I am a HUGE fan of spine-tingling, eerie, terrifying thrillers… only to be watched in the presence of others and with a pillow or hands semi-obstructing my view. And for a special group of my nearest and dearest kinfolk, this is much anticipated togetherness. Not your typical family movie night I know, but pure, pulse-pounding perfection to us!
We yell at the screen, bury our faces, clutch one another, scream and jump when appropriate. We are panic-stricken, terror-stricken and spooked. We are petrified throughout. But as the end credits roll we often declare,“that wasn’t so scary”. What is wrong with us??
As a youngster, it was time in front of the television feasting my eyes on yet another episode of The Twilight Zone, Outer Limits or The Alfred Hitchcock Hour that infused my appetite for the scary stuff. I have no idea who introduced me to this nail-biting genre, but I waited with in-suspense anticipation for the weekly installments. And although house noises frightened me, nightmares occurred, I was worried about what lurked beneath my bed and I was afraid to stay home alone…I still savored each and every episode.
I especially remember the one on Hitchcock about a little girl with imaginary friends who ends up trading places with her doll so she can go to the place “where the woodbine twineth.” CREEPY STUFF.
Although one of my faves, it did cause me to have a sneaking suspicion that my playthings would be walking and talking when the lights stopped shining. And sparked my nightly ritual of confining Betsy Wetsy, Jerry Mahoney and eventually two Barbie’s, one Ken and one Midge to the closet. (yep, I had a Jerry Mahoney ventriloquist dummy doll. But why I freed him from my closet, EVER, is still a mystery to me).
Ghost stories were the best, especially while seated around a campfire or in a darkened basement sleepover situation. Even the ones retold time and time again provided that spine-tingling, scream-worthy payoff in the end. Again and again my friends and I would huddle ‘round a mirror holding a flashlight under our chins while repeating the phrase, “Mary Worth, Mary Worth, I believe in Mary Worth” in order to summon her ghost. Then one of us would start the screaming, claiming she had seen Mary, and it was pandemonium.
How about the Ouija board with its indicator thingy none of us were “helping” to move (not even when asking the scariest question of all, “does so and so like me?”) And when sleepover shindigs went down at my house my dad always delighted in sneaking down the stairs to our basement to scare the living daylights out of my crew of pre-teen girlfriends. Can’t ya just picture the shrieking chaotic mess, ending in a pile of hair and PJ-clad innocence?
Riverview Amusement Park, where I could get majorly soaked on Shoot the Chutes and catch a ride on the Tunnel of Love (imagining the day when I would return with a cute boyfriend or Kookie from 77 Sunset Strip) was a favorite day – made best-day-ever when stepping aboard the livelier rides. And when no one in my family would join me for a joy ride on the Bobs or Fireball…there would be my Uncle Hal gladly plonking down next to me., safety bar in place and wheeeeeeeeee…
Oh YES, YES, YES… a roller coaster climbing a steep hill with measured anticipation and then careening downwards filled me with such delight. And I was a laughing, screaming bundle of happy as the Tilt-a-Whirl repeatedly circled the track; the car spinning, and the centrifugal force making my stomach lurch. NOW I can barely sit on a plain old swing, let alone swing on it, without succumbing to woozy, stomach-churning, to and fro yuckiness.
And though I eagerly anticipated and participated in the scary stuff to the degree described above, the flipside is that I was a scaredy-cat, BIG TIME, of gobs of things.
Due to an unfortunate episode with a Great Dane and a neighborhood kitty… DOGS and CATS gave me heart palpitations.
BIRDS – as much as I enjoyed that namesake movie, I was sure a winged creature casually flitting about was just about to dive bomb my head.
CLOWNS, particularly clowns on stilts circling a circus tent, terrified me. (The clown in the pic at the top? My mom thought it was a good idea to paint that on MY BEDROOM WALL!?)
SCARY DEVIL MASKS, even when forewarned, did me in (Dale!!).
And I dreaded the appearance of SPIDERS, BEES, MOTHS – basically anything that flew or crawled would send me over the edge.
MEETING MY FEARS HEAD ON: I got my very own puppy – a poodle I referred to as “Butch” when I thought someone was trying to break into my house. Found a cat – well actually a kitten – and by the time I realized it had turned into a cat I was already smitten. And Snowball, our bird, flew about without restraint; gently landing on my head. As far as clowns go… you don’t scare me anymore (well maybe a teensy bit). And people who wear dumb masks… you are weird (Dale!!). Finally, I began gardening – now the only insect that still makes me jump out of my skin and scream for my husband is a centipede (those things freak the hell out of me).
I did and still do have my limitations when it comes to the creepy stuff. A haunted house? NO THANK YOU. The first time I ventured into one of those things I was a screaming mess of intense panic…not fun AT All. The last time was when my children were young and it was nearing Halloween. While visiting a pumpkin patch, a seemingly harmless haunted house beckoned, and as we… my two girls in partnership leading the way and me hand-in-hand with one of their friends …made our way through the flickering lights, eerie fog, zombies and crazies I really thought I was holding it together. That was until the friend quietly leaned in to whimper, “please let go of my hand – you are squeezing it way too hard”. And this was a haunted house for CHILDREN!
Also when my kids were small I RE-discovered the Tilt-a Whirl. I was so pumped. But as the first go-around completed its revolution I was quick to wise up and announce to the ride operator guy… MAKE IT STOOOOOP!! And I have ixnayed my above-mentioned desire to careen down a track head-over-heels or, for that matter, even right-side-up.
But my enjoyment of watching scary stuff has only INTENSIFIED. I DO LOVE ME A SCARY MOVIE…
JUST DON’T MAKE ME GO ON A SWING...
… or in a haunted house or one-on-one with a centipede, or for that matter face-to-face with a clown…or Jerry Mahoney)
Always a pleasure to read your work, Karen. I remember watching Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein – I must have been around 4. I ruined my parents sex life for a year because every night I thought I saw a monster coming out of my closet and high tailed it to my parents room! No thank – no scary movies for me ever…..and that’s 60 years now from that first bad experience!
Now that is funny. That Abbott and Costello were able to cause all that stress. Not to mention all the pent up “stress” on your poor parents…hahahahah
In middle school I could only watch the first 15 minutes of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. I was so scared I couldn’t get close enough to the TV to turn it off. Just ran upstairs and turned on all the lights and waited for my parents to come home.
That is so funny Andie…love that!
Last year we took the kids to Universal and I was the only one who would go on the roller coasters with my grandson Charlie. When the rides were over, I promised myself that that was the last time. Bye bye coasters! Then we went on the high parachute. Last time for parachutes too! I’m beginning to feel my age….oh no!!!!!
I’m so impressed that you went on roller coasters last year!! And by the way…we aren’t getting older, just smarter!!
Karen, this brings back memories. My Mom and Uncle loved Thrillers. My Uncle nickname was Creeper because of his love for scary movies. I guest that is why I still watched them sometimes. My Mom introduced me to a film that I had never heard of. The title is “Of Unknown Origins”. Check it out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Sandra – my cousin and I LOVE scary movies, as do our children…I will definitely check out that movie! Xoxo
Loved this!!! BOOOOOOO!! 😂😂👺👺👺👺💀💀💀👽👽👽👹👹👹
So you are still trying to scare me…it never ends!! Just know this: I have a jar and a ribbon with your name on it 😈👿🤡👻💀👺👽