It was Halloween, and although Malaysian culture does not involve trick or
treating, we acknowledge that it is fun to enjoy all things scary. The
afternoon was warm and sultry and I was heading back home after spending some
time with my parents and sister. The radio was tuned to my favourite radio
station, and I was just in time to enjoy a special show they had about horror
books in which listeners contributed to their favourite horror stories, stories
which probably disturbed them the most. This got me thinking about the horror
books I read growing up...
Now, while I love horror, I'm what you could call a scaredy-cat. Images of
what I just read jump out at me when I'm alone facing the window or looking
into the mirror. Sounds which are usually normal seem amplified in their
scariness after I've read or watched something scary.
The first horror book I read by myself was one I found in a box in my
grandma's house when I was a kid. I wasn't sure whose books they were when I
browsed through the box, but I couldn't keep away. No one was really monitoring
me either so I sat on the floor and read away. It was in the Malay language
about creatures of the night, from horrifying creatures that lurk in the night,
some flying outside your window, to the significance of superstition
surrounding black cats. Another book I read in the same day was about Haiti,
voodoo and zombies. These books made my holiday for a few nights somewhat
distressing as I imagined creatures flying across the bedroom windows coming to
get me as everyone else slept.
Around 6 years later, as a teenager, I used to borrow horror stories from
the library. I recall one particular book which had a cover I was uncomfortable
with. I used to read late into the night because I was in the afternoon session
and always was the last person to turn off the lights and go to bed. Somehow,
while the book was in my possession, I could never look at the cover without
some unease, and much later, I could also never look at rabbits the same way.
Just to make sure the ghost would never come out to haunt me in the middle of
the night, I'd stack my other text books on top of it each night before I
trudged off to sleep.
I cannot recall the titles of these books because they were not exactly what
you'd call popular fiction. Besides, I read them ever so long ago and even with
keywords, I can't get them in google search.
Among popular fiction, I remember being scared silly by Stephen King's Pet
Semetary. As it gets later into the night, you hear cats prowling outside and
it can be vey unsettling especially when you're reading about dead pets coming
back,
