The Year 2020

I enjoy the twisted plot of a horror movie or book and tried writing a story that would cause one’s blood to run cold. I read several books that sent chills up my spine.

One of my favorites was Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason. This macabre, darkly humorous story has a great twist worthy of an author’s debut novel. My attempts at writing scary stories have fallen far short of causing a person to coil back in fear and turn on every light in the house.

Last year, scary but true stories filled our newsfeed. One of the ongoing horror stories is the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. Worldwide, it has infected 105 million people with 2.29 million deaths. About 460,000 of those deaths were in the United States.

The Black Lives Matter protests over the murder of unarmed George Floyd by a callous police officer, the divisive impeachment of President Donald J. Trump, and the West Coast wildfires and Australian bushfires that left thousands homeless and destroyed countless acres of land kept people riveted to the news.

Shocking, newsworthy deaths that touched the hearts of many included that of a phenomenal basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others in a helicopter crash; the trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Marvel superhero, Black Panther actor, Chadwick Boseman; and beloved Jeopardy game show host, Alex Trebek.

The massive accidental Beirut Port explosion that killed at least 190 people and injured thousands could have been prevented. The authorities were forewarned about the dangers of storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port.

Then there was the Washington state invasion of Asian giant murder hornets which can wipe out an entire colony of honeybees in a matter of hours. When that attack happened, I thought that in my wildest imagination I couldn’t write scarier stories.

The year 2020 was the boss of horror stories. I looked forward to a different 2021. Then the storming of our capitol happened on January 6, 2021. I’m almost afraid to think that 2021 might up the scariness of the previous year and have my fingers crossed that this year has to be better.

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