Let’s hear it for the weird stuff!

A lot of people ask me when I first became interested in the paranormal. The truth is, I’ve been in love with all things weird for as far back as I can remember. I started with fairy tales, of course, but my favorite book when I was four was The Golden Book of Dinosaurs. Okay, I know dinosaurs were real, but can you think of anything weirder…or scarier, for that matter…than watching a t-rex lumber down the freeway, or a pteranodon/pteradactyl swoop down with a wingspan only slightly smaller than that of an airplane and snatch up your neighbor while he’s bending over to pick up the morning newspaper?

I’ve always loved the BIG what ifs. What if that airplane coming in for its final approach suddenly disappeared? What if Thomas Jefferson showed up on my front porch needing a ride somewhere and I got to drive him down into Washington, D.C. and show him what this country looks like two hundred years later? I’m not insane, I promise, but having a wild imagination is probably a lot like living in Alice’s Wonderland. You never know what it’s going to come up with.

Though I love the paranormal, for years I stayed far away from anything scary. The downside to having a strong…uh, weird…imagination is that it doesn’t always…or ever…go away when you want it to. Like bedtime. One night when I was a teen I forced the family German Shepherd to sleep in my room because I kept imagining that the aliens I was dying to meet (and half-terrified of) would choose the middle of the night to visit me. Yes, I knew I was being foolish. (Hence the not crawling into bed with Mom and Dad, or sneaking into my brother’s room to sleep on his floor. The pup wouldn’t judge me. Scratch on the door to get out, yes. Judge me, no.) Unfortunately, logic doesn’t hold much sway in the middle of the night. Vivid imaginations can definitely be a double-edged sword.

I didn’t embrace the horror (or dark paranormal) genre until Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That brilliant, funny, wonderful show totally desensitized me to the scary stuff. Seriously. Don’t ask me why. As long as there’s a strong plot, I’ll watch anything, now.

My current favorite shows? Almost all are paranormal, or have a lot of weird going on: LOST, Fringe, Stargate Universe,  Flashforward, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy. Okay, that last one is for the characters and the romance, not the weird. Usually. I must have replayed that first kiss between Owen and Cristina last season five times. Hot!

So, what do you love about the weird stuff? What shows are you watching? And while we’re at it, what do you think is the most romantic show on t.v. right now, paranormal or not?