There is a certain thrill to it, especially on a school night. You’re already tired from being at school for nearly eight hours and everything in the air feels stale from a long day. However, there is an excitement buzzing in the air and anticipation for what is to come. The popcorn machine is up and running and staff members are heating up soft pretzels. Hordes of people, some in costume, walk out from the darkness into the dazzling lights.

Yes, I’m talking a midnight movie premiere.

I love them.  They feel like you are hearing a secret for the first time. There’s that sense of urgency, and people are chattering and buzzing all around.

It happens in a process. First, the excitement and anticipation, then the anxiety, a thrilling rush, and finally a longing settles in. It’s all very systematic and different and unique at the same time.

When you get to the theater everything seems so big and important. So many (and I mean a lot in some cases) people are there all wanting to be privy to the same information. When you realize this and that you are one of the many people there to see the film, you will probably smile and bounce around in your spot a little bit. It makes everyone feel like they are a little special.

As I walk into the theater I usually experience a little anxiety. What if the movie isn’t good? What if I sit behind someone with a giraffe neck?  What I fall asleep? And suddenly, everything about the experience is a little risky.

Then as soon as the previews end and the lights are dimmed, you know that almost nothing in the entire universe is more exciting, beautiful, magical and perfect then what is about to be projected on the big screen. Everything else in the room is dark except for the gigantic screen in the middle of it. That’s when you become one of the few people that will know the movie before anyone else. You feel glamorous and privileged, and then finally the movie flickers to life.

The film is so enthralling that nothing could distract you from it. You cry when the characters cry. You laugh when they laugh. And you love as they do. It is like you were transported to some other, new world in the dead of night. While others are asleep in their beds or spread out across their floor working hard on homework, you are doing something out of the ordinary and special. It is a feeling all movie goers crave. Instead of a girl from small town Texas, you could be an astronaut on the moon, a flapper from the 1920’s or an art thief in France. Anything is possible at that moment in time. This is the best stage in midnight movie going.

However, as quickly as the flick started it is over.

Some clap, and others cry. The credits roll once again and suddenly you are back to reality. You notice the spilled popcorn, the nasty body odor smell coming from your seat, and the plainness of the theater once the lights are back on.

Longing sets in. This is when you will never get over a character’s death or lost love. I know I will think of the storyline often and crave just a little bit more. You get to experience so much of a character’s life in two hours in the dead of night. If you ask me, it sounds like something more of a dream than a movie. And you look around at your own background and setting. It often will feel dull and unimportant in comparison to the movie. After all, there is nothing glamorous about a dark movie theater parking lot. All I want in that moment is to be back in the middle of the story anticipating what’s next.

However, that feeling is lost forever… or at least until the sequel.