Does THIS Scare You? I'm Petrified...

 By Charlotte Bennardo


What scares me? If you asked me that when I was five, then twelve, then twenties, and then now- the answers would all be so different. What scared me as a child, monsters under the bed or in the closet, shadows in the corner of the room, obviously as an adult don't. Heck I can even go into the basement in the middle of the night, only a dim light on, and not think anything about it. In later years, seeing The Exorcist gave me nightmares for years. Even in college, seeing the movie Alien likewise gave me nightmares. I was living in upstate New York, by myself, and even though I knew there was no way the alien was on earth, it still affected me. What changed? As we age, reality tells us that no way can a monster fit under the bed with all the dust bunnies and shoes, or in a packed closet. Then, we know for sure Frankenstein and Dracula can't possibly be true. I can watch the entire Alien series and not even twitch when the darn thing bursts out of a crewmember's stomach. 


Photo by Merlin Lightpainting from Pexels


But now, what scares me is reality: not monsters, but death of loved ones and self, suffering from disease or misfortune (being somewhat clumsy, that's a BIG fear), the world my children are inheriting, war, killing the earth, and honestly, the degradation of society as we turn on each other. Monsters always have a weakness (just have to find it in time, but someone always does), but I feel helpless against my current fears. My only hope is that this fear expands enough so that we do something to make our situation better, and I can sleep more peacefully at night. We all need to be reassured.

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She was working on several novels for both children and adults, but is chasing down her MFA in Creative Writing for the next 20 months. She lives in NJ with her family, two demanding cats, and a crazy squirrel couple who just moved into her backyard oak tree.

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