- Do these things remind you of the things you're afraid of?
Have you read People In Horror And What They’re Afraid Of: Part One? Cause this is part two.
Mary Shelley
Most women turn into moms, or did. It’s fair to say that women in general aren’t excited about birth and even those with the best of circumstances and deliveries say that it’s extremely painful. For Mary Shelley, it’s been said that Frankenstein and The Modern Prometheus may show the author’s fear of giving birth. Especially in the early 19th century, when it came to the death rates of women having babies. Her own mom, Mary Wollstonecraft, died from an infection after having Mary. Mary actually had a devastating and life-threatening miscarriage and loss all but one of the children she was pregnant with. Mary already knew all too well the horrors of what could happen during childbirth when Frankenstein was published in 1818. Is this what you thought they’re afraid of?
Robert Englund
With his movie start on the set of Halloween in 1978, he eventually became one of the most iconic Halloween characters of all time as Freddy Krueger in The Nightmare on Elm Street. Since the franchise debuted in 1984, he has played the serial killer numerous times and was in other films like Legend, The Wishmaster and The Mangler. Turns out Englund said during an event in 2020 that he was afraid of snakes. At the time, the actor was played a herpetologist or a scientist that studies both amphibians and retiles. He was even walking around with a real snake on his shoulder as part of the job. The actor stated, “That’s how I got over my fear of snakes, because the snake was so small. She [was] not venomous. I worked with her for six weeks on the movie, and she was in my armpit for five of those weeks.” Did you think this was what they’re afraid of?
Stanley Kubrick
Apparently Stephen King wasn’t a fan of Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining from 1980, though it’s still considered a classic horror movie today. Kubrick was known to have his own phobias such as fearing an atomic bomb would be dropped on Britain. Because of this he decided to leave his home and moved to Perth, Australia in the early 1960s. However, he was also severely scared. He considered traveling by ship, but that would mean he’d have to share a toilet with other passengers for six weeks, another phobia. To Kubrick, this scenario was just intolerable. He stayed in Britain since he couldn’t very well travel anywhere else and even after becoming a famous director, shot two movies in the UK, that were both based in the US. What about this as what they’re afraid of?
Shirley Jackson
As one of the most famous horror writers of the 20th century, he best known works were dubbed “great novels of the supernatural in the last hundred years,” by Stephen King himself. After her book Hill House hit the shelves, Jackson developed severe agoraphobia or the fear and avoidance of places that can cause panic or uncertainty. Her fear is shown in her work, especially in her 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in a Castle. In her books, there’s always this tension,” Jessica Harrison, editorial director of Penguin Classics, told the publishing house’s blog, “between being afraid to go outside, where there are other people and groups who can hurt you, and staying inside, where you can protect yourself, but at the same time you’re isolated.” Jackson even told her friend that she had “written [herself] into [her] house” to avoid people.
What did you think of what they’re afraid of? Let me know in the comments!