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| Courtesy of m.inmagine.com |
We'd had fun out on our bikes, but I just wanted Mum now. I
must have pedalled hard all the way home because my legs were wobbly. She’d be
busy and she’d say, ‘Wouldn’t you rather be out playing?’ But sometimes the
world’s too big and I want to curl up at home with her near me.
But a strange man opened the door, looking cross.
‘Who are you? Where’s Mum?’ I said.
‘She’s not here,’ he said. ‘What are you doing here again?
Look at yourself!’
I looked down. A grubby nightdress. And my hands – wrinkled.
Wizened. Old.
..........................................................
I watched the M. Night Shyamalan film The Visit the other
night – a bit of a return to form for the writer/director of my favourite
horror film The Sixth Sense. It is about two children who go to visit the
grandparents they have never met before because of a falling out with their
mother. As the visit progresses, things that at first seemed a bit ‘off’ about
the old couple become increasingly alarming.
What struck me afterwards is that
the film taps into fears we all have about old age – about dementia,
incontinence and other horrors. We fear them happening to those we love;
perhaps even more we dread suffering them ourselves.
This reminded me of misgivings I have had about my own
writing. I worry that my psychological thriller Unspeakable Things exploits
fears of mental illness. People very close to me have suffered anxiety and
depression, and others I know and respect live with bipolar disorder and other
conditions. The last thing I want to do is perpetuate prejudice against the
mentally ill. However, one of my deepest fears is of madness – the loss of
control, order, peace and reason, so this was a subject I wanted to explore.
Should there be holy cows in writing – things that must
remain untouched? Or is fiction a legitimate way of exploring what frightens
us? Perhaps it is a question of sensitivity in the way these subjects are
portrayed.
As I write these 100-word Chillers, I am often challenged by
these issues. What’s a good scary story, and what’s exploitative and best left
untold? I’d love to hear your views – what films or stories go too far for you? What subjects should we leave alone?
