Strangers in the Night

In what will probably turn out to be a catastrophically bad decision on my part, I have decided to go ahead with my plans to read Stephen King’s collection of short stories, “Everything’s Eventual.” My fear of the dark notwithstanding, this should prove to be a giant mis-step on my part for many, many reasons.

Firstly, I have an unusually-active imagination, especially when I am alone in my apartment (which happens quite a bit actually, as I live alone and rarely entertain). Last night, for example, even after I had checked and then rechecked all of the closets in my apartment for hidden marauders and/or knife-wielding psychopaths, I still managed to lay awake for OVER an hour in my darkened bedroom waiting in expectant terror.

Gripping my sheets tightly, my eyes darted around the room sure that at any moment a ghost (that I was certain was lurking somewhere behind my Lasko 18" Oscillating Pedestal Fan and my collection of Sex and the City DVDs) would ghoulishly reveal itself to me. Oh I fell asleep eventually, exhausted, and resigned to the fact that I might be killed in my sleep by an unseen foe or a really well-hidden marauder.

What set me off in this dizzying spiral of paranoia, you might ask?

Oh, a teaser for an upcoming episode of the WB’s “Supernatural,” that I accidentally watched before turning in.

Sadly, last night’s debacle is nothing compared to the widely-preventable fallout that resulted in a viewing of The Ring during my senior year of college. Let’s just say that after three sleepless nights and a couple of really cranky days, I did not make my situation any better by visiting the film’s official website or by moving my mini-television out into the hall.

Normally, I avoid scary movies and literature of this nature like the plague-but while catching an evening showing of Grindhouse the other night, I saw a preview for 1408-a movie based on one of the short stories within “Everything’s Eventual.” A quick glance over to my movie-mate Moody St.Clair and it was clear I would NOT be seeing that movie; the trailer scared the crap out of me. But for some reason my mind is making an exception for the book; and like a bird flying towards a window it cannot see-I plan to read every last page, and deal with the long list of shadowy consequences that are sure to follow.

Now would probably be a good time for me to invest in a Starbucks gift card, or to finally give in to that sponsorship deal with Redbull.