With the
exception of a mild fear of heights, I don’t really have any phobias to speak
of, be they of bats or snakes or even spiders. I’m not afraid of the dark,
enclosed spaces or open spaces either, unless I’ve read House of Leaves
sometime in the last 48 hours. But I do have a thing about forests; as much as
I love camping, they can really freak me the Hell out sometimes. And of course,
I’m absolutely drawn to them both in real life and in a fictional context. Some
of the most effective works of horror in the history of the genre are set in
the forest, and I’m starting to think this isn’t a coincidence.