I’m so thrilled to welcome the great Gabino Iglesias here to What Scares You. Gabino is an excellent writer, a champion of other writers, and someone who is just very, very cool. Case in point: He’s currently co-editing a collection of found footage horror stories–find out more information here and submit!
We also share a deep love of creepy things, including dolls and ghosts. I loved hearing about what scares him. I really appreciated his interpretation of the “do you enjoy scaring people” question, which I always thought of in the sense of practical jokes or campfire ghost stories, and I totally agree about his deal-breaker in horror. Read on to find out more…
What is your greatest fear?
Strangely enough, it’s real stuff: poverty and sickness. Both of those can make you feel powerless and desperate. You can talk to someone about zombies, werewolves, ghosts, and demons all day and you’ll hear them laugh, but ask them to imagine their child or mom or spouse dying from cancer and their face will change.
Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?
Hell yeah! I believe in ghosts for two reasons. The first one is that I dated a woman who could see them. I wrote about it recently. Hopefully someone will pick it up. The second reason is because I saw one in an old hotel.
What’s something that most people are afraid of that you are not? Why aren’t you?
The two most common fears I encounter/hear about/read about that don’t affect me are fear of ghosts and fear of animals (i.e. spiders, snakes, scorpions, etc.) I’m not afraid of ghosts because I’ve never heard of one with a knife or a gun. They are creepy, sure, but they can’t hurt you. As for animals, they are what they are. I won’t try to grab a rattlesnake when I see one, but it probably belongs wherever I find it, so it’s on me to leave it alone. Most animals have relatively predictable behaviors, and unless you’re trying to shoot a video for your YouTube channel, your chances of survival are high. You know, unless you encounter a hungry shark or an angry bear, but that’s like a car crash in the sense that there’s not much you can do about it, so no need to live your life afraid of it.