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How Did Your Family & Friends React When You Began Reading Horror?
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Christopher
(new)
Jun 27, 2019 11:21AM
I’m curious how group members’ families and friends reacted when you began reading horror books. How old were you when you started? What did people around you say? Were they supportive? Dismissive? Kind? Cruel? Did anyone have parents who confiscated their reading material? And for the writers here, what about when you began writing such stories?
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I was a little kid, can’t remember how old. My mom read horror books too! Me, mom and dad watched horror movies. Me and mom still do! Dad don’t watch movies much any more. He’s can’t sit still long enough 🤣😂. He likes to keep busy. So no one ever said anything about it in my family. My aunt thought we were all crazy because she can’t stand any kind of horror. Scares her too much 😃
I've had books confiscated when I was a kid/teen but it was Harry Potter (because magic) and a book about Wicca. I was allowed to read all the horror I wanted. No magic though because of religious reasons. (Now i'm a proud Hufflepuff, and wiccan)Mostly people just don't understand why I like horror but they just leave me be in my land of horror. I started really at about 7 years old I guess with horror movies. I'd watch what my older stepsisters were watching. The original IT movie, Poltergeist etc. Then Goosebumps books from scholastic book fairs. So I started young and it snowballed from there.
Steph wrote: "I've had books confiscated when I was a kid/teen but it was Harry Potter (because magic) and a book about Wicca. I was allowed to read all the horror I wanted. No magic though because of religious reasons. (Now i'm a proud Hufflepuff, and wiccan)"This still makes no sense to me . . . and I go to church! I even saw a copy of the Harry Potter series on the shelves of the youth pastor. People who freak out about Harry Potter and books about magic are taking things way too seriously!
Regarding horror - I started reading it early on because my dad had all the Stephen King novels (My first was The Running Man when I was 11 or 12 or so - because I saw and liked the cheesy movie and wanted to start there). No one judged me or gave me a hard time. In face, in middle school it kinda gave me some street cred that I was walking around with a King book in my backpack. I will be excited to one day share the horror genre with my kids!
Matthew wrote: "Steph wrote: "I've had books confiscated when I was a kid/teen but it was Harry Potter (because magic) and a book about Wicca. I was allowed to read all the horror I wanted. No magic though because..."Some of my family is...extreme. I know most people aren't like that. It was a person at church that GAVE me the first harry potter book when I was 12. They were all nice in front of them but as soon as we got home they took it from me.
I've been obsessed with all things horror since I was 6 and found graphic novels of Dracula and Frankenstein miss-shelved in the children's section. I was raised watching Scooby Doo, The Addams Family, and The Munsters with my parents. Happily, they supported my obsession and helped me track down scary books for kids (not super easy to find in the early to mid 80s). Overall, they rarely put limitations on what I could read. The only one I really remember was that I had to wait till I was 13 to read Steven King.
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Well, I was 9, so it didn't go over very well...--Jen from Quebec :0)
Started with Goosebumps when I was young, though no clue what age. Can't remember whether my parents cared or not, though it wouldn't have surprised me if I wasn't allowed to read even them (had a super strict mother). I do remember I wasn't allowed to read Stephen King though. They weren't overly supportive about my liking horror, and to this day don't really understand why I like it.
I was young when I first started reading King. My parents really have no reaction to it. In all honesty, they probably don't even really know what I read.
"Really?" "How can you read that?" [ I started with King, as a teenager.]
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To this day, my mother reacts the way she reacted the first time; with a nod of the head, a long pause and an "okay, then."
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some of my family is like that! my older sister was but i think it was the influence of her in laws.
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My family didn’t much care what I read. Anne rice at 14 changed my writer life forever. Stephen king at the same time
I was 10 or 11 when I started running out of booksI wanted to read in my library's small kids section. At the time, there really wasn't a YA section, and King was the most popular author in the country, so I got a few of his.The only one I remember for sure was The Gunslinger, 'cause it was an edition with neat illustrations.
My parents didn't mind much. They were just happy I was into reading. The only one I remember them vetoing was Gerald's Game, because of the bed/handcuff cover.
My parents are so out of touch they gave me a subscription to the New York Times book review for my birthday. I would’ve much rather they gave me a subscription to cemetery dance publications.
My parents couldn't stand me watching zombie movies and horror movies both. They tried to discourage me but never truly did any thing to stop me other than my dad coming in and harrassing me and my best friend when we would watch any horror movie. That went on for a while until one day hey came in with a barbeque chicken leg while we were watching the original Dawn of the Dead movie. He took one look at the zombie holding a human leg chowing down then looked at his chicken turned a little pale and walked out of the room. He never bothered us again when we were watching movies. Now some 35 years later I'm in the final stages of getting ready to release my own zombie book and the give me a hard time trying to tell me that I'm hurting my soul with my love of all things zombie.
I was in middle school when I first really got into horror and psychological thrillers. The first SK novel I read was Insomnia. I started consuming every bit of his writing I could! My mom told me I’d have to wait to read The Shining until I was out of the house because “that book is a portal to evil.” (Out of respect, I waited til I was 20 to read it.) My folks didn’t really have a problem with any of the rest of SK’s writing, just that book particularly. I get the impression my mom thinks the extent of my SK collection is a little wild and it was even more wild that I was begging her to buy them for me at 12.
Kaitlynn wrote: "I was in middle school when I first really got into horror and psychological thrillers. The first SK novel I read was Insomnia. I started consuming every bit of his writing I could! My mom told me ..."I'm curious. Did your mom ever see the movie The Shining?
