I’m not sure why, but I think the movie Scream is responsible for my love of teen slasher films and the reason why I have penned several screenplays myself, many of which have gotten attention in Hollywood but never made it beyond that (my first screenplay, one which was written during a three day weekend in October of 2001 titled Ghost in the Graveyard came close to being produced, which would have been really cool considering I was still in high school, but then everything came crashing down).  Anyway, I’m not sure why Scream played such a big role in my career as a horror writer (both novelist and screenwriter), but I do know that during my sophomore year, which was the year I decided to start writing professionally, I would watch the first Scream every chance I got, almost as if I was studying the story, my mind trying to figure

out what exactly had made this movie such a big hit.  I also read everything I could about the movie, especially the stories of how Kevin Williamson (the screenwriter) locked himself in a room for three days with a typewriter and wrote Scary Movie (Scream) because he needed money to pay his bills, something which really fascinated me.  The fact that I really liked the movie also played a role, because it made me realize that I loved horror movies, especially those that featured a masked killer stalking people, something which I probably knew subconsciously, especially given my reactions to Halloween and Friday the 13th, but never admitted to myself until my sophomore year, the year when I discovered I wanted to scare people for a living.  

I first saw Scream two years earlier with my cousin when I was in eighth grade.  Back then my parents would allow us to

pretty much watch any movie even if it was R rated as long as there was no graphic sexual content in it (my parents have gotten criticism for this, but I think it was a good thing because by not forbidding us anything, we never craved these forbidden items and therefore never really rebelled the way most kids do during those years), which Scream didn’t have.  The subject of sex comes up but in a way that my parents felt was okay for me to view, especially since I would be going into high school the follow year and would be dealing with those issues anyway.  

The movie didn’t really scare me all that much, but it did startle me, especially when the truth about the killer was revealed and made me realize that anything can happen in a horror movie, which was something my mind tucked away and brought back once I started penning stories, novels, and movies myself.  I also really liked how all the other classic horror movies played a part in this movie, something which I know many horror fans didn’t like, but I thought was genius and helped make the movie seem more realistic (it also added a comedic element, which many had never seen before in serious horror movies, which I felt made the movie more frightening because one never knew when the comedy would turn to terror).  Also, by killing their biggest star within the first ten minutes of the movie I think they proved that anything could happen and that no one was safe, a risk they didn’t seem to take in the third movie, which might be one of the reasons that one didn’t seem to be as well received by the fans of this trilogy (now it looks like it with be a series since they are getting ready to do Scream 4).  

I don’t watch this movie as much as I used to because I kind of overdid it back in 2000 and 2001 when I would watch it all the time, but do make a point of viewing it at least once during the month of October near Halloween, usually while carving a pumpkin for some reason.  I also sometimes will scare kids out on the front porch with the Scream mask and costume which my brother and I bought many years ago, which is fun.