horror stories

i am supposed to be breaking my back ghost-writing for the next three weeks, but i have my reasons for not doing that now. in a week, it'll be november and that means i'll have less time to finish that writing assignment, but i'm cool, well, trying to be cool (believe me, i just got reborn.)

september, october, november, december...

before christmas, there is undas, the closest we have as a filipino equivalent for halloween. a twin bill holiday very much anticipated by the working population, it'll be a long weekend for everyone (all saints' day and all souls' day falling on a thursday and a friday). many folks will be going home to their provinces to visit their beloved departed. it is also around this time that we hear a loads of spooky stories. horror movie marathons are aired in every movie channel, local talk shows and documentary programs feature the supernatural.


i remember the magandang gabi bayan episodes for undas. we always saw it at home together. and we'd ask somebody to wait on us to go to the bathroom afterwards. of all the horror stories, i am most afraid of spirits possessing living bodies. i can dance with the idea of having kapres and dwendes but not when it's about evil spirits. which is why one of the scariest local horror films for me (which i think my sister and i share) is patayin sa sindak si barabara. as for the international horror films, there are several which make the list:

1. sixth sense (hands down)
2. the eye
3. shutter (i think this film was quite absurd, but it still gives me goosebumps especially when i think of my scoliosis and the thought that a spirit is actually sitting on my back, causing my spine to curve, hehe)

i can't remember other films but scenes i am most scared of are those where the main character washes his face (thus closing his eyes) and finds a floating gory face inches from his own when he opens his eyes, with matching quiet, eerie mood in the background. there is a similar scene where the girl covers herself with the sheets only to find the spirit she was hiding from right under the covers! waaah!

among the popular ghost stories, the most terrifying is the one where the spirit mocks you while praying. it's like being robbed of your last defense.

but then there are the real horror stories. if you want to hear them, you need not go too far. the really horrifying stories are the ones we immerse ourselves in our ordinary days. especially when you call yourself a filipino. perhaps you get the drift.

the exorcism of emily rose will be featured on hbo at 11 tonight. my mother is looking forward to watching it together later.

i am not.