Curiosity & The Beast.

If you’d asked me before, I’d probably say I am not curious about many things which was in some way true. I get bored easily. I have a short attention span to things especially when they are very stressful.

However, I am curious about things or people I am genuinely interested in. And nine times out of ten, curiosity has made me bite my knuckles in regret but then that one factor is why I still embrace it.

I believe there was one time curiosity saved me from being with a married man and there was a time when curiosity helped me learn about myself. Curiosity has made me watch movies I regret watching later because I can’t sleep at night and then it has made me read books I’m still so grateful for.

One very trouble my curiosity got me in (which I can hardly forget) is that of pure torture. For months, I would toss and turn in bed, couldn’t stand dark places and would always imagine useless things when I’d be in the bathroom and the light flickers. I was warned before I decided to see that movie. I like to pretend I am brave when it comes to horror movies and when I saw the cover of this one, I wondered a lot.

My cousin actually warned me not to see it but what? How awful could a Nigerian horror movie be? They don’t even have good cinematography skills and their editing hurts my eyes. I bet it was the same story line in a village with some old lady tying a white wrapper and flying from house to house. Ha! I want to really see how they’d pull that off. I bet the green screen behind would be totally visible.

I was wrong. I was so wrong. I knew it when I first saw the casts. Then understood the story line. I should have stopped at part one but my damn insatiable need to know how it ended wouldn’t let me. I stayed glued. Watching the prince transform into the beast that gave me horrific nightmares. Not even Ouija Board or The Conjuring scared me like that and I still can’t understand why!

Someone had a theory that it was because I could really immerse myself into the story and settings. For one, it was in my country. Secondly, we experience these things almost daily with the villages and stuff. I bought that theory but it didn’t help me at all.

Fast forward to when I got back from a job really late and was so sweaty I knew I just had to shower. There was light. So I quickly heated water and rushed to clean myself up. I wasn’t thinking of anything at that point in time until the lights began to flicker. My whole blood ran cold, my heart pounding insanely in my chest. I couldn’t move. It felt like I was stuck just standing there as the lights flickered, reminding me of what happens in movies. That movie!

I really tried to move but then my whole body wouldn’t conform. It was at that moment I understood the fear that those characters felt in their stories. Paralyzing, mind numbing fear that has you quaking and crumbling to your knees. My knees buckled. It buckled so hard I had to hold unto something. Was that me having a panic attack? Probably. But that is an experience I will never forget.

Ever since then, I may be curious about a certain horror or thriller, but I wouldn’t watch it. I would only view the trailer and then read the whole summary of it. I had nightmares for months and don’t want a repeat. Figures! The time I decided to watch a Nigerian horror film, they went all out and scarred me for life.