The Haunting of Jill's House

Can someone please explain to me why in the hell when October rolls around I decide I like scary stuff?? 

Because I SERIOUSLY DO NOT LIKE SCARY STUFF.

And yet, it happens, every year.  The Halloween season hits and I get this strong urge to immerse myself in the scary.  I honestly have no idea why, because I always end up regretting it.

This past year, I thought maybe I was getting better at it.  Last fall, I saw the new It in theatres with friends, and I survived.  I saw A Quiet Place in theatres with my friend Sara last spring, and I actually really enjoyed it.  I watched The Babadook last weekend, a movie that seems to be suggested as one of the scariest ever, and it barely even fizzed me. 

Then, as I mentioned last week, I watched The Visit on Thanksgiving Monday, and for some reason, THAT was the movie that got under my skin.  THAT was the movie that bothered me and kept me up at night.  THAT was the movie I couldn't seem to shake, long after the credits rolled.

I took a break from the scary last week after that.  I watched lots of episodes of New Girl, and steered clear of any more movies from my Halloween Movie Bucket List.  And I sort of started dreading Friday evening, when I had plans to visit The Haunted House on the Hill at the Billings Estate historical site in Ottawa with a group of friends. 

As it turned out?  Friday night was OK.  I mean, we had tons of laughs and fun at dinner, and then we did the Haunted House and it wasn't as bad as I expected.  It helped that the "actors" were not allowed to touch us.  I learned that if I just shrunk myself up in a ball and shouted, "NO! STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" they would back off.  It also helped that a few times we got lost and had to ask the "scary people" for directions.  It sure had it's fair share of jumps and screams, but it didn't bother me once I got home.  I was able to sleep without issue.

So there I was, thinking I was OK with the scary again.

And that brings us to last night.  Home from work after suffering with a sinus headache all day, I decided I was going to do nothing last night, aside from my usual Monday night laundry.  I got the laundry going, made supper, and then settled in on the couch with a hot bag on my neck and a dose of Advil to start a series on Netflix that had caught my eye:  The Haunting of Hill House.  

I only planned on watching one episode.  I ended up watching three.  It hooked me.  It really did.  The story had me gripped.  And while it was scary, with lots of moments that made me jump and squeal, I was intrigued by these characters, and wanted to see what would happen to them.

After the third episode, I went upstairs to switch laundry loads, and that's when I seriously began regretting my evening spent in Hill House.  Did I mention it was also a very windy night?  It was a very windy night. And OF COURSE, as I'm up there with no phone or flash light or anything, hanging my clothes on my drying rack in the spare room, the power went off.

"Oh, f*ck.  F*ck f*ck f*ck."

I held my breath and waited for it to come back on.  It did not immediately come back, like it usually does.  I continued to curse as I began bumping frantically out of the room, down the hall, to my own room, hands out touching the walls as I went.  Panic was rising.  All I kept thinking was "get to your bed, get to your bed."  Why do I believe my bed has protective super powers?  I do not know.  But when something goes bump in the night, I burrow deeper beneath my covers and wait it out.  I needed to get to the safe haven of my bed.

But my bed was piled with clean laundry that I had yet to fold and put away.  I hit that mountain as I tried to climb on, and so I then began pushing it wildly off the bed.  In my rush to shove the clothes off the bed, I somehow pitched myself right over the edge too, hitting my headachey head on the floor, and causing another eruption of "F*CK F*CK F*CK"'s.

That's when the lights came back on.

Oh, but it doesn't end there.

I quickly made my way back downstairs, lit candles and grabbed my phone in case the power went off again, took some deep breaths, slowed my heart rate, and spent an hour or so watching New Girl to try and erase the scary Hill House memories.  I thought I had done an effective job of pushing it aside, until my mom called just as I was going to bed to tell me her power was off.  I thought about going up to her place to spend the night and help her if she needed it with her generator (she needs it to keep her sump-pump going), but she insisted she was fine, and I really do prefer my own bed.  But about an hour later, I was wakened to the sound of silence in my room - because now MY power was off.  And it didn't come back on.

And the wind was relentless.  The whole house seemed to creak and groan.  It was SO dark.  I kept hearing bumps and weird noises.  I felt like I spent more time awake than asleep, staring into the darkness, listening to creepy noises, and checking the Hydro app on my phone for updates as to when the power might be back on. (It was useless.  It didn't come back on until well on this morning, long after I'd left for work.)

So.  Needless to say, it was DEFINITELY the wrong night to start watching The Haunting of Hill House.  And now, I might have to be done with that, too.

*sigh*  Bring on Christmas.