Getting Goosebumps

Eli and I have a new tradition of watching RL Stine's "Goosebumps" stories on TV when he gets home from karate in the afternoon.That is, if he's been good and Mom gives the OK. For the uninitiated, Goosebumps was a popular series of scary books for kids back when my daughter was young. It's like Twilight Zone for the middle-school crowd.

We both have the sense that we're doing something naughty because really he's a bit young to watch the televised versions of the stories. Some are just goofy, like yesterday's episode where the big brother accidentally made his little sister disappear by way of a magic clock. But a couple of them have been intense for a six-year old, and he has to hide his face to watch. Yet -- he's riveted, and if I suggest the show's too much and maybe we should turn it off he wails "Nooooo MooooonMa. It's not too scary for me!"

Then he opens one of the big fans we got for the kids in San Francisco and watches the TV through the black material. The fabric is sheer, fake silk, and you can still see the action through it. I checked.

I LOVED being scared as a kid -- ghost stories, scary movies, all of it. I still do, but not gory, slasher movies. Films like "Shutter Island" are what raise my goosebumps these days. And Poltergeist, yeah, Poltergeist still does it too. I watched Poltergeist at my grandparents house by myself and had to go wake up my grandma to talk to me for a while after it was over. And I was 15 years old!

I've learned that not everyone shares my and Eli's love of a good scare -- just read a report that said approximately one-third of us avoid scary movies and thrill-seeking behaviors at all costs, another one-third (mostly men) enjoy the adrenaline rush of fear enough to try extreme adventures like bungee jumping and take pride in facing their fears and surviving.

The last third, like me, probably enjoys a good scary movie now and then because it gives us the opportunity to explore dark images that we otherwise avoid thinking about; the same reason kids love Halloween.

And Goosebumps.