"Scary stories" - from classic jump tales to folkloric tales of ghosts, revenge, and fear - make some people uncomfortable. Since the advent of Freudian psychology there have been dire warnings of warped psyches and stunted childhoods. Religious beliefs have condemned them as frivolous, sinful, or tempting.
What is the truth?
Scary stories are the safe way to encounter, prepare, and defend against real life. Scary stories - those tales of hate, revenge, death, and greed - also provide a moral and ethical context for a person's developing template of conduct. They share the vital truth that actions have consequences and that choices often have to be made.
In facing shivers in a safe environment, skills are developed allowing the person to reassure themselves they ARE safe, that they can handle something tough, and they can survive. They provide lessons of how to respond to a situation, how to avoid traps of circumstances, and how to dodge the proverbial bullet of happenstance.
