Aaron hates parasites - SS Delegated (1)

Everybody knows the secret to good management, and horror blogging it transpires, is Delegation. Scare Sarah began in the hope of sharing a few scares because we are all here for the same reasons; to be scared! A select few will be sharing their inner most horrors with us and to start we have blogger, (Zed Word: Zombie Blog, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre) and podcaster (Screamwave) Aaron. Busy boy!

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Are horror fans, in general, more or less fearful as a fandom? Do we watch such terrifying depictions of slaughter and psychological trauma because we're desensitized to it and can revel carefree in the blood and tension? Or do we experience fear too strongly and therefore feel drawn to horror as a way to constantly externalize our dread? I can't speak for the fandom, but I can speak for myself. While I may be desensitized to certain things, there's one thing that -- without fail -- will reduce me to a trembling mess. PARASITES!

In fiction or reality, anything dealing with parasites (especially parasites that burrow into the body and squirm around under the skin or cause deformities like elephantiasis) will fill me with an unrelenting repulsion. Films like Shivers, Alien, Infested (aka. Ticks), Parasite, and more all rely on the fear of bodily invasion to create chills. Even the cheesiest of movies (like Infested), however, will make me squirm if parasites are involved. Parasites can swim around in your eyes. They can infest your brain. They can stream through your intestines. Not part of your body is safe from parasites. Cochliomyia hominivorax. Necator americanus. Wuchereria bancrofti. These are the names of demons!

In my real life, parasites also plague me. On a recent trip to Ottawa, I woke up in my hotel room and turned on my bedside lamp. In the dim light, I saw the worst possible thing: a bed bug crawling slowly toward my face over the hills of my pillow. I killed it and squished blood out of the little bastard, which means it may have been feeding on me already. The hotel gave me a new room and complimentary breakfasts, but for the rest of the night I slept above the sheets, with a sweater tucked in tightly at the waist and wrists. I also wore sweatpants tucked into a pair of thick socks. I just could not rest easily thinking something under the covers might be crawling silently over my bare skin in the dark and seeking out my blood.

Uggh. I feel sick just writing this. Parasites are out there people, and nature is more terrifying than anything in horror movies. So, if you're ever walking with me in the park and you see that I keep touching my head and arms, you now know it's because I'm checking for ticks. Although I am a horror blogger and have seen a lot of horrifying and extreme things in my horror films, encountering something as small as a bed bug will keep me up at nights in a cold sweat.

I am afraid of parasites.

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Eew, creepy, right? Thanks Aaron.