Rob - not that I’m aware of. My folks also aren’t aggressively religious people. I’ve never gotten an opportunity to ask her what it is about The Shining that freaks her out so much. I’ve never been able to watch that movie - casting really fucked Wendy over and made her a little mouse instead of the lion she really is!
My parents got worried that I was depressed and thinking about suicide, finally my mom said as long as ur reading and not doing drugs, drinking, suicidal. etc (she had quite a list) I could read what I wanted. To this day she hates these books lol
Kaitlynn wrote: "Rob - not that I’m aware of. My folks also aren’t aggressively religious people. I’ve never gotten an opportunity to ask her what it is about The Shining that freaks her out so much. I’ve never bee..."You should ask her!!! Now I want to know what freaks her out about The Shining. I had assumed your family was super religious or something, but now that I know they're not, I'm even more curious.
And...you should really watch The Shining. With your mom, if possible! It's my favorite movie of all time. If you just go into it with the mindset that it's a completely different entity from the book, I think you'll enjoy it more.
Stanley Kubrick said that he cast Shelley Duvall because it seemed more realistic that someone a little less than self-assured would stay with someone like Jack in the first place. Agree or disagree with this choice...the movie is a masterpiece of modern cinema. In my opinion.....
My family were religious extremists at the time so it was really hard being a kid that craved books like Goosebumps, the House on Cherry Street trilogy, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. My dad would confiscate any horror he caught me reading and lecture me about how they'd rot my brain, lol. Fortunately, as I got older, he stopped being as controlling over what I read. By the time I was a teenager, I was reading Stephen King so it worked out in the end.My husband's parents judge me super hard for my tastes though. When he told his mom how excited I was to see the new IT, she replied with "ew, why?" 😂
My parents thought I was sick particularly as I started to read books on Serial killers as well.
Rob wrote: "Kaitlynn wrote: "Rob - not that I’m aware of. My folks also aren’t aggressively religious people. I’ve never gotten an opportunity to ask her what it is about The Shining that freaks her out so muc..."The Shining is a great film. I know SK hates Kubrick's film but it is his take on SK's work. The book is all about Danny and NOT Jack but Kubrick' version works so well. It would be very difficult to have a child as the central character of the movie. SK tried it with a mini series of his book starring Rebecca de Mornay and it was ok BUT not a patch on Kubrick's film.
Still I can understand why SK would get the hump with Kubrick as I guess he felt it was disrespectful but I love the book and Kubrick's movie for different reasons.
Cant wait to see Dr Sleep although it does worry me with Ewan McGregor playing Danny as he is a little wooden in the Star Wars films in particular!
Steve wrote: "Rob wrote: "Kaitlynn wrote: "Rob - not that I’m aware of. My folks also aren’t aggressively religious people. I’ve never gotten an opportunity to ask her what it is about The Shining that freaks he..."My personal opinion: Kubrick took a "pretty good" book and made a masterpiece of a film from it. I get why King wouldn't appreciate all the changes that were made, but I think he came across as a tad whiny with all of his over-the-top criticisms. The version King had a hand in and approved was downright atrocious, so.....maybe he ought to let the film makers do their thing and he can do his.
Ewan McGregor was great in Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, and Velvet Goldmine. I think pretty much ALL of the actors in the newer Star Wars films seem wooden!
The only time either of my parents ever showed any kind of distress over the books I was reading was when my mom walked in on me reading a book called, "Kids Who Kill Their Parents". True story!
Rob wrote: "The only time either of my parents ever showed any kind of distress over the books I was reading was when my mom walked in on me reading a book called, "Kids Who Kill Their Parents". True story!"hahaha
I guess you understand their concern.
My parents were strange on horror as I wasn't allowed to read the books about horror, but they didn't care if I sat in front of the tv and watched the Saturday afternoon creature feature movies. My dad and I use to watch the tv show "Shock Theatre" when I was young which featured old horror movies. Saturday afternoons though I could watch the show "Creature Feature" which had all kinds of horror movies on there. Never could figure out why I could watch the movies, but not read the books. I never asked either as I didn't want to know the answer to my burning question and then it might raise some kind of red flag with them, so I just kept my mouth shut! lol
That all changed when I was in my late teens though as one of my brothers let me borrow the book Cujo by Stephen King so that opened up my world big time to horror and then I was able to get books out from the library. So my parents couldn't say anything as I was of age by that time and could do what I wanted along with read what I wanted.
Though to this day other family members do not know that I am a horror fan as I just don't want to hear the flak or whatever they want to dish out as they are not horror fans - they are something else.....maybe my family are aliens....yeah that is what they are...aliens.....we will just go with that as I like that answer. :-)
Well, considering that I was only 9 years old when I got hold of my 1st horror novel ('Thinner' by R.B/S.King) it could have been worse! My folks were always of the mindset "well, at least our kid likes to read" and it didn't matter TOO much exactly WHAT was read...--Jen from Quebec :0)
My parents tended to be pretty chill about my reading material. They figured I could decide such things for myself. I remember when I was in elementary school, though, I suggested a horror-themed book (really a kid's Halloween chapter book) for a class read-aloud, and one of the other parents complained that it was too scary. The teacher stopped reading the book and called my mom and dad. My folks were like, "yeah, whatever. You can still read it if you want."
I was the kid in the video rental store staring at the old 70s/80s horror movie covers. Mom had to pull me away to go home. She'd never allow "that sort of thing" in the house, but I could read horror in my youth. Mostly the classics at first. Then I found Lovecraft - through a school English class, no less - and that was that.
