Horror Fan - horror

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The credits rolled, and, even before the lights came up, the exodus began. Satoko shrugged, slurped the last dregs of her bright blue slushie and stuffed her empty pick n mix bag into the cup.

“You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Lou adjusted her seat back to its upright position.

“I know, I know, but the reviews were so good I still held out hope for the ‘immersive IMAX experience.’” She made air quotes with her fingers.

“You’ll learn. The constant disappointment that goes with being a horror fan in the UK. Honestly the last good one I saw was Japanese, and the three before that. If you moved to England with any hope of a decent scare, you made a mistake. Should have stayed put.”

“But it’s been four years! I’d expect one, just one, actually frightening movie by now.”

“Sorry Satoko. The reviews always over-hype them and people who don’t watch much horror are generally terrified. But for hard core fans over here there really isn’t much out there. Maybe we should make our own movie!”

They left the theatre and wandered straight into the ice cream parlour opposite. At least the cherry gelato wasn’t going to be a let-down.

“No cherry gelato? Tonight is going from bad to worse.” Satoko muttered to the man behind the counter. “I’ll have two scoops of lemon sorbet please, and a two of chocolate orange ice cream for my friend.”

The ladies sat in the window and stared at the cinema over the road as they did their best to avoid brain freeze.

“So, what are you truly scared of? What would make a great horror movie?” Lou toyed with her spoon.

“I always thought the western construct of dicing with Death was pretty scary, perhaps right there, on the banks of the river Styx. But not knowing the rules to the game and not knowing how I would die if I lost. It doesn’t sound like much when I say it out loud like this, but with the right scenery, make up, music. How about you?”

“I can see how that could work. It could be really atmospheric. Especially if you were a stranger to the culture. I think the worst thing would be if someone operated on me with no anaesthetic and switched my limbs round into the wrong places.”

“Ewwww. That sounds nasty, even to a theatre nurse. But in movies the blood and guts don’t really scare me as I see them all the time in real life. Anyway, it’s your birthday next week. What would you like to do?”

“If you can find something genuinely scary and disturbing to watch, that would be great. Otherwise let’s just get dinner and ice cream.”

***

“Wakey wakey.” Satoko pulled her surgical mask straight over her mouth and firmed down the metal strip over the bridge of her nose. “I’ve set everything up for you.” She tapped her scalpel on something metallic above Lou’s head and smoothed down her scrubs.

Lou’s vision cleared and a little strength returned to her arms and legs, but she was tightly bound at the wrists and ankles and could not move. A screen, fixed to the ceiling, showed the full length of her naked body, lying on a hospital trolley.

“Happy birthday! I thought you’d appreciate the front row seat,” Satoko said, pulling up a tray of surgical instruments with a gloved hand. “Shall we begin? This will be truly immersive for both of us.”

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