I've always been attracted to stories of the macabre, uh, strange, I enjoy stories about

paranormal, uh, occurrences.

Stephen King has written some of my all-time favorite books, The Stand, It, Misery.

And you may not realize this, but he has been scaring readers now for nearly 50 years,

almost my entire life.

I spent so many college summers totally immersed in his books, and I still feel a little scared,

just thinking about characters like Pennywise, who by the way is what my daughter is dressing

up for Halloween this year.

What I still think is most remarkable about Stephen King's books is his ability to make

the ordinary parts of life so ordinary that even a little something out of place, a

woodchipper, and a basement suddenly feels terrifying.

First time I read a Stephen King book, I had a hard time sleeping for a week, which may

make you ask, why would I do that?

Well, we're going to discuss that a bit today, the frightened brain, the scared brain,

why some of us love feeling that way.

What you may know, if you're a long time listener of the show, is that I love Halloween.

I love the entire season, but I also love the ability for people to step outside themselves

and costume.

I spend weeks designing a spooky forest in my yard every year for my three daughters.

It comes complete with ghosts and goblins and whispering witches and cauldrons of smoking

concoctions.

Sprinkle with little scary surprises throughout.

...