When I was about seven or so, our family went over to another families house for a get together. The kids piled into the TV room and somehow, IT ( the Tim Curry one) was chosen to put on. Now, no adults knew what was happening and maybe in retrospect that makes it scarier. I don’t remember one specific scene other than the teeth of the clown.
The feeling that the movie pulled out of me lasted for I feel like years. Immediately after getting home later that day, I started taping my bedroom closet doors shut ( so in my child’s brain I could see if the tape was broken in the morning), stuffed things with under my bed so nothing could hide under and I used to put my toothbrush in the bathroom sink cabinet handles each night so that nothing could get out of the sink. This, I feel, continued for years. Also, I never told anyone about my fears. Why I’m not sure.
Needless to say, I feel like I was terrified and my imagination of what could happen scared me even more.
I’m not sure that it turned me into a horror fan but definitely made me aware of the idea of scary movies & that lasting feeling. It would be years upon years later when I would seek out a horror movie of my choosing.
I love that you taped the closet door shut! That is so smart. I used to believe that my blankets, if I slipped under them, made me invisible, a belief that was luckily never put to the test...
Ya, I also had a strange belief with my bedsheets- I always had to keep my feet and legs under a blanket or else I thought I could get grabbed. Somehow, my blankets made me feel safe. Sort of like yours.
Writing my response to you reminded me of another forgotten movie that scared me when I was younger and definitely left an impression on me--Little Monsters with Fred Savage. It definitely fed into my need to keep up with all my safety procedures. Again, with that movie, I don't remember actively seeking it out; it must have been on tv and I just didn't turn it off for some reason. Years later, I searched it up to watch it again. Still creepy!
James, after 40 years I now get your insatiable desire for all that horrors you.
When I was eight I happened by chance upon 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' (1973) --a made-for-tv movie horror flik featuring menacing goblin-like creatures (described by some as little teddy bears with coneheads) that hid away under the fireplace when they weren't terrorizing the inhabitants of the house, cutting them and dragging them to their deaths. Only bright lights could stave them off. One scene has the desperate heroine catch being dragged to her certain doom, but she is trying desperately to grab hold of the flash camera on the way...That one stayed with me. Guillermo del Toro too I hear, as he made a remake.
Thanks for this! There are some fine made-for-TV horror flicks out there--Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Trilogy of Terror, Duel, The Dead Don't Die--and of course The Night Gallery (hit and miss) and the iconic Kolchak: the Night Stalker. The BBC made some great ones, too.
PS: Can you spot one Ernie Weisz in the school photo?
When I was about seven or so, our family went over to another families house for a get together. The kids piled into the TV room and somehow, IT ( the Tim Curry one) was chosen to put on. Now, no adults knew what was happening and maybe in retrospect that makes it scarier. I don’t remember one specific scene other than the teeth of the clown.
The feeling that the movie pulled out of me lasted for I feel like years. Immediately after getting home later that day, I started taping my bedroom closet doors shut ( so in my child’s brain I could see if the tape was broken in the morning), stuffed things with under my bed so nothing could hide under and I used to put my toothbrush in the bathroom sink cabinet handles each night so that nothing could get out of the sink. This, I feel, continued for years. Also, I never told anyone about my fears. Why I’m not sure.
Needless to say, I feel like I was terrified and my imagination of what could happen scared me even more.
I’m not sure that it turned me into a horror fan but definitely made me aware of the idea of scary movies & that lasting feeling. It would be years upon years later when I would seek out a horror movie of my choosing.
I love that you taped the closet door shut! That is so smart. I used to believe that my blankets, if I slipped under them, made me invisible, a belief that was luckily never put to the test...
Ya, I also had a strange belief with my bedsheets- I always had to keep my feet and legs under a blanket or else I thought I could get grabbed. Somehow, my blankets made me feel safe. Sort of like yours.
Writing my response to you reminded me of another forgotten movie that scared me when I was younger and definitely left an impression on me--Little Monsters with Fred Savage. It definitely fed into my need to keep up with all my safety procedures. Again, with that movie, I don't remember actively seeking it out; it must have been on tv and I just didn't turn it off for some reason. Years later, I searched it up to watch it again. Still creepy!
James, after 40 years I now get your insatiable desire for all that horrors you.
When I was eight I happened by chance upon 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' (1973) --a made-for-tv movie horror flik featuring menacing goblin-like creatures (described by some as little teddy bears with coneheads) that hid away under the fireplace when they weren't terrorizing the inhabitants of the house, cutting them and dragging them to their deaths. Only bright lights could stave them off. One scene has the desperate heroine catch being dragged to her certain doom, but she is trying desperately to grab hold of the flash camera on the way...That one stayed with me. Guillermo del Toro too I hear, as he made a remake.
Thanks for this! There are some fine made-for-TV horror flicks out there--Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Trilogy of Terror, Duel, The Dead Don't Die--and of course The Night Gallery (hit and miss) and the iconic Kolchak: the Night Stalker. The BBC made some great ones, too.
PS: Can you spot one Ernie Weisz in the school photo?