My First Love (or, Reading)

Let's talk about my first love: Reading.

I started reading when I was 3 years old (according to my parents), and I never looked back. My very first book was 'The Hungry Caterpillar'. Then 'Bambi'. Then countless 'Rainbow Brite' and fairy tale books.

                 My dad holding me when I was about 4. Notice the storybook beneath my arm.

My favorites were Little Red Riding Hood, The Pied Piper, and Hansel and Gretel. You know why I loved those? They all contain an element of horror. Now, most fairly tales are rooted in ancient lore, which is usually horrifying anyway. But these fairly tales are the ones that never got watered down by Disney and parents who didn't want to give their children nightmares. The villains didn't disappear. They weren't turned into goofy, easily defeated fools. The wolf didn't become a funny dog. The Pied Piper didn't become some silly jester. The witch in the candy house didn't become some harmless old lady. These characters remain scary, dangerous, and a real threat to little children who don't obey their parents. (Except in the case of The Pied Piper, when it's actually the townspeople who disobeyed, not the children.)

I have always loved and been drawn to horror stories. The first serious horror novel I ever read was Pet Sematary by Stephen King. I was 8 years old. I couldn't put it down, and when I finished it, I would beg my dad to buy me more King novels. He did. As long as I was reading and happy, he supplied the books, no matter what the material. From there, I expanded my horizons to more horror authors like R.L. Stine, Dean Koontz, Bentley Little, Christopher Pike, Clive Barker, V.C Andrews, Caroline B. Cooney, Poppy Z. Brite, H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, and countless others who weren't as famous or well-known.

Young adult novels or adult ones- didn't matter to me. I'd read anything that would scare me. I especially loved collected stories about true accounts of hauntings and supernatural phenomena. I think I get this from my dad- an avid reader himself, who also happens to favor the scary stuff.

My first love was reading these delightful dreadful stories. Holed up in my room, under blanket forts, outside under trees, lying in our old hammock, riding the school bus, in school while I was supposed to be studying- I'd read anywhere and everywhere. It's a love I will have until I am too old to see or hear. And by then, I will have enough stories in my brain and heart, that I won't even need to read. I will have them all inside, waiting to be relived.