inhabited by a spirit that can not only invade your mind, but contort reality until you’re just a shell to possess, was enough to keep me up nights.
What was your biggest fear as a child?
For some reason, fire. I was never in one, I was never burned, but I’d get anxious even going near a building in the aftermath, much less look at one on TV. I found the blackness and destruction terrifying, the gaping windows and shredded wood and plaster hanging beyond the frames monstrous.
In *batteries not included, there’s a scene in which some characters take a blissful walk home after a fun night out, only to find their apartment building ablaze. I think that’s what is so upsetting: fire is such a simple, vital element, yet it can destroy your home, kill your loved ones, erase every memento from your past.
Do you like scary movies? Which one is your favourite?
Now I do. I met (and eventually married) a horror movie geek (his descriptor) and I think he was secretly disappointed that I avoided the genre altogether. But little by little he introduced me to older movies like The Seventh Victim (1943), Brides of Dracula (1960) and Masque of the Red Death (1964), and now I seek them out. I begged him to take me to The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2017).
Ghosts are guaranteed to creep me out. Have you ever had a paranormal experience in real life?
No, and I’m sure if I did I would freak right out and move. But I’d like to think we’d be pals, Casper-style. As long as he’s not the chatty type.
Has a book ever really scared you?
In adulthood, no. I’ve gotten the shivers, I’ve been creeped out, but mostly, I applaud the writer for eliciting a visceral response. Ha! Perhaps writing has ruined me for raw terror!
Can you share with us an example of fear in one of your own novels?
Certainly. My protagonist in my novel, Edge of Sundown, is an author too, and much of his motivation comes from fear. The fear he’ll be forgotten, the fear that his creative well has run dry. Turns out it’s much worse: the world moved on and didn’t leave a forwarding address, and his reality is more fiction than his book.
In real life what is your biggest fear? Do you use that when you write?
I have the same fear as my poor protagonist: that one day I’ll be out of ideas and I’ll lose my ability to write.
But also bugs. Even helpful ones, like centipedes and common spiders and crickets. There’s regular ol’ roaches, but also hissing, flying frickin’ roaches. There is no God. Yet I’m writing a picture book about a girl who’s airlifted by a horde of butterflies, or as I call them, Satan’s biplanes. Go figure.
Thanks so much for sharing – am totally with you on the cockroach front – they are pure evil. Also I really want to read some RL Stine books now, I seem to have missed those when I was growing up!
If you want to know more about Jennifer, check out her links below!
Well the new year is almost a month old and I know I have been MIA on the blog front but I was taking a break from blogging to get my head around the home schooling and working from home thing. Now I have successfully poured my frontal lobes back in place, here we are again on the hunt for scary inspiration. This week I have author Alison Knight popping by the House of Fear to tell us all about what scares the bejesus out of her.
What movie/book scared you as a child?
I think I should start by saying that I’m a complete coward and actively avoid anything that might be scary! I can’t remember a particular book that scared me, but I do remember seeing a film when I was about six at our local library in the East End of London that still gives me the shivers. I don’t remember the name of it, but it was an old black and white film about a group of children who lived in the country and in one scene they were trapped in the loft of an old hay barn that was on fire. I was so scared, I ran out because I couldn’t bear to watch it. I still don’t know how the film ended, although with hindsight, I’m sure they would have been rescued or been able to escape. I also confess to have been one of those children who hid behind the sofa when the Daleks came on the telly.
Do you like scary movies? Which one is your favourite.
No! I avoid them at all costs!
Ghost are my go to for scares. Have you ever had a paranormal experience in real life?
I’m not scared by the thought of ghosts – I think that’s because I’ve lost people close to me and like the idea that they might be hanging around, keeping a loving eye on me. I did have an unsettling experience a few years ago when I stayed at a friend’s house in Oxfordshire. It was a very old thatched cottage with wonky floors and walls. I was just dozing off to sleep when I felt a cat land on the mattress and walk across my back. But when I looked, there was nothing there! I checked with my friend the next morning and they have never had a cat. Yet I felt the cat’s weight on my back and heard it purring.
Has a book ever scared you?
I had to read The Lovely Bones for a university course and found it really unsettling. It wasn’t something I’d have finished reading if it wasn’t part of my studies. Needless to say, I won’t watch the movie. I don’t like anything that makes me feel helpless.
