Eighth house of horrors: growing into it?

I have an eighth house sun. I love horror stories of the dark fantasy or psychological thriller variety. That started when I was 11. Before that, I hated anything scary. I was the kid who would close my eyes at the wicked witches in Disney movies because they were too scary. We used to watch the cartoon version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at school, and I couldn't stand to watch the headless horseman scene (although as an adult, I think it's hilarious).

My mom still likes to tell the story of how, when I was around 6-7, I refused to even be in the same room as a book we got out of the library that had a very frightening (to me) illustration of a monster in it.

But when I was 11, I fell in love with the books of John Bellairs. With The House With a Clock In Its Walls coming out as a movie, I'm being taken back to that time. Almost overnight, I went from hating scary stories to loving them, especially if they had something supernatural in them. John Bellairs hit the sweet spot for 11-year-old me: very scary books that always had a supernatural evil in them, and, no matter how grim the story got, there was always a happy ending.

I've wondered if my eighth house suddenly kicked in, somehow, at age 11. Of course, it was in my life all along, but what would correlate, astrologically, with that kind of shift?

I didn't have a significant Pluto transit at that time, but Neptune was sitting on my ascendant that year. I wonder if there's a correlation there?

Do any other eighth house sun, moon, etc. people have similar experiences?

Im an 8th house sun also (and mercury), referring back to when i was younger (before the age of 13) i wasn't really into scary stories as such, i tried the ouija board at school (it was my idea) and there was this thing, where if you said the lords prayer backwards whilst looking in the mirror, some spirit was supposed to come, so i did this too.

I did see spirits when younger, i seen my brothers spirit behind me through a glass cabinet (even though he was alive at the time) the house i was at had numerous goings on, tv turning itself off (i even seen the button go in), plugs flying out of the wall, fridge turned up to max, where the eggs had frozen lol. Felt someone sit on the end of my bed when i was asleep, when i opened my eyes to look there was nobody there.

I used to see a man with a black cape and black hat riding a cycle, on a field near where i lived.

In my late teens i then got interested in the occult, spells, tarot.

And now the only films i ever like to watch, are intense thrillers, or ones where someones been kidnapped.

I have Sun, Mercury and Venus in 8th. Throughout my 76 trips around the Sun I've never seen a ghost, a spirit or a UFO.

What is the point of your post?

I have no natal 8th house planets, just the NN. But several by progression, for a very long time. None of them resulted in a love of being frightened.

I wonder if you've looked at other prognosticative methods, like profections, solar arcs or tertiary progressions.

8th house sun/moon in Aquarius here...I can tell you this is an unlucky and malefic position to have in a natal chart. It can be connected to mental and neurological disabilities, depending on the positions of planets on the chart.

Here's what I found on an astrology vid today. I have 8th house sun/moon in Aquarius and Uranus in scorpio square sun/moon, Neptune in sagittarius square Mercury and sun/moon close to Mercury in pisces - 9th. I have high-functioning autism, anxiety disorder, mild depression and ADD or OCD traits...yes, this is about right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrdRYuBeyIo

Astrology is more than the sun sign, the moon is important and natal charts have rising. I'm more interested than 10-some years ago, but I was into it in my early teens.

My 8th is the most emphasized in the chart. The chart resolves here. Six squares and an opposition afflict the planets therein, all from malefics. Both solar companions are Rx and combust.

Hindu astrology asserts that, in many cases, if Sun occupies 8th poverty, alienation, a disordered life result. This applies to my life, now nearly lived out. It also suggests that some degree of transcendence may accompany and be due to these difficulties.

Whatever the case the 8th is not the Garden of Eden. I sometimes tell people it is the house where angels fear to tread. It brings sudden and disatrous endings, in successive chapters; you are left to figure out what happened and put the pieces back together.

It is a house of affliction, or misfotune, but also a house of healing. There are two sides to every coin; daylight is born of the dark night. The unconscious becomes conscious and loses its power over us.

Having lived in pain and suffering we develop compassion and learn to love. Could we ask a greater gift?

greybeard said:

I have Sun, Mercury and Venus in 8th. Throughout my 76 trips around the Sun I've never seen a ghost, a spirit or a UFO.

What is the point of your post?

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My point? To explore the correlation between strong eighth house placements and love of horror/dark fantasy/the supernatural. Not necessarily seeing spirits, although if you're interested in that kind of thing and you do see spirits, I suppose it fits the theme.

Also to explore what might have made me, an eighth house sun (and Mercury and Venus) suddenly flip a switch to loving horror.

I will post my chart, but it's late at night for me right now and that's one step I'm too tired to take, so it will have to wait til I'm rested. I also wanted to explore that correlation in general, so if other people with significant eighth house placements have any similar experiences, it's nice to get that perspective.

GemwDepth said:

Do not enjoy anything scary - it literally freaks me out.

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Same here.
I don't like to watch horror movies ever since I was a kid. I like to watch fantasy, Sci-Fi movies more.
Neptune,Juno, Lilith,SN,all Conjunct 8th House Cusp in Sag.

http://i.imgur.com/FAzvpaf.jpg

I know for a fact that we are what we think. We become what we imagine ourselves to be. We are the spirit made flesh, the Idea realized.

This is why I do not feed myself on darkness. Although I consider him one of the great writers of the 20th century, I avoid Steven King like the plague.

Jeddu Krishnamurti wrote a little book called "Think on These Things". That is what I try to do: think on those things I want to become, fill my mind with them. Then there isn't so much room for the darkness.

In whole signs I have sun in 8th house. I'm a Leo with Cap rising just like you Osamenor..

But in placidus or equal I have Moon and Mercury in the 8th house. My sister also have her sun in the 8th house.

