Halloweenie
Scariest book I ever read: "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
Scariest short story I ever read: "Turn of the Screw" by Henry James
Scariest movie I saw as an adult: "The Exorcist"
Scariest movie I saw as a kid: "The Blob"
Scariest moment I've ever had: sharing a panel with Charlotte Curtis, op-ed editor of the New York Times when I was only 21 years old.
Scariest thing I've ever done: Chairing the Edgars last year.
Scariest thing I ever saw: a shark while I was snorkling.
Scariest thing I want to do before I die: go skydiving.
And finally, the scariest thing you will see today:
That's me with my husband Daniel and dog Bailey going out to trick or treat. What's your scariest list? Happy halloween!
posted by PJ Parrish | 3:07 PM
8 Comments:
Interesting to me how these date both of us.
Scariest book I've ever read: "'Salem's Lot'"--read it when it came out, so I was about 10. Trust me when I say, if you're 10, that book will scare the crap out of you.
Scariest book I've read as an adult: A Walk Among The Tombstones by Lawrence Block
Scariest short story. Maybe King again, but I don't know the name. There are 2 from his first collection that stick in my mind. One is about a couple astronauts that go to Venus and pick up an alien lifeform by accident that grows eyes all over his body. The other is the non-supernatural one about the guy and his sister and how he saved her life as a kid, but wasn't around when she committed suicide as an adult.
Scariest movie I've seen as a teenager: Halloween.
Scariest movie I've seen as an adult: Aliens.
Scariest moment I've ever had: ice skating as a kid on a lake where people were driving their cars and a car skidded out of control toward me.
Scariest thing I've ever seen: a dopehead smoking a cigarette next to an oxygen tank in the ER at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. (Security guard snapped it right out of his hand without pausing and walked away).
Scariest thing I've ever done: touched a boa constrictor (I hate snakes).
Mark,
You forgot to answer: Scariest thing I want to yet do.
:)
Yeah, I pondered that one. I'm not much of a thrill seeker. Not interested in parachuting. I'm too claustrophobic to consider caving as something I would want to do. Nevada Barr's story about crawling some 100 yards in a cave tunnel where there's only a foot or two wiggle room from top to bottom freaked me right out. Not a chance.
Hang gliding might be do-able.
Maybe just the biggest water slide at Blizzard Beach at Disney World. Hmmmm...
I read The Turn of the Screw twice, once in high school and once in college. I never quite figured out what was going on. :(
Scariest book I read as a teen: Ratman's Notebook by Stephen Gilbert. It was made into a movie in 1971 titled Willard (and a more recent remake, I think), and inspired the song "Ben" sung by Michael Jackson.
Scariest movie I saw as a teen: It's a toss-up between The Exorcist and the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Both of them rocked my world.
Scariest book I read as an adult: Ira Levin's The Boys From Brazil.
Scariest movie I saw as an adult: Hostel II. Let me just say--I don't usually go to those types of movies. I was walking outside the theater and saw Tarrentino's name on the poster. I had no idea.
Scariest short story: The one by Chuck Palahniuk where a guy's bowels are sucked out by a swimming pool drain. Can't remember the name of it, but I think it was probably inspired by a 60 Minutes story in the mid 90s about the same subject. Yes, it really happens sometimes.
Scariest thing that ever happened to me: working 3rd shift, driving a fork lift. I stacked a load with the forks all the way up, and then drove away and forgot to put the forks down. I went through a doorway, slammed into the header with the top of the lift mechanism. The forklift (a stand-up model) and I were now at a 45 degree angle. I was afraid if I stepped off, the lift would topple and crush me. It was a very intense few minutes while my two co-workers and I decided what to do.
Scariest thing I want to do before I die: Walk to the podium and make an acceptance speech at The Academy Awards. :) What the hell. I won't even get on a roller coaster anymore.
Lordy. I'm probably going to have nightmares tonight, thinking about all the scary things I've seen and done. Thanks a lot, Kris. ;)
Jude,
The Chuck Palahniuk story! Yes! I remember that! Ewwww. There was also a Joyce Carol Oates short story I read about a man and his son trying to survive post-apocalypse. Better than McCarthy's "The Road." I still think about it. Chilling. Wish I could remember the title.
For the love of God, please create a new blog post so we don't have to keep looking at these Halloweenie pictures. :-)
JOE!
SO SORRY! AM JUST NOW FINISHING THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE NEW BOOK AND THERE ISN'T A THOUGHT IN MY HEAD RIGHT NOW THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO READ!
BUT TOMRROW, AS SCARLETT SAYS, IS ANOTHER DAY....
The last chapter? Congrats! Break out the Dom.
I say we forget about Thanksgiving and Christmas and just do Halloween again. It's way more fun. :)
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