In my own books, I like to build tension, but I don’t aspire to instill terror in my readers. My latest book, MINE, is different because it’s based on real events. I found that really, really hard to write but as I’m the only one left who was part of what happened, I felt I owed it to myself and my family to write it. But it scared me to write it because it meant reliving it all. I was also scared of upsetting other family members who would remember that time.
I have to say, I shed a lot of tears as I wrote it and dreaded having to write some scenes. But I also tried to balance the bad stuff with lighter moments – memories that made me laugh out loud. I know some of my family and friends who have read it said they found it hard to read because they knew what was coming but they also appreciated the lighter moments which evoked good memories for them.
In real life, what is your greatest fear?
Like every mother, I fear for my children and grandchildren. I remember thirty-odd years ago, when my son was a baby, I was at home and my husband was away on a course and someone tried to get into our house through the back door. What did I do? I yelled at the top of my voice and ran towards the door – no one was getting anywhere near my baby! I was just in time to see someone disappear over our garden wall. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised how badly that could have gone but I think if either of my children or grandchildren were threatened I’d do the same thing again.
My mother nearly drowned as a child and was rescued from a fast-flowing river. She was terrified of water after that and never learned to swim. Yet I was a real water baby and loved to swim and she would sit by the pool and watch me. It wasn’t until years later that I realised how scary that must have been for her.
On a personal level, I’m terrified of being helpless – if I couldn’t see or move I’d be absolutely terrified. Have you read The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby? He was the young, successful editor of French Elle when he had a massive stroke. It left him unable to move anything except for one eyelid. The book is beautiful and terrifying. I don’t think I could cope with something like that.
Do you use your fears when you write?
To a certain extent, yes. In my first book I featured a house fire where the heroine was trapped upstairs, so that old movie is still influencing me! I’ve also featured characters suffering from PTSD after an attack and others having to make decisions that could leave them in serious danger if they ‘did the right thing’. Sometimes it can be terrifying to do what you know is right because it will mean you make yourself vulnerable – the choice of them or me can be the scariest thing you ever have consider.
In MINE, I learned a lot about myself and my family as I relived events that I didn’t really understand at the time. Facing my fears of writing the story helped me to gain a new perspective on the people involved and how ordinary people made decisions that led them into an extraordinary situation.
Anne-Marie, thank you for inviting me to talk about my fears. Once again, I had to face my fears and, although I’m still going to avoid horror stories and movies and Daleks, I feel a little better about my fears and how I deal with them.
Thank you so much for sharing your fears with me/us it’s been great to have you here! The Lovely Bones is a beautiful and terrifying story, it really bothered me when I saw the movie – so much so I haven’t been able to watch it again. And I would love to hear more about your feline phantom!
If you want get to know more about lovely Alison, go get her book and get involved with her on social…..
Mine by Alison Knight
“What’s mine, I keep.”
London, 1968.
Lily’s dreams of a better life for her family are shattered when her teenage daughter refuses to give up her illegitimate child. It doesn’t help that Lily’s husband, Jack, takes their daughter’s side.
Taking refuge in her work at a law firm in the City, Lily’s growing feelings for her married boss soon provides a dangerous distraction.
Will Lily be able to resist temptation? Or will the decisions made by these ordinary people lead them down an extraordinary path that could destroy them all?
Mine – a powerful story of class, ambition and sexual politics.
Mine by Alison Knight is published by Darkstroke Books and is available from: mybook.to/mineknight
Alison has been a legal executive, a registered childminder, a professional fund-raiser and a teacher. She has travelled the world – from spending a year as an exchange student in the US in the 1970s and trekking the Great Wall of China to celebrate her fortieth year and lots of other interesting places in between.
In her mid-forties, Alison went to university part-time and gained a first-class degree in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and an MA in the same subject from Oxford Brookes University, both while still working full-time. Her first book was published a year after she completed her master’s degree.
Mine, published by Darkstroke Books is a domestic drama set in 1960s London based on real events in her family. She is the only person who can tell this particular story. Exploring themes of class, ambition and sexual politics, Mine shows how ordinary people can make choices that lead them into extraordinary situations.
Alison co-manages Imagine Creative Writing with Jenny. She teaches creative and life-writing, runs workshops and retreats as well as working as a freelance editor. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
She lives in Somerset, within sight of Glastonbury Tor.
This week I’m joined by author of Deli Meat a darkly humorous crime novel. Tom also contributed to the second volume of Dark London, the charity anthology from Darkstroke Books of amazing stories by amazing authors about my dear love London. Again my need to dredge the brains of others for the truth about what scares them has led me here to this place where I can again see what scares me in others fears aswell. Tom my dear let’s get to it…..
