Cornfields

Why Are Cornfields So Scary?
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Was watching the movie Signs the other day (more on that movie later). And a question popped into my head…”Why are cornfields so damn scary?”

Maybe cornfields aren’t scary to some. I’m sure corn farmers aren’t afraid of their own crops. But come on, just about every horror film out there has some sort of cornfield in them. Not to mention the horrifying scarecrows…which even the “happy” one’s look terrifying. They’re like the scary clown of the farmland. Anyway, the cornfields…I believe that the reason they are so scary is for one good reason…
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You can’t see into them…it’s the fear of the unknown. And to quote one of my other favorite movies A Christmas Story…”I mean, my God, there could be anything in there!” Which holds true for those blasted cornfields. What’s the major fear most people have…the unknown.

Many people won’t swim in rivers, lakes or the ocean because they can’t see what’s underneath them…the unknown. Most people are afraid of the dark because they can’t see what’s in front of them…the unknown.

If you look towards a cornfield your mind starts to wander. As you see the stalks moving back and forth and you hear the large leaves rubbing against each other or the ears of corn bumping into each other…your mind conjures up perhaps the worst-case scenarios of what could be lurking in there…is it ghosts? Aliens? Bigfoot? Dogman? Demons? Or perhaps it’s just the wind…or maybe a delicate doe deer just wandering through…no, it’s got to be that menacing scarecrow finally come to life and is out for revenge coming to tear me apart?

I don’t know what is in there…and that’s what is so terrifying.

Stand at the edge of a cornfield sometime and just look. It will only take a minute or so before you start to see things, hear things and get that eerie chill down your spine. And if you take a walk inside a cornfield…those feelings are ten times worse…cuz then you can’t see anything around you except stalk after stalk. And if you ever go in at night…well…forget it…you’re dead.
 
So, back to the movie Signs. It is now one of my favorite films. I watch it about 3-5 times a year, however, when I first saw it, it freaked me out so much I wouldn’t watch it for years…like 15 years. What got me was the cornfields, yes, but the biggest “Scare” or “Popcorn spiller” for me was the scene where the news broadcast is showing the kids birthday party in Brazil. When the alien walks across the little alley way…oh man. I reacted just like Merrell did. It’s a brilliant movie with great bits of humor, suspense and setting.