Fear is so amazingly subjective, isn't it? I have a fear of insects and zombies, for reasons that have to do with lack of brain/lack of mind - it's far too confusing, even to me, to explain, but it's amazingly personal.

I mentioned to Bob that a member of my f'list had indicated they were affected that way by Spirited away, and he immediately agreed with the idea that the movie is frightening. For some reason, I don't find it frightening (except for the scene where Chihiro finds her parents just after they've been turned into pigs.) Everything else appeals to me in terms of dream logic. I don't know whether that's because of the stories I absorbed when I was very young or not; it's as likely a reason as any other, I suppose.

Toward the end of Spirited Away, there's a very calm and exceedingly dreamlike set of scenes on the train you see occasionally going through the water below the bathhouse. After all the crazy action with angry, out-of-control No Face, Chihiro/Sen and a much smaller, much calmer No Face, and couple of other fellow travellers take a trip that never fails to raise my spirit and lower my blood pressure.