Kari: Hi, Robert. It’s nice to see you again today? How are you doing?
Robert: Very well, thank you? How are you?
Kari: I’m fine, as well. I’m kind of excited. I enjoy Halloween, and Halloween is coming quite quickly. Is your home or are your family preparing for a Halloween celebration?
Robert: Not especially, but they have had some Halloween parties at school.
Kari: Yes, that’s always fun. Children maybe get to dress up in a Halloween costume. Is that what your family or your children did?
Robert: Yeah, the dressing up is Wednesday, from Adam’s Family for the little one, and for some reason the eldest one wants to dress as a bunny rabbit, which is not very scary, but …
Kari: But it’s nice. Something different.
Robert: Different, right.
Kari: I was thinking about Halloween, and it got me thinking. Have you ever thought about the English language and all the words that we have to talk about feeling scared or about something that’s scary?
Robert: You know, you’re right. We can say things like “scared or afraid or frightened or even spooked.”
Kari: Yeah. You’re right. And think about the extreme adjectives for feeling very scared – terrified or petrified..
Robert: Yeah, or scared-stiff – like you are so scared you are physically stiff – you can’t move.
Kari: And really that’s only a few. And then you change it, and you think about describing THINGS that are scary, not feelings. You can change spooked to spooky, frightened to frightening..
Robert: Absolutely yeah and add new words like eerie or creepy. And for very scary things, you can change terrified to terrifying, petrified to petrifying…
Kari: or be really creative and say something is monstrous
Robert: or spine-chilling
Kari: Oh, yeah! Or it can be bone-chilling, too.
Robert: I guess there ARE a lot of words to talk about feeling scared or scary things.
Kari: Now, you know I like games. I thought we’d play a small game where I give you a clue about a classic American horror movie. I will also use some of the words we just discussed. I guess the first question is, do you like horror movies?
Robert: Well, yes. Iin British English, we say films, of course.
Kari: You’re right, you’re right. Okay. So, do you like horror films?
Robert: I do, as long as they’re not too gory. I don’t like to see too much blood.
Kari: I think I agree with you on this. Okay, let’s do this. #1 - A secretary is on the run with her boyfriend after stealing $40,000 from her employer. Traveling during a heavy rainstorm on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the creepy Bates Motel and meets the polite but slightly unsettling owner, Norman Bates. He’s a young man with an interest in taxidermy, and he a difficult relationship with his mother.
Robert: Is it an old black and white film with an unforgettable shower scene?
Kari: maybe...
Robert: I think it’s the movie “Psycho.” I think also that Alfred Hitchcock was the director.
Kari: He was, and it IS old. Its debut was in 1960. Well done. Okay, let’s do #2. Okay. Here we go. A writer becomes the winter caretaker of an isolated and eerie hotel, hoping to cure his writer's block. He brings his wife and son, who is afraid of his psychic visions. Upon arrival, the writer still can’t write, and the son's visions become more and more spine-chilling. Jack is his name, and he discovers the hotel's dark secrets, and he begins to transform into a monstrous character terrorizing his family. What do you think.
Robert: I think this is harder. I’m not sure I know this film. It is a recent film?
Kari: Not exactly. It’s 20 years newer than Psycho. Its debut was in 1980, but it was first a book. It has a very famous scene with twin girls and a corridor of blood
Robert: Now you say that, yes. The scene is familiar. I know that scene, but I don’t know the film.
Kari: Okay, okay. The film is called “The Shining.” It was made from a book with the same name from the well-known writer Stephen King, who is my favorite author.
Robert: It did have a feeling of Stephen King. Great. Well done. You got me. Okay, nice game. I like the game. I’ve got one for you now.
Kari: Great! Yes.
Robert: It’s a gruesome British horror film from 1987, which was also based on a book. It’s known for its grotesque imagery.
Kari: Grotesque imagery. 1987. I hate to admit it, but I’m not too familiar with British horror films … unless maybe you can count “Shaun of the Dead.”
Robert: I’m not sure that’s horror, exactly.
Kari: So, please help me out. What is this movie?
Rober: It’s a film called “Hellraiser.”
Kari: Oh my gosh! Hellraiser! Yes, I know this one. Oh, I didn’t know it was a British film. That movie was a part of my teenage years, when it was frighteningly entertaining. Now I have a mood to get mortified and watch a scary movie. What about you?
Robert: Again, yes, I’m up for that, as long as there’s not too much blood.
Kari: And the lights are on.
Robert: Yes.
Kari: And what about you listeners? We hope you got to learn a bit about classic horror films AND just a few of the many words in the English language to talk about fear. Now, practice using them.