I remember from a very young age telling my mom that I was afraid of death. And she was like, "I don't know why you're worrying about something like that." My mom has experienced many close deaths in her life. Her future husband died in a helicopter crash and then her parents suddenly died at the same time, which I think is represented by my Moon in the 8th house. My mom probably subconsciously passed her fears and sadness of death to me.

I don't really know about "growing into" my 8th house. I think I've just always been more "intuitive" or saw the hidden undercurrents of most things in life that people would just glance over. I've never been one to like horror movies and I don't think I ever will, but maybe I just haven't grown into my 8th house yet lol. But I definitely see myself as wanting to get to the very core of something even if it's ugly which is an 8th house thing.

GemwDepth said:

I had the exact experience at 6 years old. I literally stayed awake at night crying because of fear of death. At 6 years old. I attribute the fear to the Moon in 8th.

I am over it now and no longer afraid of death. I have enough experiences, faith and insight now to understand death isn't the end, its just a renewal process to something else. Death is misunderstood because we are all afraid of the unknown, and that's what the 8th house is about, the deep end and the unknown. Intuition and faith overcomes it, along with enough phoenix-rising-from-the-ash experiences, to know its all really just a regeneration process.

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Yes, death is a prominent 8th house theme.

I've always liked horror/thriller. In fact, I just re-ordered a horror-series of books that I was obsessed with as a child. Most of my favorite TV shows and movies involved the paranormal, demons, extraterrestrials, etc. I was very attracted to images of monsters and demons (still am).

I only have Jupiter in this house.

The topic of death - especially murder - was never comfortable for me. I could only handle it in the realm of fantasy. Those times I realized that death - horrible deaths - happen to real people....
I think my special fear of murder has to do with my fear of being dominated, though. But death is a force of domination (or subordination) period.

Death just makes me sad. I think of all that's left behind and the people who are impacted. It's horrible. I'm actually tearing up as I write this, LOL.

I feel like I'm an 8th house person, and I think horror is just awful. I like American Horror Story, though. I don't like it for the violence, but I really like the stories and characters.

Im an 8th houser (sun/saturn and mercury and NN )

Im also plutonic with having mars/pluto/venus conjunction.

My 8th house cusp using placidus is Leo.

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To make it easier to follow, here's my chart in this thread. (If anyone else wants to post their chart, feel free.)

For those who asked about my eighth house cusp and ruler, as you can see on the chart, it's in Leo, and it's an owner occupied house. Mercury and Venus also live in my eighth, but in Virgo.

greybeard said:

I know for a fact that we are what we think. We become what we imagine ourselves to be. We are the spirit made flesh, the Idea realized.

This is why I do not feed myself on darkness. Although I consider him one of the great writers of the 20th century, I avoid Steven King like the plague.

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I don't avoid darkness the way you do, but interestingly, I agree with you, in a way. I find that I have to watch my media consumption, because bad things that are happening in the world for real get to be too much for me too fast. I tend to be drawn to muckraking sorts of media--exposes on hard truths like systemic racism and ecological problems and social injustices--but I can't handle a whole lot of it because it makes me feel helpless. (And then there's a part of me that thinks I should follow those issues because it would be uncaring to not pay attention--but really, I care too much to pay attention sometimes.)

Horror fiction doesn't make me feel helpless because it's just fiction. I think my approach here is along the lines of, if you're going to be scared, be scared of something that isn't real.

Similar to this:

magnolia8 said:

The topic of death - especially murder - was never comfortable for me. I could only handle it in the realm of fantasy. Those times I realized that death - horrible deaths - happen to real people....
I think my special fear of murder has to do with my fear of being dominated, though. But death is a force of domination (or subordination) period.

Death just makes me sad. I think of all that's left behind and the people who are impacted. It's horrible. I'm actually tearing up as I write this, LOL.

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Yes... I like murder mysteries and crime fiction too, but if the kind of stuff that happens in those stories were happening in my real life, it would be WAY too hard to handle.

AppLeo said:

I feel like I'm an 8th house person, and I think horror is just awful. I like American Horror Story, though. I don't like it for the violence, but I really like the stories and characters.

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How are you defining horror? All kinds of horror, or just certain kinds--like the kind of horror movie that's full of blood and guts and jump scares?

I don't like that kind of horror either. I'm actually very, very picky about my horror. I like the kind that feels deep, dark fantasy, or that relies on psychology rather than special effects for the scare. Stephen King has actually gotten much better at the second kind as he's gotten farther into his career. His earlier stories had more blood and guts in them, but in the later ones, it's much more about getting into the twisted mind of the bad guy.

Examples of movies that really resonate for me in that way: The Witch, Coraline, Pan's Labyrinth (I'm not sure if many people would consider the last one horror, but it certainly fits the dark fantasy genre).

Interesting: it seems that there are several posters in this thread who have Jupiter either in or ruling the eighth house. I don't, but I do have Jupiter in a pretty tight trine to my sun, which is in the eighth.

Correlation, perhaps?

Osamenor said:

How are you defining horror? All kinds of horror, or just certain kinds--like the kind of horror movie that's full of blood and guts and jump scares?

I don't like that kind of horror either. I'm actually very, very picky about my horror. I like the kind that feels deep, dark fantasy, or that relies on psychology rather than special effects for the scare. Stephen King has actually gotten much better at the second kind as he's gotten farther into his career. His earlier stories had more blood and guts in them, but in the later ones, it's much more about getting into the twisted mind of the bad guy.

Examples of movies that really resonate for me in that way: The Witch, Coraline, Pan's Labyrinth (I'm not sure if many people would consider the last one horror, but it certainly fits the dark fantasy genre).

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I love Coraline. Yes, the psychological horror like Dracula or Misery by Stephen King. I like those a lot. But violence and jump scares are definitely not my thing.