The earliest forms of fascination with the supernatural can be seen in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this story, Brown is going to the forest for a suspicious meeting only to come in contact with the devil himself. There is a meeting of his followers being held, and Brown notices that most, if not all, trusted members of the community are in attendance to the meeting, including his beloved wife, Faith. Young Goodman Brown wakes up in the forest and doesn't know for sure if his encounter was a dream, or actually happened. He lives the rest of his life unhappy and trusts no one.
A more modern example of our compelling interests in the supernatural are evident in the work of Paranormal Activity. This movie is set in a house full of suspicious haunting activities. The creator of the film, Oren Peli, based the movie on personal interests in what goes on in his home right under his nose. Are the creepy sounds and creaks really caused by the settling of the house? Or is there more to the story...
Although personally I do not understand our interest in the supernatural, it is possible that we try to embrace it because we truly don't understand it. We don't have any credible evidence of unnatural occurrences, yet they scare the life out of people due to their mystery. Which I believe is the main reason for all of the books, movies, and so on.Will we always be obsessed with the supernatural? Probably. That is, until something that affects everyone's life at once happens. After that, we'll leave it alone forever.
Photo Credits:
Supernatural; http://disinfo.com/2012/11/the-supernatural-world/
Young Goodman Brown; http://sarahgrepo.blogspot.com/
Paranormal Activity; http://geeknewsnetwork.net/2013/08/09/no-paranormal-activity-film-coming-this-year-two-films-coming-2014/
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