In younger years concerns about my wellbeing and the safety of the planet tended to only be rooted in the potential of a zombie apocalypse or alien invasion.
Young people don’t appear to share these fears, woods are a place of natural beauty filled with adventure and graveyards are places of quiet respect.
I am of an age of being reared under the eerie shadow of “The Hammer House Of Horror” films and programmes. The introduction of video also unearthed a raft of highly unsuitable horror films where there appeared to be little regard or attention placed on age restrictions at our local rental shop. My work and home husband recalls being terrified about the prospect of a werewolf attack on the moors. Back in the day my night time terror was the fear of a vampire tapping at my bedroom window, thanks for that, Mr Stephen King and Salem’s
Lot. I genuinely viewed ‘Vampire Hunter’ as a potential vocation when grown up, it was up there with nurse, teacher or trapeze artist.
It was not so long ago when there was a resurgence in the popularity of vampires. Films and television programmes featuring the fanged ones, were all the rage. The emphasis usually being on the love element between a handsome young male vampire and a beautiful yet disenchanted mortal female.
As macabre and petrifying as our fascination was with spooks, goblins, poltergeists, hauntings, and other ghostly goings on, looking back it feels more perversely innocent than the harsh realities of the world that are accessible by a tap of a keyboard. Wildfires, and earthquakes were happening when I was growing up but the awareness and implications were not as widely known and seemed to be a more adult matter. We were not completely immune to natural disasters, many had first-hand experience of the devastation and loss
caused by floods. It felt there was a comfort and belief that in all earthly matters adults would sort it where as they would be out of their depth facing fiendish immortals.
Living with a global pandemic and the impact of climate change seems to have redefined fear and created indifference to supernatural spookiness. Government and News Media have been criticised for creating a climate of fear in response to the pandemic, which may be the case but equally the film and TV industry had and still has huge influence on our beliefs, both rational and irrational. I am heartened by the proactivity of young people in picking up the baton to raise awareness and prompt action to address climate change. I do wonder if this is a direct result of information being given by trusted spokespersons who lack spurious agenda’s such as Greta Thunberg and Sir David Attenborough.
While carving pumpkins and Halloween crafting with the grandchildren, when checking in about their understanding of the use of garlic, silver bullets, wooden stakes, holy water or crucifixes to defend themselves, they were totally clueless and appeared a little disinterested. I elected to avoid educating them on this as it may be deemed inappropriate or nightmare provoking nowadays but above all I think young people have enough on their plate at the moment.
