'how to appreciate horror' for and by victim/s of blood phobia

I’ve just developed a soft spot for horror films. This is because of Andy’s (the boyfriend) obsession with the subject –in fact, he even claims that he’s a ‘horror-expert’.

Many will be surprised by the news, as of my celebrated (people tend to enjoy testing me on this one) physically powerful phobia of blood.

I’ve fainted somewhere around twenty-five times in my life because of my fear of blood (I even find it hard to write the word). I remember fainting in school once when my teacher showed us a film of the ‘great race’ (sperms racing against each other towards the egg*). I couldn’t see the blood, but I knew it must be lots of it involved. The more I thought about this then and there, the more blurred my eyesight became and the more dizzy I felt. Eventually I fell of the chair and hit my head in the hard floor and nobody understood what the hell just happened. That’s my first memory of being aware of the horrifying substance blood - I was probably around 10 then. However, it apparently happened many times previous to that. I even had to stay in hospital for a week (7 years of age I think), as they thought something was seriously wrong with me. Evidently I kept fainting in the hospital, as being scared of blood means that you automatically have phobia of hospitals. I guess eventually they just gave up on me and let me go home as they couldn’t detect anything physically wrong. Another time I fainted when my teacher drew (yes, drew with a pen) a human body with the circulatory system displayed. A little bit like this:

Anyway, this is making me feel exceedingly ill.
Back to the subject.

Horror films fascinate me, BUT not gory ones. I favour spooky and psychological movies.

Horror film is such a great adrenalin rush. You don’t have to risk your life, you don’t have to climb any mountains or exhaust your body in any way, it won’t give you a hangover, you can turn it off easily if you don’t enjoy it, and you can have your rush nice and comfortably in bed.
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My favourites are Asian horror.

‘A Tale of 2 Sisters’ is clever and beautifully made and every time you finish it you want to rewind and watch it again. And every time you do that, you will find new things to be impressed by. The story is incredibly detailed and gives no room for goofs. And again it’s so visually stunning and the characters are typically puzzling, which skilfully adds to the quiet and mysterious atmosphere.

Another favourite is the Chinese horror movie ‘Dumplings’. About a quite essential subject, how far would you go to stay young? The thought of what actually happens is pretty gory, but the film is more psychological than sickening. It’s another great looking film, very stylish and I have to say that the noticeable ‘just right’ sound and light is impressive and has a very helpful impact on the film.

Some other good ones are The Grudge, Phone and Dark Water. And here’s a pretty amazing website where you can stream almost any Asian horror for free: http://asian-horror-movies.com/