Horror is Living Forever

Living Forever

Robert Zemeckis, director of Back to the Future, Forest Gump, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit among other great movies, made a more obscure dark comedy called Death Becomes Her. The subject matter involves magic related to living forever…even after you're technically dead.

This has always been one of the tropes of sci-fi, fantasy and horror that scares me. Of "magical" or fantastical tropes, it might be the idea I find most scary.

A lot of horror stories get their "juice" with audiences from the fear of death. I get that, and feel it, and I'm not in any hurry to die. At the same time, I don't fear it. The idea of living forever, though - that's a scary idea.

…To be clear, I'm not talking about the idea of an Afterlife. That's different. I'm talking about an enchantment that allows a person to live forever, in the physical human condition.

It almost never ends well…

…well, duh! It never ENDS; forget about ending WELL!

I always think of the idea of a deteriorating body that will never allow the consciousness to die, an eternity of torment or being trapped forever…most stories, at least horror stories, will never have a positive outcome for this eternal condition!

Or just imagine the pain of losing everything and everyone you care about, over and over - or the existential, infinite levels of boredom that would come with this kind of curse.

One cheeky tale about a narcissistic dude who wishes to live forever, then kills his wife, thinking he'll try out the death penalty. His savvy lawyer gets him a deal, though - life in prison!

There are other fantasy/horror stories that end with magical, eternal prisons. I don't want to spoil them, though, and to be honest, this subject is starting to freak me out so I think I'll end here.

I do enjoy life. Is it weird that I find comfort in the fact that it eventually ends?

Am I alone in this? Does this idea terrify you? What are the scariest fiction tropes for you?

Have a good one!

Banes