Comments on: Why Do Children Like to Read About Witches and Other Scary Things? Halloween Quote of the Day (Agatha Christie) http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/ Janice Harayda Reviews Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry for Adults and Children Mon, 10 Jun 2013 02:28:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/#comment-4563 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:34:16 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/#comment-4563 Just to carry both of your comments out an extra decimal point: The traditional literary explanation is that reading about scary things provides an outlet or catharsis for those feelings of fright or even terror.

Wish I weren’t so severely computer-challenged right now so I could go for a couple more decimall points …
Jan

]]> By: knightofswords http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/#comment-4562 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:25:52 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/#comment-4562 Hallowe’en tends to remind us of the frail curtain between life and death and how a good dose of fright reminds us that we’re on the living side.

Malcolm

]]> By: kevmoore http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/#comment-4558 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:28:00 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/why-do-children-like-to-read-about-witches-and-other-scary-things-halloween-quote-of-the-day-agatha-christie/#comment-4558 I think its a need to affirm one’s own mortality. I think it’s deep-seated, hence the unconscious desire in children to do it. Everyone needs to feel that adrenaline rush because it confirms that you’re ALIVE. Fright, terror, and paricularly coming through it unscathed (!) fulfills a great part of that need. As a human being one wants to experience the full range of emotions, and yes, to a degree, that includes fear, but the fear that thrills, not puts us in real mortal danger.
I’ve tried to do my own small bit by writing a scary Halloween short story;Pumpkin Number Six in my own blog, read it if you dare!

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