What movie/book scared you as a child?
I was at a friend’s house and they had older siblings. One of them played Nightmare on Elm Street. I was way too young to see that movie. I was terrified.
What was your biggest fear as a child?
I was terrified of a monster that I thought lived in the toilet. It only came out at night. Maybe I’ll write about it at some point.
Do you like scary movies? Which one is your favourite?
I like scary movies that don’t take themselves too seriously. I like Sam Raimi movies like Drag Me to Hell and Evil Dead, but I’m not really into super serious scary movies.
I am usually most freaked out by ghosts when I’m reading a book. Have you ever had a paranormal experience in real life?
When I was old enough, I used to live by myself at my parents camp over the summers. At night, I would hear this scratching at the window. It was every night, and it terrified me. One night, I jumped out of bed and looked out the window. Whatever it was, I was going face it head on. Turns out, it was just a bug scratching the window, probably looking to get inside.
Has a book ever really scared you?
The Chain by Adrian McKinty is absolutely terrifying. It’s not that I’m afraid that it will actually happen. I’m more afraid by what we’re all capable of if put in terrible situations. That’s an amazing novel.
Can you share with us an example of fear in one of your own novels?
In real life what is your biggest fear? Do you use that when you write?
I can barely talk about it. Something happening to my loved ones. I couldn’t use it. There are certain thoughts where there is no art. There’s just anxiety and pain. I couldn’t even begin to open up that one for writing.
Ok goddammit I want to know about the toilet monster!! What foul beast did your brain create? Sam Raimi is a dude, I struggled with all the chin sucking in Drag Me to Hell but Evil Dead scarred me for life. Ash is just the coolest.
“Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed” – William Shakespeare, King Henry VI Part One
So very happy to welcome Jennifer Wilson to my blog during the festive season! As you may know Jennifer loves writing about spooks as much as I do, only hers are a tad more regal than mine. Author of the Kindred Spirits series, Jennifer has raised the dead monarchy so many times she deserves a spot on Most Haunted. I think her stories are awesome so I’m very excited to have her here to talk about fear…..
Hi Anne-Marie, thanks for inviting me to your blog today. It’s fair to say I’m a naturally jumpy and easily-frightened individual, so I’m confident that of all your guests, my responses are at the coward’s end of the fear scale…
What movie/book scared you as a child?
I have really vivid memories of reading a book from the ‘upstairs’ library, for the upper juniors in primary school, which really freaked me out. I can see the cover, with two boys running, and I’m sure it was called ‘The Runaways’ or something similar. In one scene, a wall fell over, almost crushing either one or both of them. That image stuck with me for a long, long time, and gave me nightmares about being crushed. Horrific. I should have stayed in the ‘downstairs’ library, where I belonged, but I’d finished all the books it had to offer!
What was your biggest fear as a child?
Well, apart from walls… I’ve always had the most random fear of dust-bin lorries. That, and dinosaurs. Both stem from films. I watched the Turtles live-action film, where Shredder is, well, shredded, in a dust-bin lorry, and from that day, I’ve hated them. We used to have to walk up a really narrow wynd to get up to college, and on dust-bin day, I’d be petrified of accidentally slipping into the back of it. As for dinosaurs, that’s the fault of Jurassic Park. I had this terrible fear that if I opened my curtains at night, I’d see the eye of a t-rex, just staring back at me…
Do you like scary movies? Which one is your favourite?
As you can probably guess from the above, no, I do not like scary movies… I’m not really a film person anyway, but the most I can tolerate is a bit of a ‘jump scare’ which at least is over quickly!
I am usually scared the most by ghosts when I’m reading a book. Have you ever had a paranormal experience in real life?
Yes, and the most recent was in Greyfriars Kirkyard, in Edinburgh. As it’s the setting for part of my own book, Kindred Spirits: Royal Mile, and it was a lovely, quiet morning (I was early for an exhibition), I decided to pop in and get some nice photos of the blossom. There was one guy sitting having a coffee on a bench as I walked in, but that was it. Around the front of the church there was a lovely view down the graveyard of blossom, which I snapped, but as I went to put my phone away, I felt somebody touch my handbag. I panicked slightly, and put my own hand down to the zipper / strap, whilst turning to my left to confront them. Out the corner of my eye, I saw a tall gentleman in a dark suit and a white shirt, with dark hair. Later, I thought he had also been wearing a hat, but I cannot swear to that, and may have added it in my imagination afterwards. But the man himself was clear as day. Heart racing now, I turned fully around, only… Nothing. Nobody anywhere near me. Anyone who knows the site will know that if you’re in the middle of the paving in front of the church itself, there’s not enough time to get somewhere hide in the second it took me to turn around (Usain Bolt himself wouldn’t make it). The only other thing I felt was the strangest sensation of cold.
