While watching movies, there are many things that can get us involved and more interested. There are many ways in which suspense is created and maintained. An example would be in the movie The Innocents. Ms. Giddens is first scared in the attic when she is looking for the children during a game of hide and seek. She sees a picture of the old valet and is suddenly "attacked" from behind by Miles who proceeds to choke her until Flora comes in. You have to wonder why this seemingly innocent boy would do such a thing. Our interest is further tweaked when Ms. Giddens goes to hide behind the curtain and sees Peter Quint in the window.
Another example comes from the movie The Haunting. When the door is shaking and banging and the house seems to be calling for Eleanor, we are put into a mode to be fearful. This fear is further heightened by the message on the wall asking Eleanor to help. These events help keep us involved and interested in what is going to happen next.
The music and sounds of the house also provide us with a way to be horrified. You can tell that something is going to happen when the music gets louder or the sound of someone's footsteps seems to get closer as in Cat People.It is hard to evoke the same kind of emotion when reading a story in a book. After reading The Colour Out of Space and Green Tea, I could not reach any kind of feeling resembling horror. You get the basic premise of the story, but it's hard for anything to really get to your soul. You are not confronted with any kind of vision or sound or anything in that matter to supplement your reading. I think that some of these stories could have potential to be made horrific, if they were, say, transformed into a made for tv movie. I'm not asking for a blockbuster hit here, but a little something to grab my attention would be nice.
