Stephen King’s Why We Crave Horror Films

As I was lying in bed recalling the event happened an hour before I was thinking to myself that I will never look at lightning the same way again. Thunder and lightning was still present in the night sky as I lay there in bed thanking God I was alive and well. Each flash of lightning lit the entire room and each clap of thunder rattled the windows of my hotel room. Lightning can seem much more terrifying when you’re up 20,000 ft in the mountains, and the thunder sounds a lot louder too. The sound of nature’s fury seemed to slowly descend as the night went on, but my nerves did not. I was still stunned and in shock of being stuck in a lightning storm high in the mountains. I never thought about the power and damage lightning can inflict upon its surroundings.

It was summer 2001 and we had been invited to attend the wedding in Colorado for one of our friends. The wedding took place on a mountain top in Keystone, Colorado. The wedding reception also took place in the lodge on the mountain top. The mountain top was about 20,000 ft about sea level. In order to get there you had to ride two gondolas. Each gondola sat about six people and would carry on up the mountain and down the mountain and down the mountain; much like a ski lift. Each ride lasted about 15 minutes. The wedding was a success, and it was one of the best weddings I’ve ever attended. The reception went all into the night. Laughter and conversation could be heard yards away from the lodge. I spent a lot of my time outside enjoying the beautiful scenery. I could see mountain tops, tree tops, and even a little snow for miles. Soon the moonlight illuminated the scenery. As I was standing on the balcony admiring the scenery something finally went wrong, a huge black cloud covered the moon. I soon heard the thunder. It seemed to be nothing to worry about, so I didn’t acknowledge it. A few hours later the thunder grew louder and I could see the flashes of lightning headed our way. I went inside to inform my parents of the weather, but they didn’t seem to worry about it much until the cloud was almost over the lodge. My family and I left the reception alone while everyone else stayed in cover; they were the smart ones I thought.

We left quickly walking fast and practically running toward the gondolas so we wouldn’t be stuck on the mountain all night long. By now the storm was close and so was the lightning. The people at the station loaded the four of us into a gondola and we slowly worked our way down the mountain. Hanging in this tiny box of metal by a hook on a wire cable was not the most reassuring thing. I looked out the window hoping