 Horror/Scary: June 19, 2024 Issue [#12599] |
This week: Irrational fear Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
"A cold wind blows, and I follow.
No time to rest my weary bones.
I hear her voice, and my heart grows hollow.
Best not walk these woods alone.
Best keep to the roads and out of the shadows.
Best get on home.
Best to leave them ghosts alone."
~From "The Land Unknown" by Landon Blood. |
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When is fear irrational? Fear is a normal response to potential danger that keeps us safe. It becomes irrational when the fear response is out of proportion to the potential danger or risk of harm. For example, if you are swimming in the ocean near Daytona Beach, Florida, which has the highest concentration of shark attacks in the world, fear of being attacked by a shark is normal. However, if you are swimming in a lake in Minnesota, fear of a shark attack is irrational, since sharks do not live in lakes.
An irrational fear can sometimes be brought on by a bad experience. A person who has been bitten or nearly bitten by a venomous snake may begin to fear all snakes, even those known to be harmless to humans.
An irrational, excessive, unrealistic, and persistent fear of an object or situation is called a phobia. A phobia can seriously impact a person's life, because they may go to great lengths to avoid the feared situation or object. For example, a person with a phobia of dogs or birds might be afraid to leave their house.
Phobias can be treated by gradual exposure to the feared situation. I cured my own extreme fear of spiders that way. As I learned more about them, I found out that they are nowhere near as frightening as I thought they were. I became so fascinated by spiders and other crawly things that I got a degree in entomology. However, this strategy will probably not work if the person isn't ready for it. Forcing a person to confront the object they fear may even make the fear worse.
In a horror story, the situation that your character fears may actually come true. For example, the police chief in Jaws feared the water, and we all know what happened to him more than once! In cases like this, the person with an extreme fear of the situation might have the best chance of succeeding, because they have planned how to escape the feared situation for a long time.
Something to try: Write a horror story in which a character confronts their phobia. |
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