Greyfriars Kirkyard
I got out of there quicker than I’ve ever done anything in my life! Once out the gates, I did what every self-respecting thirty-something who has had a scare would do, and called my mum. She laughed initially when I told her, but then admitted she believed me, because she could hear the genuine fear in my voice. I was very glad to get away into the safety of the museum after that…
Has a book ever really scared you?
Other than the one I talked about above, not really, but that’s partly down to the fact that I can usually sense when something is about to get too much for me, and I skim / skip appropriately. It’s the same technique I use with overly-graphic crime novels!
Can you share with us an example of fear in one of your own novels?
Since the Kindred Spirits series follows the adventures of the ghostly communities inhabiting some of Britain’s most famous landmarks, fear definitely plays a part in my novels. For the most part, this is the ghosts instilling fear in the tourists who visit their homes, such as George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, rising from a barrel of malmsey in the Tower of London, or Katherine Howard haunting ‘her’ corridor at Hampton Court Palace. In one of the closes off Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, some students ready to play a trick on those taking part in one of the city’s famous ‘ghost tours’, the students themselves become the victims, terrified as Mary Queen of Scots enjoys herself in the occasional haunting. In these situations though, I think it’s fair to say that the living are almost-willing participants in the game. After all, you wouldn’t go on a ghost tour along a famously haunted street, at night, with somebody dressed as a ghoul, if you weren’t at least partially expecting to be scared witless, would you? So can the ghosts really be blamed, when they’re practically giving the tourists what they’re expecting?
In some instances though, I’ve wanted to explore things a little ‘bigger’ than just ghosts jumping out at unsuspecting visitors. I’ve talked about ghostly characters finding their ‘white light’ and moving on from their haunting, but this is by choice – if the white light appears, then a ghost can choose to move on, or stay. But I also wanted to give the ghosts something to genuinely fear, otherwise, they seemed a bit too invincible. I had this idea that if a ghost was injured too many times, they would gradually fade away to nothing. That would stop characters fighting each other – there had to be a consequence of their actions.
In Kindred Spirits: York, I pushed things a little further, and actually introduced a ‘bad guy’ into things, rather than just an unpopular character. Here, the ghosts didn’t quite know what was going on, which, for characters who can slip through walls and overhear almost any conversation without being observed, was something unknown, and for a lot of people, isn’t that one of the most frightening things?
In real life what is your biggest fear? Do you use that when you write?
If you take away dust-bin lorries and dinosaurs, then being very serious for a moment, I’m always scared of letting people down, or disappointing them. Perhaps this isn’t quite as relevant in the Kindred Spirits series, but in The Raided Heart, Meg has a strong sense of wanting to do the right thing, and not let her family down, and in the WIP I’m currently working on, loyalty and needing to work together are strong motivations for the key characters, as they try to do their best in difficult situations.
Thank you so much for joining my study of fear Jennifer. I too fell foul of Jurassic Park, had several T Rex nightmares after seeing that at the cinema! And your Greyfriars experience deserves a blog post of its own! How creepy was that? Feel free to stop by with ghost stories again please!
All of Jennifer’s books are currently in the big DarkStroke Halloween sale over on Amazon, you can get all titles for 99p/99c this weekend! Go go go!
About Jennifer C. Wilson
Jennifer C. Wilson stalks dead people (usually monarchs, mostly Mary Queen of Scots and Richard III). Inspired by childhood visits to as many castles and historical sites her parents could find, and losing herself in their stories (not to mention quite often the castles themselves!), at least now her daydreams make it onto the page.
After returning to the north-east of England for work, she joined a creative writing class, and has been filling notebooks ever since. Jennifer won North Tyneside Libraries’ Story Tyne short story competition in 2014, and in 2015, her debut novel, Kindred Spirits: Tower of London was published by Crooked Cat Books. The full series was re-released by Darkstroke in January 2020.
Jennifer is a founder and host of the award-winning North Tyneside Writers’ Circle, and has been running writing workshops in North Tyneside since 2015. She also publishes historical fiction novels with Ocelot Press. She lives in Whitley Bay, and is very proud of her two-inch view of the North Sea.
All That Mighty Heart 