(Note: This is another great question to ask your main characters.)
10 thoughts on “Reader Friday: Fear Factor”
Hard to pick just one, but I’ll give it a shot… When I was a teenager I had a stalker who was relentless. He’d even sleep outside my house in his car. For weeks he followed me everywhere…just out of reach, watching, waiting, planning God knows what.
Sue, you reminded me of when I was about twelve or so and took a bus from my grandmother’s house in Hollywood to Grauman’s Chinese Theater. (Kids could do such things in those days). It was broad daylight, and I was looking at the footprints when I noticed a creepy guy (think early Charles Manson) in shades, giving me “the eye.” I wandered around, and he kept his distance, but was obviously following me. So I pulled a fast one. I walked into the gift shop and hid behind a rack. The gift shop had a front door open to the sidewalk. I peered out from the rack and saw the creep walk slowly through the shop and out the front door. He headed back toward the courtyard. I then ran out of the shop and down Hollywood Boulevard about four blocks. Then I caught a bus back to grandma’s.
I was in my early 20’s with a car full of friends driving home from the Wildwood, NJ beach. The route took us North through Philadelphia to the Schuylkill Expressway. The Schuylkill was under construction with one lane available in both directions. The median was a cement divider and the lanes under construction were lined with those orange and white barrels (they are plastic now, I think, but back then they were metal.). Long story short, I was driving along the construction part of the Schuylkill Expressway when the headlights on my car died. they were was know shoulder to pull of on and there was an 18 wheeler semi behind me.
Here’s the scary part….
I lost control and hit not one, but two of those orange construction barrels. The first one bounced on the hood of the car and over the top of the car missing the front window. The second one briefly got jammed under the left quarter panel for a split second enough time for it to create sparks spraying up the driver side window. It then release and bounced over the median divider into the opposing traffic lane.
That was the happenings on the outside of the vehicle. On the inside of the vehicle all I can hear is screaming people and myself wondering if this is my time, our time.
At any rate, thankfully the barrels did not render the car inoperable and I was able to gain control of the car. The Semi behind obviously noticed my predicament and put their high beams on, which gave me enough light to drive to the next exit, King of Prussia. Once I was off the exit, there was enough street lights to get to the nearest gas station.
I often wonder what became of those orange construction barrels I hit?
Husband and I were driving through Blue Ridge Mountains on a beautiful morning en route to the airport to turn in our rental car and go home. I was the passenger. We both nodded off at the same moment. I was awakened by the bone-shaking jolting of the car heading down a ravine into the deep woods. Had time to scream and see the big tree coming at us. It stopped us. The seat belt kept me from going through the windshield but cost me three broken ribs. Car was totaled.
It was only after some one helped us out of the car and made us sit by side of road to await the ambulance that we realized if we had gone off the OTHER side of the road, we would have plunged off a cliff.
I suspect we had carbon monoxide poisoning but we were never able to prove it. I try to always drive with a window cracked now. And I can’t drive in mountains or on hilly windy roads. Even the high overpasses on I-95 terrify me.
Oh My! It sounds like the angel on watch duty over you and your husband was awake! Glad you survived!
I was four years old. My bed was pushed up against the wall so I wouldn’t roll out. I woke up with my nose a few inches away from a black widow spider. I jumped up and got my dad who quickly dispatched it. I am terrified of spiders, more than anything else, to this day.
I was 7 and walking with my 5 year old brother to the store to get milk. Mike and I took the alley shortcut, which we weren’t supposed to do. A man came out from behind a trash can and said, “Come here little boy” and tried to take his hand. I said, “No, you can’t have him. He’s my brother.” The man laughed and ran away. I heard that laugh in my dreams for a long time.
I’ve had several, but two main ones come to mind. The first was when I was about 13 or so. I was babysitting my nephews while my brother and his wife were out of town for the weekend. It was late at night, the kids asleep, and I settled in with popcorn to watch a movie. It was the first time I saw Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis. Remember this movie? This is a bit of a spoiler, so if you haven’t seen it, hide your eyes. For those who have seen this, you will recall that Bette Davis character is being gaslighted to try to drive her over the edge, which wouldn’t take much. The scene that scared me the most was when the man portrayed a corpse from the swamp, and a fake head rolled down the stairs. It was a that moment that the dog put his wet nose on my hand. I screamed, jumped up from the floor, spilling the popcorn. I’ve watched that movie several times since then and that scene still gets me, every time! The second was more dire. I had bald tires on my car and they were being replaced the next day. I had a Saturday writing class and I was running late. This was in Hillsboro, OR, about 20 miles from Portland. I decided to take a short cut and took the back roads. I hit black ice from rain that had frozen overnight. I fishtailed, barely missing an SUV and rolled over hitting my head on the top. I was trapped and could smell gas. Luckily, the SUV driver stopped and helped me get out. She was a paramedic, off duty. She called the police on her car phone, this was pre-cell phone days. The car was totaled but luckily for me, I wasn’t. I had a slight concussion and bruises.
