A First Experience

Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by Jeff on Three Hours of Sleep inc.


So I just recently played one of the most horrific games (well, the series is horrific) in my lifetime. Silent Hill: Homecoming is the name of this beauty, and I thoroughly enjoyed each and every moment of it (when I wasn't peeing my pants). It was quite an amazing story line, and I probably could have gone through the whole game without stopping. However, being tired forced me to stop at about 3:30am when I had started around 8:30pm with my highly interesting friends, minus the one who worked himself up so much, he fell asleep (you know who you are, mis amores!) Fatigue...how dare you!



Well anyway, this game gave me three hours of sleep that night. Only three hours for fudge's sake. I woke up at about 6:45am, and images of the game clouded my mind. I desperately tried to close my eyes and fall back into dreamland, but failed. It was a surprise to me that I even fell asleep. It was almost a struggle to figure out what to do with all this time on a Sunday morning. However, I did make it through just about half that beautifully haunting game, so I joined up with my brave friend to conquer my first true horror game (after consuming my body weight in caffeine, of course). I must be a masochist. I mean, yeah, I played Resident Evil games, but this was way different. Dead bodies don't fall from the ceiling in Resident Evil games, and creepy dolls don't soak up blood and become twice your size in order to kill you.


In this sense, I feel like I'm such a contradiction. Horror games are so excited for me to play, but I can't help but be scared shortly after I play them. I learned in Psychology that horror is supposed to be a certain arousal we have as human beings to create a sense of enjoyment, but why on earth would I still subject myself to this nonsense? Oh, right. It's fun.


Either the game was gradually losing its sense of horror, or I was being desensitized, because toward the end, I became less afraid of the game. This is actually my goal, to be honest. I hate that I become disturbed from horror games after playing them, but the plots are always so good, that I feel like I need to toughen up and play these games for real. As a writer, I feel like I'm also expanding my horizons by playing these games, and subjecting myself to the mental torment. In the end, I know it will be worth it!

Now, I have some advice. If you're like me, and you're a big wimp when it comes to horror, there are some things that I noticed I do to keep me from going insane.

1. If you don't care for the theatrical effect of the room (playing in the dark) you're participating in horror (games, movies, etc.), watch/play these games/movies earlier in the day. Make sure to stop at a time in which you can busy yourself with other things before you go to bed (especially if that's what bothers you).

2. Always remind yourself that the horror in the media (depending on what you're playing/watching) isn't real. Trust me. After Silent Hill, I had to convince myself that nurses with heads wrapped in bandages who attempt to slice your throat out...do not exist.


3. Have friends/family in the room with you. I always enjoy when my friends make commentary during gameplay to keep me from being too nervous to go on. However, I make sure that they stay quiet during cutscenes in games. (For horror movies, having someone with you can still prove useful, but only for moral support, and possibly not commentary, especially if you can't stand people talking during a movie. Just make sure they shut up when there's dialogue again!)


4. Just have at it! If you don't subject yourself to horror, you'll never get used to it, and you will always be cowering in fear.

Have fun!