Woman held captive says she's overcoming fears

CLEVELAND (AP) — A young woman held captive and tortured for more than a decade in a Cleveland home says she is conquering fears these days.

Michelle Knight said she now likes reading Stephen King novels.

“I like a little scare in my life,” she explained at a discussion held recently at the Cleveland Main Library.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reports that Knight hasn’t decided whether to watch an upcoming TV movie about the ordeal she, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus survived.

“I prefer not to put myself in a backwards spiral,” Knight, now 33, explained.

Knight was kidnapped at age 21 by Ariel Castro. The women escaped his house in May 2013 and Castro committed suicide in prison after pleading guilty to a long list of charges.

Knight was the first taken captive by Castro, in August 2002.