I've recently been revisiting a book my parents gave me for Christmas a few years ago called "The Most Evil Men and Women in History." This book is essentially a catalogue of horrific murders from the first century all the way to the present day.
I've never been a fan of horror stories, and with good reason. The large majority of them aren't scary (or the least bit entertaining,) and are usually a simple combination of boredom and a lack of imagination.
When horror stories are coupled with history, something very strange happens: I shit my pants. True stories have always held more weight than fake ones with me. (Think about it. What was the most terrifying show you used to watch while growing up? Unsolved Mysteries.) Worse yet, if the idea that if something happened once, what's stopping it from happening again? (Sometimes the phrase "history repeats itself" sends shivers down my back.)
There are a lot of scary mofos out there: King John and Ilse Koch, just to name a few. But there is one man (despite being dead for several hundred years) that leaves me shaking in my boots.
Ivan IV The Terrible.
This man was sadistic. This man was cruel. This man would be terrifying if you met him alone in a dark alley.
Don't tell me you're not the least bit afraid.
Ok, I've got that off of my chest. Maybe now I can quit worrying about Ivan before I go to bed and go back to having dreams about shopping with the Golden Girls.
2 comments:
Wow. That dude is frightening.
And Unsolved Mysteries really did scare the crap out of me as a child. You're spot on.
if you're afraid of your book i'll have it. it'll fit right into my library
Post a Comment