Primal Fears

Since I discussed a few fun facts about Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond on my last blog, I thought it might be fun to discuss some of the themes from the series and particularly this story. All of the villains in my stories are based off of primal fears, especially childhood fears. Most of these are things we grow out of when we're older, but some are still part of who we are. And to make this more personal, I'll use myself as the example.

I still have a bad phobia of spiders. I have vague memories of being a child and playing with one (before I knew better) that got in my bed. Most people realize when they lift their front legs up and swipe at your finger that means they're going to bite you, but this is a very vague memory so I have to assume I was very little. Anyway, it bit me and even if I don't have a clear memory of that experience I hate spiders now because I'm afraid of them. As I've gotten older, I've slowly gotten better about the fear and can confront them with a shoe or can of raid, but if one is on the ceiling I tend to stare at it. Honestly, I don't really like to kill them, so I'm hoping one day I get over it enough to take them outside rather than destroy the ones in my house. I can appreciate their beauty from a distance in their own environment.

Another example is the fear of dark water and drowning. I have this phobia too. There is one memory in particular that sticks out in my mind. I was playing in the ocean with my alligator float and somehow, after a wave knocked me off, I got my feet and arms tangled up in the rope used to hold on to the float. I was stuck upside down. I remember thinking I was really going to drown and the burning feeling of being unable to breathe when my granddad saved me. There have also been too many times when something unknown has brushed up against me in the dark water of the ocean, so long story short I don't like going deep enough to swim in the ocean anymore.

Finally, the last fear I can think of that I have is heights. I think this might be from back when I was in high school and was stuck upside down one one of those loop rides at the fair with only a lap strap and foot bar to hold me in. I was like that for probably ten minutes and I felt like at any moment that restraint could snap and that would be the end of me.  Dangling like that also gives you a good look at just how flimsy those rides are and that doesn't help things. I don't particularly like roller coasters now and have occasional dreams of falling down the stairs of Longstreet Theater. (For those who don't live in SC Longstreet Theater has a huge, long flight of marble steps all the way down to the street. There would probably be broken bones if you were to roll down all of them.)

Those are my main primal fears, spiders, dark water, and heights. Most of these stem from lack of control over one's environment, and know one feels a lack of control more keenly than a child. In my stories, there are basic primal fears and most of the creatures that attack the children embody one of these archetypal fears. For instance, the wolf spirit is supposed to evoke a fear of large animals. Also, the fact the battle takes place in the main characters head means it also is the embodiment of nightmares and fears that are hidden. 

In Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond, the obvious fear is of drowning and death, however there is a little more there. There is also the fear of the unknown. The pond is called Black Pond because the water is so murky and the shadows cast on it are so dark the water itself looks black. The creature within the pond has the impassive, cold nature of water but it also has the wrath of churned water in a storm. The scary thing about the creature is it can travel anywhere where water resides. Duane isn't even safe in his home. The opening scene when he has his "scare" in the pool is foreshadowing for what is to come. 

Other fears that are touched on in other novels are fear of the self (as in, fear of what you are capable of), fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of the dark, fear of loss, fear of strangers, etc. Look for these primal fears and tell me what you think the three books published so far embody. And since I've shared my fears with you, feel free to share yours here. It might be good inspiration and you might just find your fear in a future book...