“My Heart Stayed Calm Through Horror”

How about a comparison of horror movies to the horror going on in America, lighthearted, I watched a horror movie last night, to my surprise my heart was not racing. I turned on the news about the ice terrorism and the horrors of Whitehouse being gutted so I turned the news off, turned on a horror movie again. I watched five horror films; my heart was pure at 82 beats a minute. I turned on the news again about tear gas sprayed on Halloween party together in a park, with children and knocking down old people, I said fuck it watched another horror film. what a relief to watch The Conjuring again and not the horrifying evil penetrating from the nazis in DC.

My heart stayed calm through five horror films, but the real terror came from the news. Let us riff on that contrast with mythic wit and ceremonial clarity.

“The Conjuring Was a Comfort Compared to the News”

Last night, I entered the haunted house of American reality.

It is not creaky floorboards or haunted dolls; it is the nightly news.

I turned on the TV. ICE agents were lobbing tear gas into a Halloween parade in Chicago’s Old Irving Park.

Children in Teletubby costumes. A 70-year-old neighbor tackled.

Federal agents in gas masks, chasing undocumented workers across lawns.

I turned the news off.

Turned on Insidious.

My heart? Eighty-two beats per minute.

Pure. Calm. Ceremonial.

I watched five horror films.

No racing pulse. No panic.

Just the soothing rhythm of fictional fear.

Then I peeked back at the news.

Tear gas again.

This time sprayed on a park full of kids and elders.

Halloween turned into a war zone.

I said, “Fuck it.”

Turned on The Conjuring.

Let the demons be demons.

At least they follow genre rules.

Because the real horror?

Is watching the White House gutted by fascist echoes.

Nazis in suits.

Operation Midway Blitz.

Border Patrol agents ignoring court orders.

And I wonder will this dispatch get a knock on my door?

But I am not afraid.

I have seen The Babadook.

I have danced with Hereditary.

I have survived The Last Key.

And I walked in through the closing door.

Horror movies respect the contract. Real-life horror breaks it.

In fiction, the monster waits until midnight.

In America, it shows up at 9:50 a.m. with tear gas and unmarked vans.

“The night I watched horror films to escape the horror of the news.”

“My Heart Stayed Calm Through Horror”

I turned on the news.

ICE agents in costume, not for Halloween

but for terror.

Tear gas sprayed on children dressed as pumpkins,

elders knocked down like brittle leaves.

I turned it off.

Turned on Insidious.

My heart? Eighty-two beats per minute.

Pure. Calm. Sovereign.

Five horror films later,

I was still breathing easy.

Because demons in fiction follow rules.

They haunt politely.

They wait until midnight.

They do not wear badges.

I peeked back at the news.

Nazis in DC.

White House gutted like a jack-o’-lantern.

Operation Blitzkrieg in broad daylight.

I said, “Fuck it.”

Turned on The Conjuring.

Let the ghosts be ghosts.

At least they don’t gas kids in parks.

My heart stayed calm.

Not because I am numb

but because I know the genre.

I know how to survive a haunting.

I know how to walk in through the closing door.

But this?

This is not horror.

This is erasure.

This is fascism in drag.

This is the spirit who mistook my craft for a shortcut

coming back with a badge and a gas canister.

So, I conjure my own genre.

Spoken word as protest.

Ceremony as correction.

Sound cue: Undo Button.

Chime: Sovereign Bell.

Laugh track: Cosmic Cackle.

Because if they knock on my door,

I will answer with a dispatch.

I will achieve for the moment.

I will metabolize the fear.

And I will say:

“You should’ve knocked during the credits.”

My heart stayed calm through horror

Not because the world was kind,

But because the demons followed rules.

Not because the news was quiet,

But because fiction kept its contract.

My heart stayed calm through horror

Because I turned off the terror

And turned on the genre.

ICE raids on Halloween.

Children in costume, elders knocked down.

I turned off the news.

Turned on Insidious.

My heart? 82 beats per minute.

Five horror films later,

Still breathing easy.

Because demons do not gas parks.

They haunt politely.

They wait until midnight.

Nazis in DC.

White House gutted.

Operation Blitzkrieg in daylight.

I said, “Fuck it.”

Turned on The Conjuring.

This is not horror.

This is erasure.

This is fascism in drag.

But I conjure my own genre.

Spoken word as protest.

Ceremony as correction.

My heart stayed calm through horror

Because I know how to survive a haunting.

Because I archive every knock.

Because I answer with a dispatch.

How about a comparison of horror movies to the horror going on in America, lighthearted, I watched a horror movie last night, to my surprise my heart was not racing. I turned on the news about the ice terrorism and the horrors of Whitehouse being gutted so I turned the news off, turned on a horror movie again. I watched five horror films; my heart was pure at Eighty-two beats a minute. I turned on the news again about tear gas sprayed on Halloween party together in a park, with children and knocking down old people, I said fuck it watched another horror film. what a relief to watch The Conjuring again and not the horrifying evil penetrating from the Nazis in DC.