HAPPY NIGHTMARES

Happy Friday, Beautiful People! As this is my first blog post, (hopefully the first of many!) I wanted to provide you with something inspiring; a well thought out phrase or saying that really embodies the summer spirit, my love for writing, your love for reading, etc. I thought long and hard about it, and here is what I came up with:

"I hope you have lots and lots of Happy Nightmares."

I suppose it could have used a bit more work, but hear me out. First, I'll give you an insight into the kind of person I am. I would never wish ill-will on anyone, so my desire for you to wake up screaming in the middle of the night is not filled with malice as it might seem at first glance. Also, I am probably one of the most gullible people on the planet. If you tell me there is a spider on my shoulder, 9 times out of 10 I will flash-dance around the room screaming like Jamie Lee Curtis for a least a good 30 seconds before I realize you are laughing at me.

Given this aspect of my personality, it does not take a lot to scare me. Rather than steer me away from frightening forms of entertainment, this has fueled my love for horror films, Halloween, and all things paranormal. I have preferences, like anyone would. I prefer psychological horror. I will take a good ghost film or psychological thriller any day over a gore fest film. Watching people get mutilated does little for me. But as I get sucked into a good ghost story, and reality takes a back seat in my mind, that is when I end up having happy nightmares.

So, What is not a happy nightmare? There are many things that would not fall into this category. Recurring dreams in which you relive a traumatic experience that actually happened to you, nightmares where something is happening to someone you love. If you can't laugh at yourself for being terrified after you wake up—not a happy nightmare. Dreaming that your house is haunted, that you are being chased by zombies, that your dog has suddenly developed mind control powers and is forcing you to sniff an uncountable number of backsides—happy nightmares.

As with the joy which has been bestowed upon me by my favorite horror/thriller authors (Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Creighton) and film directors (M. Night Shyamalan...don't judge me), I hope that my stories entertain you and leave you with at least a hint of fear at that clattering you just heard in your kitchen. I want to leave you with a smile on your face and a slightly increased heart rate.

I wish you many, many Happy Nightmares.