Fear the ordinary? Blame film

Last week, some friends and I got together to rent a scary movie. We figured we would get in… Last week, some friends and I got together to rent a scary movie. We figured we would get in the mood for the upcoming holiday. That scheme worked out better than we had anticipated.

Maybe it was because it was nearly two o’clock in the morning and the light in the room was broken, or maybe it was because we rented a Stephen King movie.

Whatever the reason, we all went to bed terrified that night. The movie was “1408,” about a haunted hotel room, and it doesn’t help that some of the suites in Sutherland Hall have an eerie resemblance to hotel rooms. We all stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, texting each other until we calmed down enough to sleep, and it was undoubtedly one of the lightest slumbers any of us ever had. Why are we such wimps?

Why are we afraid of places that are normally void of anything particularly frightening? Is it because of movies? Have horror flicks taught us all to be wusses? Honestly, when you think about it, what’s so scary about a hotel room – other than what the previous residents might have left on the bed?

What’s so frightening about the ocean? Everybody knows we have a better chance of being struck by lightning than getting attacked by a shark. Why are empty schools so creepy? Or better yet, why is an empty Cathedral of Learning so eerie?

The dark in general is just scary, because you never know what might be waiting for you in the shadows. Kennywood uses this concept every year. At Fright Night, the lights are turned off, the haunted houses are pitch black and local thrill-seekers must brave the blinding fog.

It doesn’t take movies or horror stories for people to be afraid of a creepy house on a dead-end road at midnight. But on the other hand, movies seem to inspire fear of non-frightening, everyday places.

The most obvious example is “Jaws,” even though it seems that our generation might be growing out of this fear of the ocean. “Jaws” was one of the first movies to make people afraid of a familiar situation. How many people actually got attacked by sharks after seeing the movie? Maybe one or two extremely unlucky people. Yet, people were still afraid to go too far out in the water because the glimpse of a fin made them want to yell, “Shark!” even though it was most likely a dolphin. We all enjoy dolphins – maybe because of their depiction in happy-go-lucky movies like “Flipper,” but that subject can wait for another article.

Why are lakes so scary? Everybody knows it’s highly impossible that a resurrected zombie child with a hockey mask will creep out of the water and kill you. At least with “Jaws,” sharks actually exist.

And finally, why are empty schools so creepy? Schools are – for the most part – modern buildings with multiple safety exits.

This one isn’t accredited to a movie, but rather a popular sitcom. Yes, I’m talking about “Boy Meets World,” that episode where they’re trapped in the school and people keep getting killed. Despite the fact that it turned out to be a dream and Cory probably cracked a funny joke at the end, it still scared the crap out of 10-year-olds the world over.

This, however, does not explain why the Cathedral is creepy. Because, let’s face it, the Cathedral isn’t a school – it’s way cooler than that. There haven’t been any mainstream movies about zombies chasing people through church-like buildings. Perhaps this one is because of the rumor – or fact, depending on what you’ve deduced – that the Cathedral is haunted. Maybe the “Harry Potter” movies have added to the creepiness of the Cathedral.

Or maybe this belongs in the category of things that are just naturally creepy. Whatever the case, I definitely don’t plan on watching a Stephen King movie in the Cathedral, no matter how closely the dorms in Sutherland Hall resemble room number 1408.

Our culture is one in which movies reach mainstream audiences and affect a major percentage of the population. Even if you haven’t seen a certain blockbuster horror movie, you’ve most likely heard about it.

Therefore, our society is affected by these movies. This leads us toward irrational fear of places common and familiar.

What’s next? Will a new movie lead us to be afraid of dining halls? As if we aren’t wary enough of Market Central already.