One of my pet peeves is television commercials for horror movies. I find it extremely unfair to be unable to avoid seeing images of devils, ghosts, and homicidal maniacs hacking people to death while watching my favorite sitcom.

I do not enjoy horror movies. As a teenager my friends and I would sit around on a Friday night with a huge bowl of popcorn, viewing the latest dead people eating innocent truck drivers or school teacher turned rock star, slasher film. My friends, I believe enjoyed the sensations of shock and fear they experienced when watching scary movies. I, however, could be found shielding my face from the really gory parts and wishing it was all over. I continued to watch the scary films I hated because my friends enjoyed them and I enjoyed being with my friends.

I left my teenage years behind many years ago and am no longer so influenced by what my friends want to do. I will tell anyone whether it’s a friend, my husband, or even my mother, that I do not enjoy and will not watch any horror movies. I tell them they are free to watch and enjoy the movies as long as I am not in the room and as long as they do not share any of the gory details with me later.

I do not enjoy having scary images in my mental rolodex. I do not enjoy having nightmares about some half decaying man eating my toes. I get scared if I hear strange noises after watching a horror movie. Yes, I am an adult, but I still get scared! I can’t seem to rid my mind of disturbing images until it has been at least a few days after viewing the scary movie. To avoid being a full grown adult sleeping in her room with the closet door firmly shut and all the lights in the house turned on, I simply do not watch horror movies.

Unfortunately, I cannot seem to totally avoid these horrific images. I sit down on my couch to watch my favorite television shows only to have my television shows interrupted by commercials about a little girl possessed by a ghost with a very bad attitude. I reach, as quickly as possible, for the remote to change the channel, but to no avail. I am always too slow and manage to see at least part of the ghastly commercial. If I fall asleep on the couch, which I very often do, I am done for. I am almost guaranteed to wake up to the sight of some demon floating over some poor unsuspecting guy’s bed with evil deeds in its nonexistent heart.

Why do television networks fail to take into account my personal feelings regarding these types of commercials? Well, unfortunately, I am just one person in a society that seems to really enjoy horror flicks. My feelings just do not matter to the networks. I will just have to continue closing my eyes and plugging my ears when a scary commercial comes on, all the while hoping for the day when technology will allow me to block all scary commercials from my television set.