Young Fears 29: Don't Look Behind You

Each October I like to run a series of Halloween-themed posts on this blog. All this month, I'll be telling anecdotes about things which frightened me while growing up.

It seems as though most of my early encounters with horror involved visual media - I've spoken mostly about film, television and comic books. Well, with the month almost over, allow me to inform you about a little thing called "Don't Look Behind You". It's a short story written by Frederic Brown in which a murderer narrates his life story to the reader.

I found the story in the back of an Alfred Hitchcock collection called Stories Not for the Nervous. If you know anything about the story, then you understand why it has to be in the back of the book. You see, the narrating murderer eventually begins talking directly to you and explaining how he chose you as his next victim after inserting his confession into a collection of mystery stories. It's extremely effective! This is a story which is best enjoyed while your back is against a wall and all the entrances to the room are visible to you. Heh-heh. I learned my mother had read this same story when she was young and it gave her a similar fright. You see, horror doesn't have to be something you experience alone - it can bring you closer to the people you love!