Hard to pick just one, but I’ll give it a shot… When I was a teenager I had a stalker who was relentless. He’d even sleep outside my house in his car. For weeks he followed me everywhere…just out of reach, watching, waiting, planning God knows what.
Sue, you reminded me of when I was about twelve or so and took a bus from my grandmother’s house in Hollywood to Grauman’s Chinese Theater. (Kids could do such things in those days). It was broad daylight, and I was looking at the footprints when I noticed a creepy guy (think early Charles Manson) in shades, giving me “the eye.” I wandered around, and he kept his distance, but was obviously following me. So I pulled a fast one. I walked into the gift shop and hid behind a rack. The gift shop had a front door open to the sidewalk. I peered out from the rack and saw the creep walk slowly through the shop and out the front door. He headed back toward the courtyard. I then ran out of the shop and down Hollywood Boulevard about four blocks. Then I caught a bus back to grandma’s.
Wow! What a story, Jim.
Mine was the night we boarded Trolley Car 36 in Philadelphia: ? http://killzoneblog.com/2016/07/into-the-night-on-trolley-car-36.html
I was in my early 20’s with a car full of friends driving home from the Wildwood, NJ beach. The route took us North through Philadelphia to the Schuylkill Expressway. The Schuylkill was under construction with one lane available in both directions. The median was a cement divider and the lanes under construction were lined with those orange and white barrels (they are plastic now, I think, but back then they were metal.). Long story short, I was driving along the construction part of the Schuylkill Expressway when the headlights on my car died. they were was know shoulder to pull of on and there was an 18 wheeler semi behind me.
Here’s the scary part….
I lost control and hit not one, but two of those orange construction barrels. The first one bounced on the hood of the car and over the top of the car missing the front window. The second one briefly got jammed under the left quarter panel for a split second enough time for it to create sparks spraying up the driver side window. It then release and bounced over the median divider into the opposing traffic lane.
That was the happenings on the outside of the vehicle. On the inside of the vehicle all I can hear is screaming people and myself wondering if this is my time, our time.
At any rate, thankfully the barrels did not render the car inoperable and I was able to gain control of the car. The Semi behind obviously noticed my predicament and put their high beams on, which gave me enough light to drive to the next exit, King of Prussia. Once I was off the exit, there was enough street lights to get to the nearest gas station.
I often wonder what became of those orange construction barrels I hit?
Husband and I were driving through Blue Ridge Mountains on a beautiful morning en route to the airport to turn in our rental car and go home. I was the passenger. We both nodded off at the same moment. I was awakened by the bone-shaking jolting of the car heading down a ravine into the deep woods. Had time to scream and see the big tree coming at us. It stopped us. The seat belt kept me from going through the windshield but cost me three broken ribs. Car was totaled.
It was only after some one helped us out of the car and made us sit by side of road to await the ambulance that we realized if we had gone off the OTHER side of the road, we would have plunged off a cliff.
I suspect we had carbon monoxide poisoning but we were never able to prove it. I try to always drive with a window cracked now. And I can’t drive in mountains or on hilly windy roads. Even the high overpasses on I-95 terrify me.
Oh My! It sounds like the angel on watch duty over you and your husband was awake! Glad you survived!
I was four years old. My bed was pushed up against the wall so I wouldn’t roll out. I woke up with my nose a few inches away from a black widow spider. I jumped up and got my dad who quickly dispatched it. I am terrified of spiders, more than anything else, to this day.
I was 7 and walking with my 5 year old brother to the store to get milk. Mike and I took the alley shortcut, which we weren’t supposed to do. A man came out from behind a trash can and said, “Come here little boy” and tried to take his hand. I said, “No, you can’t have him. He’s my brother.” The man laughed and ran away. I heard that laugh in my dreams for a long time.
I’ve had several, but two main ones come to mind. The first was when I was about 13 or so. I was babysitting my nephews while my brother and his wife were out of town for the weekend. It was late at night, the kids asleep, and I settled in with popcorn to watch a movie. It was the first time I saw Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis. Remember this movie? This is a bit of a spoiler, so if you haven’t seen it, hide your eyes. For those who have seen this, you will recall that Bette Davis character is being gaslighted to try to drive her over the edge, which wouldn’t take much. The scene that scared me the most was when the man portrayed a corpse from the swamp, and a fake head rolled down the stairs. It was a that moment that the dog put his wet nose on my hand. I screamed, jumped up from the floor, spilling the popcorn. I’ve watched that movie several times since then and that scene still gets me, every time! The second was more dire. I had bald tires on my car and they were being replaced the next day. I had a Saturday writing class and I was running late. This was in Hillsboro, OR, about 20 miles from Portland. I decided to take a short cut and took the back roads. I hit black ice from rain that had frozen overnight. I fishtailed, barely missing an SUV and rolled over hitting my head on the top. I was trapped and could smell gas. Luckily, the SUV driver stopped and helped me get out. She was a paramedic, off duty. She called the police on her car phone, this was pre-cell phone days. The car was totaled but luckily for me, I wasn’t. I had a slight concussion and bruises.