Part of the problem is that I grew up on the stuff.

At least my girlfriend is convinced of this.

I can remember being very young - four or five, curled up on the couch with mom, watching monster movies left and right.

Maybe that’s why I like Halloween - a good scare is fun.

As a result, I’ve probably watched more scary movies and read more scary books than anyone on the planet. And the thing is, I like scary. Not violence, not gore, not sadism.

But good old fashioned fear.

So if you are looking for a few scares this Halloween, here are my suggestions.

The Changeling. I’m talking a 1980 movie staring George C. Scott. No gore, no language, no nudity and minimal violence, this is a good old fashioned ghost story at its best. Not scary but suspenseful, this is a chilling movie that relies on story and atmosphere to give you the willies.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub - My goodness! This may be the first “grown up” horror novel that I read and it stuck with me. Right off the bat, the reader is confronted with a question - “what is the worst thing you’ve ever done?” - and this tale of supernatural revenge goes catapulting through the next 560 or so pages like a rocket.

Silence of the Lambs - The movie with Anthony Hopkins and Jodi Foster is brilliant. The book by Robert Harris is incredibly frightening. A little rough if you are easily offended, but it will scare you. A side note - Robert Harris’ mom lived near Clarksdale, Mississippi when I worked there. When he moved his mom out of the house, he ran an ad in the paper titled “Buy the house that inspired Silence of the Lambs.”

Psycho - Both the movie and book are excellent. For the movie, it is an endorsement of anything by Hitchcock. For the book, by Robert Bloch, is a heck of a read.

Dracula and Frankenstein - Forget the movies. Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein are the height of horror and written during a different age. Yes, they are “classics,” which may make teens cringe with more horror than the books themselves, but they have stood the test of time and are worth checking out.

On the subject of classics, be sure to read anything by Edgar Allen Poe - I love The Tell-Tale Heart.

Also, another great, scary classic is The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - the same guy who wrote Treasure Island.

Freaks - If you can find it. This was a 1932 horror film about carnival sideshow attractions starring actual carnival sideshow attractions. It was wrapped up in a warped and tragic love story, and was considered so ghastly, it was banned in the United Kingdom for more than 30 years. I caught it once at a movie festival and to be frankly honest, it did not scare me. Rather, it simply disturbed me for quite some time.

You may call Clay Morgan at 666-2440 or 670-3658, or e-mail him at cmorgan@heartlandpublications.com.