Two authors decide to swap genres when they both get into writer's block one day. There's one issue, neither has any idea how to write the genre they were assigned.
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Phet "Boo" Thongdi is a horror writer with small notoriety online. He isn't the mo...
Our dormitory didn't have the space to comfortably move around the furniture to enhance the movie experience but neither of us minded that as we sat on one bed with a bowl of chips. A tiny projector lay on the ground, letting a wash of light cover the opposite wall and my speakers were hooked up so that we could actually hear what was going on.
"So, here are the selections for the evening," I grinned as I held up a printed sheet with purple and neon green graphics. "We're going through some classics. Halloween, The Ring, and The Shining. Then some more recent releases, we have Hereditary, Get Out, and Bird Box."
Angelo raised his hand like he was a school kid with a deadpan expression. "I object."
"We're in too deep, we can't get out now." I let out a dramatic evil laugh and he elbowed my ribs in response.
"Let's just get this over with."
I cracked my knuckles and threw the poorly made pamphlet onto Angelo's lap. "If you have no special requests, we're going through all these chronologically by date."
"I have the special request to not be present for this."
"Your request is denied." I leaned back and let myself get comfortable. "Can't you at least pretend to be excited? You're the one that agreed to swap genres."
He grumbled under his breath and grabbed a pillow. The pillow was being squeezed in his arms so tightly that I swore I saw a vein pop out from his forearm.
"Are you scared already? We didn't even start," I laughed.
"Shut up and let it just play already."
I shrugged and put on the movie and our makeshift screen began to play the iconic music as the title screens flew by. The final title screen fades and we're left to watch a house with a jack-o-lantern in a first-person perspective.
"Why's the camera weird like that?" Angelo asked.
The camera had a hand reach out to grab a knife making it obvious that it was not just any character the audience was watching but the killer.
Angelo had the pillow covering half his face and I pushed down the top of it with one hand.
"You can't see the screen if you hide your face like that," I said.
"That's the point," Angelo grumbled.
"Well, you're missing the best part."
"We're only at the beginning."
"The beginning is the best part of this film!"
Describing the film in words would only do injustice to the film as a character calls out a name in disbelief. The camera pans out to reveal that not only were we watching the film through the perspective of a child for the past few minutes.
"What the fuck?" Angelo said. "Why would a kid do that?!"
"That's the horror of it!" I threw my hands up in excitement. "It builds up the tension by withholding that information through the first-person perspective then it reveals someone who you least expect it to be."
Angelo stared at me with a disturbed look on his face. "Are you okay? Should I be scared that you'll end up killing me?"
I shoved his shoulder with my own and he let out a curse. "Just because I like watching it doesn't mean I want to do that. This isn't the same as your romance stories."
"Then why do you like horror so much?" Iheard him kiss his teeth and there was a small hiss. "If I wake up with a bruise tomorrow, you have to do my homework for a week."
"First of all, I didn't shove you hard enough to warrant a bruise. Second of all, if you do bruise, it doesn't mean I have to do your homework. I didn't cut off your arm," I scoffed.
He gave a reluctant shrug as if he thought it was worth a shot to have attempted to coerce me into more work. He leaned back and readjusted his hold on the pillow. "So, are you going to tell me why you like horror so much?"
The corner of my mouth twitched downwards for a split second but I kept my eyes glued to the screen.
"I was going to say that until you tried to make me do your homework," I joked.
We continued to watch the movies in silence as Angelo cowered behind the pillow and I relished in the stories.
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