The day the "Shutter" Bug bit me

I have despised the horror genre of movies right from my childhood. Even the ‘Onida’ devil used to make my hair stand on ends and I used to hide behind my grandma’s back while watching ‘Vikram Aur Vetaal’. Jaws could keep me away from the swimming pool for a week and my friends refused to associate themselves with me after I screamed while watching ‘Kaun’ with them.

DJ on the other hand gets an unfathomable thrill out of watching horror movies and I normally keep a safe distance from the living room when infernal noises emanate from the TV. But this time around there was no escape! I visited the apartment of A, S and M to finalize our Scotland trip plans. Their living room gets a good wireless signal and there wasn’t much recourse to getting out of that room without booking the tickets. While I surfed the net for the best possible deal at a decent Youth Hostel, the guys were interested in scaring the living daylights out of themselves. I politely declined the offer, so they drew the curtains and turned up the volume for the perfectly diabolical ambience. The Thai horror movie was called ‘The Shutter’. Its funny how, when you don’t understand a language you tend to listen even more carefully and that’s what makes such movies even more scary! While I successfully managed to wean my eyes away from the screen and concentrate on locations in Edinburgh, my ears could not escape the frequent yet sudden screams and crashes that made me jump out in fear every time. After booking the tickets I pretended to busy myself with surfing the net but snatched a few glances of the nefarious movie. While I was told that I missed one of the scariest visuals of the vindictive ghost, I was not too sure about sleeping well that night.

At 10 I bade goodnight to A, S and M and turned homewards. The streets were well lit and I made sure I took a road that was likely to have some semblance of life on it. But the creatures of the dark crawling out of the pubs of Great Britain were not the species I’d have liked to encounter on a night like this! As I marched confidently repeatedly telling myself that I was a sane individual and it was just a movie, I felt something hitting against the back of my windcheater. I was horrified, screamed and spun around to see what it was. Just my laptop wire bobbing out and rubbing against my back! As I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I saw a man across the street waving out to me. His inebriated presence was only adding to my discomfort. I walked as fast as I could lug a 3 kg laptop. He drew closer and flailing his arms malevolently he tried to beckon me and asked if I’d like a drink. I couldn’t have given him a more disgusted look as he slithered away into the darkness, while I fled in a fit of terror towards my home chanting all the Shlokas I could ever remember. I only stopped when I was in the safe environs of my apartment. I related the incident to my roommate and warned her of the rough night ahead.

I tossed around a few times in the bed and silently crept out to the living room. After indulging in a few midnight tidbits I turned on the TV to watch something soporific enough to tranquilize me to sleep. There were some mind-numbing word games, baseball match and a snooker match to choose from. I couldn’t tolerate the blithering butter mouthed game show host, so I chose the baseball match. But every now and then the commentator would yell out the score loud enough for the whole of the European Union to wake up. If I turned down the volume I tended to stay awake and think of the depraved ghost and how she haunted the photographer all his life. As my focus drifted from the baseball game to the hallway I could see the staircase light flood in through the door and cast a spooky shadow on the wooden walrus hanging in the hallway. On a normal day I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but just for safety sake I decided to close the door of the living room and shut off the view of a potentially satanic shadow. As I kept telling myself to think rationally and that there were no such things as ghosts or Santa Claus, the door of the living room swung open right in front of my eyes. I tried to stare hard into the darkness wondering if it could be my roommate checking to see if I am ok or was it a figment of my macabre imagination! With my heart pounding like it would explode through my rib cage, I turned on the lights. The door was open alright and there really was no one! I checked the bedroom: my roommate was fast asleep. ‘Think logically’ I reiterated to myself. I tested the living room door again. Because of the friction of the carpet it stayed in place for sometime but the loose hinge and the weight of the door caused it to swing open after a few minutes.

Glad that the world of ratiocination had not deserted me when my mind was getting overwhelmed by thoughts of ghosts and irrational stories I finally slept with the lights turned on and snooker on the TV at 4 am in the morning out of sheer exhaustion.

Footnote: I haven't revealed much about the movie 'Shutter'. I don't want to spoil the fun of all you horror maniacs out there. Watch it if you like to spend a sleepless night wondering if two cadaverous hands will come and grab you under your sheets!