If you find the horror genre fascinating then this blog post is for you. I am about to reveal the secrets for creating your own ghoulish drama, all from the comfort of your own life. This fiendish formula works if you personally want to experience terrifying chills and thrills or if you wish to visit a nightmare on others. It’s simple, legal, widely accepted and doesn’t require the use of graveyards, blood, or fake vampire teeth. It can be used in almost any circumstance, with any type of person, and with little effort. The two ingredients for this dark potion is responsibility and authority, and to release the hideous effect just mix in unequal amounts.

Ingredients
Firstly, let’s acquaint ourselves with the ingredients. Responsibility is the obligation to act (or not act) to ensure the welfare of a person, place, or thing. Authority is the right and ability to bring about that welfare. Responsibility says you should do something and authority enables you to do something. When mixed in with equal portions the outcome is beneficial and promotes the health and happiness of all concerned. But when combined unequally, the resulting elixir is poisonous and gives life to an ugly monster.

Examples
To have the responsibility for something, but not the right or power to carry out that responsibility is a hellish nightmare. For example, a teacher who is responsible to educate her students, but cannot give homework assignments or discipline an unruly student, is doomed to a life of grief. She will be held accountable for the failing grades of her students, but she lacks the authority necessary to direct the students in a meaningful way that would lead to their academic success. In this case a large measure of responsibility has been mixed in with a small dose of authority. The result of this concoction? A nightmare for the teacher.

But imagine another scenario. Suppose a referee at a football game can call a foul regardless of whether the play actually violates the rules of the game. Additionally, he can’t be fired for any call he makes. In this case there is nothing stopping him from placing a bet on the game and shaping his penalty calls to favor the team he has put his money on. He can randomly make calls if he wishes, or make no calls at all. Perhaps, he is obligated to show up for the game, but he has no responsibility to ensure that the game is played fairly. Here we have a large amount of authority blended with a small dash of responsibility. This particular mixture will produce nightmares as well, but for others not the referee.

Magic Recipe
So, we have the magic recipe: if one wishes to experience a nightmare, make sure that you are in a circumstance where you have a greater amount of responsibility than you have authority. Alternatively, if you want to inflict nightmares on others, try to get into a situation where you have more authority than you have responsibility. It only takes adjusting the proportions one way or the other to direct the flow of terror.

On the other hand, if you hate nightmares and strongly desire to promote happiness and well-being in yourself and others, all you have to do is make sure that responsibility and authority are kept in balance. When accepting an assignment, be sure to clarify the expectations of the assignment and the resources available to you. If these don’t agree, then kindly decline the assignment. When giving an assignment to another, be sure to make explicit the desired result of the assignment and what means and capabilities are available to them for producing that result. By keeping responsibility and authority in balance you will produce a mixture that has a salutary effect on them and will increase their chance of success.

Summary
By misunderstanding human nature many inadvertently become evil alchemists. They create nightmare situations by mixing unequal portions of responsibility and authority in the assignments they give. Others live a torturous nightmare because they are accountable for things they cannot change. We were created to be happy and fruitful in life’s endeavors, but if care is not taken to balance responsibility and authority the chances of that grow dim, and instead we sink into a frightful dream.