The eve of Halloween brought back a flood of memories from one of my favorite genres in cinema — Horror.The love for the horror genre has been there since childhood, from the days of Aahat and Zee Horror Show — though watching them now feels more comical than scary. Over the years, horror movies have evolved but have always kept their fans hooked with that familiar adrenaline rush.
Here are a few memorable anecdotes from my tryst with horror movies.
Raaz
My memories with Raaz are more comical than terrifying. Raaz was a musical-horror, if you can call it that, since its songs were viral (in today’s context).
At the time, my brother and I were preparing for the IIT Mains. We used to take FIITJEE practice tests almost every weekend. Back then, IIT Mains had subjective questions, and FIITJEE was infamous for giving the toughest papers imaginable.
Now comes the Raaz connection. There was some sort of hall or auditorium near our test center, and as soon as our tests began, they would start blasting songs on loudspeakers. And trust me when I say this — for almost two months straight, they played Raaz songs on a loop!
So, while we were scratching our heads over complex Math and Chemistry problems, the melodious tune of Aapke Pyaar Mein Sawarne Lage kept echoing in our ears. Unfortunately, it did nothing to soothe our stressed-out brains — we still struggled through those tests!
The Ring
It was during my second year at IIT Roorkee when I watched The Ring, one of the horror classics of all time. Horror movies leave the strongest impression when they catch you completely off guard — and The Ring had one such moment.
I was watching it alone, and when that scene came, a chill ran down my spine so intensely that I still remember it vividly. I got scared, but that’s the thrill of watching horror — so, of course, I continued till the end.
Afterward, a mischievous idea struck me. One of my friends also loved horror movies but got scared very easily. I convinced him to watch it, promising we’d see it together. I made sure the setting was perfect — lights off, full focus on the screen. As that scene approached, I slyly closed my eyes and turned around.
To my delight, the reaction was exactly what I hoped for. He jumped from his seat, paused the movie, shouted at me, and switched on the lights — while I laughed uncontrollably!
Paranormal Activity
The Paranormal Activity series introduced a new sub-genre within horror — the found-footage or “live camera” style. Though this format began with The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity made it mainstream and connected with a much wider audience.
A couple of my friends and I went to watch it in theatres. The adrenaline of watching horror on the big screen is always next level. The crowd was sparse, with people scattered across the theatre. In our row, there were about 7–8 of us.
The movie began slowly, building tension bit by bit. Soon, there came a particularly tense moment — everyone was silent, glued to their seats or half-hiding behind their hands. Suddenly, the screen went blank. The theatre was still dark. No one moved or said a word. We all thought it was part of the movie.
After a couple of minutes of eerie silence, the lights suddenly came on. Intermission!
Everyone sighed in relief. It was an abrupt break — Hollywood films, unlike Bollywood, don’t usually have intervals — so we all cursed the theatre staff for cutting the tension like that.
The funniest part? When the movie resumed, most people had changed their seats and sat together in little clusters. The power of horror movies, you could say!
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