Creepy Countdown Day 3 - Tick, Tock

We're almost at Halloween and we all know how that get's the mind turning. It's often just the idea of ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties that make us hide under the covers, or run for the light switch, so from now until the big day I thought it would be fun to talk about ordinary things that scare us when the mood is right. These are the kind of thing good horror movies love to twist to get us going.

Tick Tock

Normally I love the sound of a ticking clock. That regular rhythm is soothing and restful. It's one of those white noise type of sounds that is great to entertain parts of the brain while working or trying to go to sleep.

However, there are exceptions to this rule.

Thanks to numerous horror scenes over the years, the ticking of a grandfather clock, with it's deep sounds and reverberating tocks is not so restful. This is especially true if it has heavy sounding chimes.

We become trained to react to certain things, like Pavlov's dogs, if we experience it over and over again, and the ticking of a grandfather clock does that to me. From Sapphire and Steel to good old Hammer horror, the grandfather clock is a tick tock of doom.

I love the look of such big clocks, but I really couldn't deal with one in my house :).

It's like the clock is counting out until something really bad happens. It could be a ghost, it could be a monster, but it's definitely coming. AND the chimes are like the announcement that the bad thing is here! Even someone describing the deep ticking of a grandfather clock in a novel gives me the shivers.

Hearing is such an important sense, especially when it's dark, and somethings are perfect for getting under our skin.

The other thing that makes my skin crawl is too many clocks. There is something inordinately creepy about a room with clocks all over it. It's as if there's too much time and there is a dred hanging in the air that they will all chime at once.

Ever been disturbed by a clock, or maybe have you heard any scary stories about them you'd like to share?

~*~

Coming October 31st

FREE for 1 day only for All Hallows Read

Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law

by Natasha Duncan-Drake and Sophie Duncan

Two spooky stories to give you chills.

Check back on Halloween for details of how to download.

poster by blablover5