Would I Be A Good, Solid Leader In A Horror Story?

I've been watching the TV show From on MGM+. For those that don't know what the show is about, the premise is surprisingly simple and complicated at the same time. A family stumbles upon a small town where there is no escape and monsters come out at night to kill people.

The townspeople are trying to figure out how to get home and what is the force that is keeping them there.

Each answer that they get brings them more questions. Over the course of 40 episodes and 4 seasons (so far), every step forward the gang has made has sent them down a new rabbit hole. Sometimes literally.

While watching, though, I began to wonder if I would make a good leader in a horror situation. Just in case I stumbled into a post-apocalyptic town. As one does.

The simple answer to the question on my mind would be no. My temperament would make me more of the town hothead or drunk.

But like those stuck in Fromville, the more I answered, the more questions came up. Like, why wouldn't I make a good leader? What makes a good leader? What kind of alcohol are they making there, and can it be used for a margarita?

Spoiler: it was.

What makes a good leader? Especially one in a horror story scenario. They would need to be decisive. Someone who can make the hard decisions on the fly and not worry about whether or not it was the right choice.

With the criteria, I can confidently say that I meet the standard. As a manager of a museum, I was often called to make hard calls. Like the time a movie director wanted to come in and see everything for free and have things arranged for him without warning.

I made it happen, much to his agent's delight.

On the show, Boyd is the sheriff and de facto leader. Early in the series, he learns that one of the residents hears voices from the woods. It told her to open the door and let the monsters kill a bunch of people.

Instead of putting her to death, he hides her away to try and use her. He rationalizes that it will help everyone. It blows up in his face, but he accepts the consequences of the decision.

That is the next test. Would I accept the consequences of my on-the-fly decision? Again, looking at my own history, I have often made choices that resulted in negative things happening.

At the same job but during a different tenure, long story, I got in trouble for telling the CEO that I was responsible for the increased sales in the gift shop. It ultimately led to my termination and permanent exit from the organization.

Oops.

Sometimes things just happen. And other times my face will say what my mouth won't, which isn't much.

. . .One of the best things a leader in a horror scenario can do is to keep their mouth shut. Don't like someone? They don't need to know that. Scared about something happening in the woods by the town? Avoid causing a panic.

Keeping my mouth shut is not a talent I possess. At the slightest inconvenience, I am ready to spout off and let everyone know exactly how I feel. It's one of the remarks I used to get on my yearly reviews from the places I worked. And when I was in school, it was the biggest complaint from teachers.

What can I say? I am who I am. And it makes me a good content creator.

But as a leader, especially one in circumstances that will already have nerves on edge, it would not be one of my most endearing qualities. Most of the group would be very eager to have a mutiny to remove me as the leader.

Not just because of my mouth. But because a leader needs to make solid choices that benefit the whole of the group. In the show, Boyd will often weigh the needs of the many against the needs of a few.

In season four, one of the final arcs revolved around a plan to uproot a bottle tree or not. One of the characters, the one who had been in the town the longest, resisted and warned that bad things would happen. But Boyd arrests the man and gives the go-ahead with the plan because it is believed that it will lead them to the path to getting home.

Chaos ensued.

Earlier I mentioned that I could make decisions on the fly. And used the example of the Hollywood director who wanted to come into the museum while I was the only manager on duty. What I waited to mention was the chaos that I caused behind the scenes trying to make this happen.

Security was thrown for a loop that I would allow someone to come in through the employee-only door. Not to mention the inconvenience I caused the education department by booking a private show for him and his daughter and the special exhibition when I walked him through without getting him a ticket.

Everything worked out, at least much better than it did for the people in Fromville.