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wispfoxY'know, it's very rare for me to wish I'd never read a book, mostly because I know when to put a book _down_, if I need to.
However, I think I've come to the conclusion that I wish I had never read Heinlein's The Puppet Masters.
It was a good read, oh, yes!
But since I read it, it's figured into my less than pleasant dreams with disturbing frequency. Which doesn't make me happy - I didn't _really_ need additional ammo for my nightmares; my imagination comes up with enough things on its own!
This is why I don't read horror. And don't watch horror. My imagination doesn't need help! And I prefer to actually be able to get decent sleep, what little I get. Ah, well.
(Interestingly, it's horror of the type which is highly unlikely that gets to me more, and of the 'boo!' variety. Partly affected by the music used, in movies. Very music-affected, I am!)
Other books become part of my psyche, to a degree, as well. But I have much better control over how I assimilate things which I can explain, or have some hope of handling in real life. The creatures in Puppet Masters were neither. So they just wander around my brain, periodically resurfacing to frustrate and scare the shit out of me in my dreams. Yes, I _am_ a control freak. And they are the embodiment of a complete lack of control.
[edit]: Indeed, a complete lack of control that the person believes that they _want_, while they are a puppet...
However, I think I've come to the conclusion that I wish I had never read Heinlein's The Puppet Masters.
It was a good read, oh, yes!
But since I read it, it's figured into my less than pleasant dreams with disturbing frequency. Which doesn't make me happy - I didn't _really_ need additional ammo for my nightmares; my imagination comes up with enough things on its own!
This is why I don't read horror. And don't watch horror. My imagination doesn't need help! And I prefer to actually be able to get decent sleep, what little I get. Ah, well.
(Interestingly, it's horror of the type which is highly unlikely that gets to me more, and of the 'boo!' variety. Partly affected by the music used, in movies. Very music-affected, I am!)
Other books become part of my psyche, to a degree, as well. But I have much better control over how I assimilate things which I can explain, or have some hope of handling in real life. The creatures in Puppet Masters were neither. So they just wander around my brain, periodically resurfacing to frustrate and scare the shit out of me in my dreams. Yes, I _am_ a control freak. And they are the embodiment of a complete lack of control.
[edit]: Indeed, a complete lack of control that the person believes that they _want_, while they are a puppet...
