[Note: This is a reaction post, not a review!]

Netflix original docuseries projects are killing me. (No, that pun was not intended.)

Last night, I started watching Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer alone in the dark on my laptop, with just a three-wick candle burning in the back of the room. 25 minutes into episode one, I hit pause and went around the house to check all of the windows and doors, making sure that they were locked.

That’s right. 25 minutes in, thoroughly unsettled, my spine crackling like its nerves were charged with electricity. I didn’t count the number of shockingly graphic and horrifying crime scene photos it took to get me out of my chair.

I went into the kitchen to make sure that the sliding-glass door was locked and secured with the dowel in its track, and I berated myself for my continued procrastination. (WHY have I STILL not covered the kitchen window and dining area sliding-glass door?!) In the living room, I triple-checked the security screen and front doors’ deadbolts and doorknob locks. I piled 130 pounds’ worth of dumbbells up again the door for good measure.

Getting ready for bed later, I was reluctant to undress and step into the shower… I spent as little time in there as possible. Not wanting to get into bed with the same apprehension, I went around the house one more time to check the locks. Before that, I distracted myself by redirecting my attention to the light and funny with some music and a few videos that amuse me.

Netflix created an impressively effective horror movie out of their documentary examination of the Night Stalker case, is what they did. It helped that its subject, California serial killer Richard Ramirez, is horror personified.

So I found the first episode to be quite enough for one night, in cause you’re wondering how that turned out. I shut it down and watched the remaining three episodes today. It was slightly easier with the glare of bright sunlight on my laptop screen. Slightly easier.

Night Stalker is an excellent docuseries, and while I do recommend it, I’ll also say that for sure, it’s not for everyone. I can’t unsee the gruesome crime scene photos. I can’t unhear that Ramirez cut out that one lady’s eyes and took them with him when he left. (Explained as we’re looking at her bloodied body in the crime scene photo.) Et cetera.

I’m glad that I watched it, though.

I have a sound antidote planned for tomorrow: The Big Lebowski, which I’m going to see “with” a friend (on the phone)!

That should do it. The Big Lebowski. If you know, you know.