Things I learn from horror:

[nilchance]

Say you're a 15 year old kid, and there's a monster living in your closet. Every night, the monster creeps out (it's been living in the crawl-space) and mutilates you while you sleep.

Do you:
a) run screaming from the house after the first incident, never to return?
b) start taking kitchen knives to bed?
c) continue sleeping in room with monster and bandaging wounds so no one can know?

(Hint: the story says C.)

Comments

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a metaphor for child molestation, or cutting. Either that, or it's set up so nobody else can see the monster, so the kid won't be believed. I'm hoping the kid's not stupid.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Sadly, no, the adult brother (and his adult friends) can all see the monster. It's a video blog affiliated with Slender Man.

I did go, hey, cutting metaphor. Especially given the visual of the cuts, which are down the arms and look like the cuts I used to make. I hadn't thought about molestation. Hm.

The kid finally got busted by one of the brother's friends, sneaking around with bandages. Friend went into the closet, saw the monster, dragged the kid with him into the hall, and threw a quick chain-lock (like you see in hotels) on the door. But they didn't vacate the house or inform their parents, who must not know!... but will see the lock.

[jellicle.livejournal.com]

Definitely sounds like a child molestation metaphor, where the child molester is a member of the family, and the adults can't/won't believe the kid and/or can't/won't go against the molester.

[e-goddess.livejournal.com]

Personally, I have to go with B, though I'd skip the kitchen knives and go straight for a chainsaw.

There are definitely some eeky implications there, though.

[apetslife.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's just creepy! I posted my comment below without reading the earlier ones first!

[apetslife.livejournal.com]

I personally would have gone with b), but escalated it to one of Dad's chainsaws. Then again, I was widely regarded as something of an unruly child.

[bayleaf.livejournal.com]

A short story to illustrate the point I am going to make:

The LGBT youth group that I help run meets in the basement of a local church. Sometimes there are many other groups meeting at the same time (say, the budget committee, a drum circle, a choir, who the hell knows what). Sometimes we are the only group there.

After the last meeting, there was no one left in the church. My fellow adult and I turned off all the lights, locked up, and waited on the steps with the last few straggling kids until their parents came to pick them up. We stood around talking for a few minutes, alone in the parking lot.

And then we heard this loud-ass rustling in the nearby woods. Guess what we did?

We turned to look in the direction of the noise, said 'let's get the fuck out of here,' got in our respective cars and hit the fucking gas. Pretty sure I left tire tread marks on the driveway.

You know what I did NOT do? 1) Go closer to check out the noise, 2) Stand there like an idiot while saying 'that sounded scary, I think I'll stand here for awhile longer to give the HORRIBLE MONSTER time to come get me,' 3) Any variety of horror movie trope wherein one or both of us removed our shirts and commenced making out instead of either investigating the noise or getting the hell out of Dodge. NO. WE GOT THE FUCK OUT OF THERE BECAUSE THERE WAS A SCARY-ASS NOISE THAT WAS OBVIOUSLY MADE BY A MAN-EATING SQUIRREL OF UNUSUAL SIZE AND THERE WAS NO WAY WE WANTED TO MEET THAT FACE TO FACE.

So, on the basis of this real-world test of wills/logic, I'd have to say I'D GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE HOUSE AND NEVER RETURN. I MEAN, CALL ME SILLY, BUT I WOULD NOT HIDE THE EVIDENCE OF THE MONSTER WOUNDS SO IT COULD COME BACK AND HURT ME SOME MORE. I'M JUST SAYING.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

I'd have to go with D) send the guy in my icon after the monster. Would probably result in the entire house going up in flames but hey, you can't be too careful. ;-)

((failing that, A))

[robanybody.livejournal.com]

The answer for me is always A. I freak out at the noises the house makes when it settles, a monster in my room would send me screaming into the night and never to return.

[shakespearsgrl2.livejournal.com]

I already take kitchen knives to bed with me. (No really. I keep them in my bedside drawer.) I'm a slightly paranoid person.

[bkm5191.livejournal.com]

...sexual abuse?

[joannindiw.livejournal.com]

...A).

Though, after reading the comments, I guess I would hope that at that first incidence, I would use the double-bladed sword that's next to my bed (looks somewhat like this: http://www.karatedepot.com/sw-ni-33.html ) and/or the long glass vase/bottle sitting on the nightstand that was chosen specifically because the neck of it was easy to grip and it has a nice square bottom so there are pointed corners to bash against something...

... but, def. A. Afterward.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

A. But then again I've always had a very highly developed sense of self preservation.

[xzombiexkittenx.livejournal.com]

I'm the idiot who would get a knife and then go looking for the thing. I did that when I thought someone had broken into my house (rather than call 911 in case I was being paranoid - I was). That said, I also don't go investigate weird sounds if I'm in public. See above comment about parking lots and large squirrels. Hell to the no. In my own home though? Hell if I'm letting something hurt me in my own home.

[spazzer-mctwich.livejournal.com]

Option B was actually a real life incident for me. I was 13 and got totaly freaked out by just a few minuets of the original "When a Stranger Calls" that was on late night tv so i went to bed with a knife under my pillow. and brought it with me when i went to investigate the sound of someone walking around at 3 am. It was just my mom getting a snack but she congratulated me for thinking to get a knife.

[damion_starr.livejournal.com]

Fuck that shit, I'm taking a knife to bed! Teach that thing to sneak out and mutilate me.......