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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters thrown in for good measure). While Heidi is on an extended hiatus, there are five of us who are hosting it and providing the questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...
HOW DO YOU LIKE TO BE SCARED? HORROR OR THRILLER?
First off, I want to say that my answer will only apply to books: movies are not my thing, and there aren't any "horror" or "thriller" series that I know of - more like "supernatural with a side of horror" (hello, Supernatural. Duh 😁) or "police procedurals with a side of thriller" (but when it comes to the latter, I only like good old police procedurals without any added ingredient, thank you 😉. Think the original L&O 💚 or The Closer).
So, I went on Goodreads and had a look at my labels. As of now, I have 97 books (some of them still on my TBR list) labeled "horror or gore", and 83 (same) labeled "thriller or mystery" (of course, you can have gore without real horror - like in a C.S.I. episode - and "mystery" isn't necessarily the same thing as "thriller", but I like to keep my labels simple 🙂). Almost a tie, all things considered. The funny thing is, I don't go out of my way in order to read horror (I can't even stomach a certain brand of body horror - think Stephen King) or thriller (I'd rather read...well, reread...a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie mystery novel)...those GR labels all apply to books that are, among other things, one or the other (or both). So my answers would be, horror and thriller, but hardly ever as the main ingredients of a book...
...and you know what? neither of them scare me. Horror/gore can impact me, but that's the extent of it - I don't get nightmares, and I don't sit upright in bed at the slightest sound because I've read/watched a story of a certain kind...with me, what happens in books/TV series stays in books/TV series 😂.
Well, that's it for now. Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to participate in the meme on a regular or semi-regular basis, and get emailed the prompt list? Just head over here and fill in Jen's form! (Of course, you can jump in anytime you like - you are under no obligation to actually do all the posts, or even most of them, just because you signed up, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time). And if you're interested in participating in a more casual manner, or only in commenting, here is the TMST prompt list for the month of November:
- November 3rd: What do you do for fun when you aren’t blogging? (a question I submitted)
- November 10th: Have you found any new interests or hobbies during the COVID lockdown/stay at home orders?
- November 17th: What books are you looking forward to reading in Winter 2020/21 (December - February)?
- November 24th: Gratitude. What books/authors/narrators/bloggers are you most thankful for this year?
I'm going to answer the November 3rd and 24th questions alone, because during the lockdown I did the same old things I've always done (if you don't count more housekeeping 😂) and I don't have winter books that I'm looking forward to - but I will read your posts and comment on them if you have any! Anyhow, see you for the meme on November 3rd!
Now tell me something...are you a horror person or a thriller person? and do you even get scared in the first place?
I know you have a thing about Stephen King-style body horror, but I think you handle it better than you think! You're more likely to have read some of my YA horror favorites than most bloggers I know, and that was a pretty gruesome scene in The Dead House, to give a specific example. 😂
ReplyDeleteHorror will always be my fav, but I have a fondness for thrillers too. Sometimes they fake me out and I think I'm getting horror, but mostly now I read them on purpose too. xD You probably saw it, but I did my own discussion post as well! I hope it catches on with some Booklrs.
Ah, yes, TDH is pretty heavy stuff LOL. But I don't know...King does horrible things to the human body, and describes them in gory detail, and...it's TMI for me 😖 😂.
DeleteI just read your post, and...
"In fact, I start to get almost “homesick” about it if I don’t read any horror novels for a while! I don’t know why I find horror more comforting than most “nicer” genres, but it’s like snuggling up in a comfortable blanket for me."
That's...peculiar LOL. Then again, I don't know any other horror fan, so who knows? maybe they would tell me the same thing...
"I used to stay up all night in high school watching eight or more in a row."
😲 How could you even function in high school? You must have been a superhero!
LOL I'm not sure either.
DeleteI have no idea how I did it, but 4am was a totally reasonable time for me in high school. I think teenagers are part superhero. 😂
I get scared reading contemporaries, especially realistic fiction. When I think of some thrillers I have read, I don't know if I was scared, but my heart was pumping and there was tension. I don't really watch movies either. The last one I saw when on my cruise last year.
ReplyDelete"I get scared reading contemporaries, especially realistic fiction."
DeleteNowadays, they're probably the most scaring thing there is! I mean, we will never meet a supernatural monster, will we? But real life monsters are around every corner...
I'm a neither person. Well... I guess that depends lol! I definitely don't like thrillers that are super gorey and disturbing. But I can deal with a YA thriller every now and then. And then horror just isn't my thing because I am quite squeamish. But at the same time, sometimes I can read gothic horror. So idk! I think overall I'd much rather take a sweet contemporary XD
ReplyDeleteYou cheated! LOL.
DeleteI didn't even think about movies LOL! I think because I'm even less likely to watch horror / thriller than I am to read it. Something about actually seeing it on the screen goes too far for me. Maybe in my brain I force a fade to black when I get too scared? I'm very easily scared and don't enjoy blood/gore at all. I wish I was better at the separation like you are!!
ReplyDeleteI've gotten used to horror through the years (though, for instance, I can't stand bugs - they're far worse than blood and gore for me LOL), so maybe you'll develop a better tolerance of it too (at least in books!). And I still think that some C.S.I. or Bones episodes are far worse than your average horror movie...
