Shower Terror: Why 'Psycho' is Truly Terrifying

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When I was 12 and he was 8, my brother and I went through a scary movie phase. We begged our parents to let us watch classic horror films like "The Exorcist" and "Psycho." My parents weren't strict about movie watching, so they acquiesced. In fact, we watched many more terrifying films than we should have during that phase. It's surprising that we didn't turn out to be violent psychopathic murderers. I remember my brother and I laughing hysterically at the head-spinning, vomiting scene in "The Exorcist" and at the shower scene in "Psycho." How could anyone think those movies were horrifying? To us, they were campy and humorous. My mom shook her head in disgust: "You kids are so desensitized." It wasn't until my mid-20s that I understood the true "Psycho" shower scene terror. I was alone in my apartment showering, and I kept hearing creaks and crashes nearby. I had been increasingly frightened by a creepy maintenance man who lived a few floors below me, who never failed to appear outside on his balcony and stare menacingly as I unpacked groceries from my car. I was convinced he had come into my apartment - a Norman Bates character waiting to stab me in my shower. Even now when my husband is out of town and I'm all alone in our big home, I fear taking showers. When my head is positioned under the spout, soaking up warm water, I feel vulnerable. My stomach lurches with fear if I'm convinced an unwelcome visitor is ducking in the dark corners of our home. Subconsciously, I think the "Psycho" shower scene resides in all of us, even if we don't realize it. We all fear the "psycho killer" who is just waiting around the corner until we ease our heads under the collective "shower." None of us want to be victimized in a gruesome way like Marion Crane. All of us fear it. I've had much more respect for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" since this realization. This Halloween, I'll watch classic horror films with the doses of respect they deserve - the respect that has come from the knowledge that horrifying deaths do exist in real life.