SHOCKTOBERFEST 2021 FINAL EDITION -SLASHTASTIC!

Jason and Me

How I caught air in the theater.

Slashers were once unwelcome companions on my horror movie journey. The stories about the deaths of obnoxious teenagers seemed more like pointless exercises in sadism than genuine horror. But they would do in a pinch. When I was a freshman in college, my girlfriend and I went to see Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. It was hard to keep my opinion quiet about how awful the movie was. Everything from the terrible choices the characters made to the predictable jump-scares were cause for complaint. Most irritating was the scene where Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) returns to the dark basement where she just witnessed Jason kill Rob (E. Erick Anderson). What was she thinking? Rob was dead and Jason was still lurking in the dark. When she turned to run back up the stairs, I whispered to my date, “Watch, he is going to grab her!”

Watching a good scary movie can be a real physical experience. Releasing intense emotions causes an equal release of energy. As my prediction came true and Jason grabbed Trish, my words were lost in the loud scream that came out instead and  I vaulted over the divider and onto my girlfriend’s lap.

Obviously, there was much to learn about the power slashers.