Ghosts and other super scary things

When I was little there was an episode on Oprah about child kidnappings. It was encouraged that parents watch the show with their children in order to educate children about strangers and what to do in the unlikely situation that the child is abducted. The show featured a super scary re-enactment of an abduction. I don’t know what Oprah was smoking that day but that was about the worst idea in the world. I think that’s when my irrational fears that drive my family and hubby crazy began. After that show I was convinced that I was going to be abducted. I do remember my father reassuring me that the kidnappers would return me because I talked too much but since he didn’t watch the show with us there was no way I was listening to him!

I would lie in my bed at night and worry about being abducted in my sleep (this was in addition to monsters in the closet and the boogeyman). I’m surprised my mother isn’t in some kind of institution right now due to the many sleepless nights I caused her (although to be honest, some of those early sleepless nights in my tot years were just because I simply wouldn’t go to bed and I had fun tormenting her. It’s amazing she kept me around all these years). Anyhow, I figured that I’d just refuse to go to bed (or more accurately, my bed) and then I’d be safe. I wasn’t about to back down because I was fighting for survival!

One night my mother had enough (well, more “enough” than normal). She sat me down and asked me how many nights I had been alive. I looked at her like she was nuts. I don’t know how old I was, maybe 7? I think I was still mastering 7 x 8 at that point (7’s and 8’s are the tricky ones you know) so there was no way I could multiply that in my head! So, she broke it down for me – 365 days in a year times 7 years = 2555 days. She proudly told me that I had been safe for approximately 2500 days! Therefore, due to her mathematically sound reason, I had no reason to be scared. Ha! Obviously she underestimated my critical thinking skills at that point. The way I figured it, I had been safe for 2555 days already which meant that I was probably more likely to be abducted soon! It only took one night of being abducted so the way I looked at it the other 2555 days didn’t mean crap.

This fear of being abducted grew into other fears. Scary stories, movies, and TV shows I knew I shouldn’t be watching introduced me to more and more terrifying matter. I learned to be afraid of ghosts, aliens, being stabbed to death, people in glow-in-the-dark scream masks, etc. Every movie/commercial/TV show became another chance for a new image to be added to my stockpile of things I’m scared of!

Over the course of many years I finally learned that perhaps I should stay away from these sorts of fear inducing mediums. I can’t even stand to watch scary movie previews now. Sometimes I’ll be on the Discovery or Syfy channel and I’ll see a preview for a ghost hunter show. When this happens I scream (to block out the commercial of course), run for the remote, and change the channel ASAP.

Haunted houses are terrible also. Going to a house with the sole purpose of having the crap scared out of me sounds completely insane. Even more insane is the fact that people PAY for that experience!

So, you can imagine my response when my friend asked me to go a tour of the haunted San Carlos Hotel. I said yes. Because, as much as I hate being scared, I like my friend. And, it was her birthday.

All week I’d been anticipating the horrors we would see. I knew that I’d be up at night, having nightmares about the ghosts and super-scary orbs. I pictured myself lying in my bed, seeing shadows on the wall. I’d be waking up Mr. C to check the doors (although everyone knows that ghosts don’t use doors) and asking if he heard the most recent noise.

We arrived for our tour and while I was a little jittery, I felt pretty confident that I’d be ok. As the tour began, we started in a room occupied by a male presence. The tour guide explained that the man liked women. Women with blonde hair. Women with straight, blonde hair. My eyes must have gotten huge as I realized that I fit into that category! My fears were coming true and the ghost thingie would be after me specifically just because I decided to straighten my hair that day! I had a few moments of panic but managed to keep it under control. Long story short, I survived. No crazy shutting of doors no faces appearing, and nothing to keep me up at night. We continued the tour and it remained uneventful. I actually found myself surprised at the uneventfulness and a little disappointed that nothing more happened. In the end, it was very interesting and I was glad I went. So, while I still won’t be watching any scary movies soon, I am glad that I was able to put my fears aside for at least a little bit.

P.S. I should mention that last night I had a dream that the male followed me home to stalk me in my house. I’m hoping that won’t be a re-occurring dream!