DeleteRoberta!! I can’t believe you don’t get scared of these things!! I am one of the biggest scaredy-cats in the world, so I guess my view is skewed, lol, but to think that these stories don’t freak you out at all!! :O
ReplyDeleteI typically don’t watch horror movies unless they’re really light horror - same goes for books and tv, though this year (as I think I’ve mentioned before) I have been actively trying to read more horror. I do like my mystery/thrillers though. For the most part, they don’t scare me too much (movies and tv shows get to me more), but every now and then I will have a bad dream after I’ve finished one (horror or thriller) and recognise that something in the book inspired the dream. I even make sure I don’t read these books before bed, but it still happens.
Great post! I loved reading your thoughts.
LOL, what can I say. I can get grossed out by certain things, but they don't translate into scaring me. Have you read any classing mysteries (like Agatha Christie's)? I don't remember if you ever talked about those. They might be your jam if you get scared easily. Even YA horror and mystery books are pretty graphic these days.
DeleteI wish that was me :')
DeleteI haven't read any classic mysteries - at least, I don't think I have - but I have read at least one retelling. I might have to give the originals a go :)
You've got that right!
I do get nightmares and still have them from when I was little. I don't read or watch horror and thrillers not too often. I do like suspense, but that is different than being scared.
ReplyDeleteUgh, that's bad. Yep...suspense is a different thing altogether. More on the cozy mystery side.
DeleteFor me it's thrillers probably- I like a good scare but not into horror really. Although when I say thriller I probably mean a mystery half the time as well- I guess a combo is good! I do like a good classic mystery though, and oughta read more Christie...
ReplyDeleteYes, I see you making lists of thrillers all the time 🙂. And if you need any Christie recommendation let me know!
DeleteI don't read a lot of horror and none have reallllly scared me. So, for me it's the opposite, I'll have to share what scares me in movies lol. Mostly, I get spooked by possessions and demon hauntings. Ghost hauntings don't scare me too much because usually a ghost is tied to a place. But a demon? They're anywhere. And that shit freaks me out lol
ReplyDeleteSo you'd better never watch Supernatural LOL.
DeleteI do get nightmares, but nothing I watch actually scares me, all those zombies and gore, nope. But dang nightmares! What scares me are books, feelings
ReplyDeleteThat's peculiar! Then again, unlike zombies and the likes, feelings are real 🙂.
DeleteI can understand not reading books specificaly for their horror or thiller elements, my favourite parts of Stephen King were never the actual gory or scary parts - it was usually the characters and their emotional growth. I'm happy that, even though gore can affect you, it doesn't make you scared. Recieving nightmares from films or books can be awful.
ReplyDeleteYou've read King? You're braver than me then. I should probably try some of his books again at some points...but I need to know what he does to his characters' bodies first! 😂
DeleteI read IT two years ago, but if you're not okay with bodily violence, I wouldn't reccomend it.
DeleteI can stomach bodily violence, but I'm kind of afraid of King after reading a couple of his short stories where he did stuff like, having a man discover a circle of eyes on his torso...😣
DeleteI love watching Horror movies. Rarely do they scare me but they are fun to watch. Happy Halloween.
ReplyDeleteLOL, you're one of the few brave souls who watch horror movies and think they're "fun"! 😉
DeleteI love horror, thriller, and mystery, as you probably now. :) That said, I rarely get scared. I don't think I've ever gotten truly scared during a horror film, although jump scares can frighten me. (Unpopular opinion, but I don't hate jump scares - I think they can be effective if they are done right. With regards to books, something has to be extremely atmospheric for me to be frightened by it, and that only happens a few times a year. Also, I obviously have to be really invested in the story and character(s) to feel fear as I'm reading something scary.
ReplyDeleteGore is usually not an effective horror element, imo. Any novels / films that have nothing going on for them but gore are incredibly boring to me. And then there is another type of story: when a novel has more going on for it than the gore but the gore is so badly done that it ruins everything. Stephen King has gore in most of his books and it's always extremely unrealistic and overdone, to the point where I'm laughing at it instead of being frightened. One of the reasons why I don't read King anymore. That said, gore can be well done, imo - I liked the way it was included in The Death House. And I recently read a horror novel that had so much gore but it was well-done, terrifying, and there was a lot more the novel had going for it than the horror.
"Any novels / films that have nothing going on for them but gore are incredibly boring to me."
DeleteI don't think I've ever read anything like that, but I get what you're saying. It's lazy storytelling at best.
"Stephen King has gore in most of his books and it's always extremely unrealistic and overdone, to the point where I'm laughing at it instead of being frightened."
LOL, unpopular opinion if I ever saw one! 😂 But I guess it may happen, especially if one is a seasoned horror reader like you. I've been scarred (not scared) for life by a couple of his short stories (as I said above, in one of them a man discovered a circle of eyes on his torso or something...that's far worse than gore for me). The Dead House was top-notch!
Well that's more horror and thriller than I've read lol. The only horror I read are ones like Anne Rice or Dracula that for some reason get classed as horror but they're not scary. I'm too easily scared for anything else!
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like most of your "creature books" are heavier on romantic relationships/paranormal abilities than on what we could call "horror". I guess Dracula was top-of-the-line horror when it came out, but things change and become more and more extreme, even in the that department.
DeleteThen again...you have all those pretty bugs that come visit you - I assume that's horror/scare enough for you! 😂 😉
I used to get more creeped out when I was younger. Now, not much bothers me. Stephen King never really scared me - other than Pet Sematary.
ReplyDeleteI get scared more by real life things and then I don't read/watch them so...
Thrillers bore me. At least what I've read. I'm just waiting on everyone to hurry up and resolve things lol
Karen @ For What It's Worth
"I get scared more by real life things"
Delete...and we got plenty right now...
"I'm just waiting on everyone to hurry up and resolve things lol"
How dare they let you wait 😂.