Horror media that led us astray

The first time I experienced a horror story

My first experience with the horror genre was through a book. I must have been seven or eight years old. There was a pile of little books with short stories of all kinds, and I was picking them out one by one as if they were salty snacks.

I was reading without dwelling on whys and how's, letting mi imagination paint the picture in my brain straight away, until I got to this one book. I was walking in the shoes of the protagonist, and things were not going good. There was magic, but it was unpredictable and dark. I could feel my hair stand on end. I keep reading expecting the darkness to dissipate and be explained away, but when I got to the last page I realized the relief was not coming.

The story left the darkness there, luring in the corner of my mind. I was baffled. Who writes something just to make you feel scared? It didn't make sense...

But I wanted more.

Horror stories and authors I loved as a child

I grew up in the 90's and early 00's in a rural town in Córdoba, Argentina. My town had a very tiny library, so most of the books I could read we already owned or traded with friends of my parents.
These are some of the scary stories that I remember being hooked on (and perhaps even obsessed with) at that time:

• Edgar Allan Poe : Many of his works captured my imagination, but I remember "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" spinning around in my head for many days.
• Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" : You could argue on whether it is horror or not, but why would you?
• H.P. Lovecraft : I know now that he had terrible views, I didn't know then though, and his writing really gripped me in its scary tentacles. I have read most of his works, with "From Beyond", "The Shadow Out of Time" and "The Colour Out of Space" .
• "La Gallina degollada / The Decapitated Chicken", Horacio Quiroga: It is a short story by an Uruguayan writer. I recommend you read it, right now!: English version Original Spanish

Horror Films and TV that I loved

My father was opposed to his children watching television, and even if he would have let us watch it, there were only 2 channels that shared many of the same shows and movies. The internet didn't exist for a good chunk of my childhood or was hard to reach in a cybercafe at the closest city. I started watching more films and series later in life when I went to University when I, almost ironically, decided to study Filmmaking.
I did sneak a few -inadvisable- horror media into my brain anyway, the most memorable ones:

• Return to OZ, 1985 film : Theoretically not horror, supposedly a fantasy film for kids, this movie had the perfect representation of childhood surreal terror.
• Tales of the Crypt, 1989-1996 TV Show: It was not technically for kids, but sometimes I would sneakily stay awake until midnight and watch the 30 minutes stories; and of course would have nightmares afterwards. The episode "Easel Kill Ya" is still stuck in my brain.
• Event Horizon, 1997 film: I haven't watched this film ever again, but I remember having a transcendental experience of fear like nothing before. I'm afraid to watch it again through my adult eyes and ruin the perfect mark it left in my brain.
• Night of the Living Dead, 1968 film by George A. Romero : Yes, I became obsessed with zombies and zombie-related media as a teenager. This was not about fear, but about human behaviour. And of course, George A. Romero is the king of zombie movies.

Good horror should feel like a delicious meal

Many people say they don't like horror stories or media, that they don't like being scared. But horror is much more than experiencing fear. When I find a good piece of horror, I relish in excitement. Each little hint of the dark undertone goes straight to my brain, like the scrumptious aromas of a much anticipated meal. I savour each of the visual queues, the sounds -even the tropes-, with great delight.

I imagine that is the feeling that people who like extreme sports must feel right before doing the super hard and scary thing. The anticipation of fear. But of course I am not sporty in the slightest, so I am not sure.

If you still think you don't like horror, I encourage you to follow your curiosity and try a few of the classic delicious ones. Good horror is not jumpscares: it's anticipation and release, it's a study of the darkest parts of human nature.