When You Were Young
No, I'm not referencing a mediocre Killers song in the title of this post. Instead, I was thinking about the things that scared the bejebus out of me when I was a wee lad.
Back then, vampires caused me to always sleep with the covers up to my chin (because everyone knows that vampires only bite exposed necks). This started after I watched Salem's Lot as a six year old. One scene, in particular, where a vampire is sitting in a rocking chair hissing, gave me nightmares for three straight nights.
My fear was further fueled by a space vampire episode of Buck Rogers. That also gave my sister the creeps. For some reason, we decided that one of the entry ways to our house was the spot where the space vampire could get us. I know...I know...
Anyway, as is to be expected, I ended up getting over that fear and becoming obsessed with vampires (wait, is that really expected?). And looking back, it's hard for me to truly understand how scary those things were. They seem so cheesy now, but I have to assume that in the case of Salem's Lot at least, that people were genuinely scared by that stuff.
As an adult, fantastic creatures like vampires have been replaced by terrorist plots, police brutality, government torture, dying alone and plane crashes (and a scary dancing clown). Yet none of them fill me with a dread that causes nightmares like those I had as a kid. Sometimes I wonder if that's actually a good thing.
Posted by Mr. Eff on 11/13/2006 || link
