As a child, I was mildly afraid of a lot of things—dark basements, mean dogs, the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys—so it’s always a bit difficult for me to think of one thing that scared me, or at least one thing that has a decent story behind it. Then I remember the time my mother and grandmother dragged me on a ghost tour in Gettysburg, PA when I was about ten years old.
Continue reading “What Scares Us: Briana’s First Fright”childhood memories
What Scares Us: Kiri’s First Fright
It seems only appropriate that my first fear is attributed not to a George Lucas film, but instead a film from his friend and early rival, Steven Spielberg.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking – Jaws. After all, I live in Massachusetts where Jaws was filmed and we have great white sharks often roaming our nearby beaches in the summer.
No, my friends, you are wrong. Instead, my first fear that I can remember is E.T.
Read moreShanannigan’s First Fright: “In a Dark, Dark Wood…”
As part of a fantastic Christmas gift, Michael tracked down some contributors to my “My First Fright Series,” a series on my blog which I happen to love. In this series, for which I started by writing about two of my earliest childhood fears, I ask other people to write about their earliest memories of feeling afraid. The results tend to be an interesting, surprising, eclectic group of terrors. I decided to save this one for the month of Halloween, since it has a really creepy vibe! So, before delving into my Christmas Gift “My First Fright,” I’d like to extend a tremendous thank-you to my boyfriend, Michael, at My Comic Relief and today’s contributor, Shanannigan’s,for a fantastic re-telling of a first fright. Continue reading “Shanannigan’s First Fright: “In a Dark, Dark Wood…””
The Blue Man – Or, This is Not a Horror Story
True to the title of my piece, this is not a horror story. Although, what I see now that I didn’t see when things like this happened was just how much my friend and I wanted it to be a horror story, how much we enacted the things that we read in our Fear Street books and our horror movies, and made the world of horror come alive, if, simultaneously, to our delight and our chagrin. Again, this is not a horror story. This is a childhood memory – a childhood memory I share on an overcast day in early November, when my frenetic, two-and-a-half-month mania has dwindled and I’ve suddenly fallen into this shifting state that fluctuates between focused, positive energy and complete depression and self-loathing. This is not a horror story—at least, I hadn’t intended it to be so. But, maybe it will turn out that way as I keep writing. One never can predict the end of the story, after all—or, at least, I can’t—when one’s merely writing the beginning. Continue reading “The Blue Man – Or, This is Not a Horror Story”
Rob (of My Side of the Laundry Room)’s First Fright – The Eyes.
Recently I was asked to contribute to the wonderfully brilliant series “What Scares Us? – First Frights” by the equally wonderfully brilliant Kalie Zamierowski at Just Dread-full. I’ve been a fan of hers and of her boyfriend Michael (over at My Comic Relief) for a while now so when the opportunity arose to work with either one of them, I couldn’t say “YES” quick enough. Continue reading “Rob (of My Side of the Laundry Room)’s First Fright – The Eyes.”
What Scares Us? Green Onion’s First Fright – Grubby
I have to admit, I loved JustDreadFull’s post on her early irrational fear of a simple little song by Alvin and the Chipmunks. I think we can all share in that experience, maybe not being scared of some cartoon rodents, but having an image, a sound, or an experience that haunted our childhood for almost no reason. It is an idea that we can all resonate with, and respect to Kalie, for facing her youthful terrors and being brave enough to admit such a silly fear. Continue reading “What Scares Us? Green Onion’s First Fright – Grubby”
What Scares Us? My First (or Second) Fright: The Horrifying Large Marge
A month or so ago on Just Dread-full, I wrote about my unfortunate collision with the famed chipmunk song as a child, which I categorized as my first fright. I then invited Michael, author of My Comic Relief and frequent contributor to my site (and, okay, my boyfriend) to write about his first fright, which happens to be the Ghostsbusters II movie. While I ultimately hope to have other contributors augmenting this series with their first frights (ahem, ahem, if you’re reading this, I hope you know who you are), in the interim, I thought I’d continue the theme by writing about another one of my earliest memories of fear, though technically it’s my second fright (but let’s not get caught up on technicalities). I was absolutely petrified by Large Marge’s dreadful tale and awkward transformation into an animated character in Pee Wee Herman’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
Continue reading “What Scares Us? My First (or Second) Fright: The Horrifying Large Marge”
What Scares Us? Michael’s First Fright – Ghostbusters II
I was excited to read Kalie’s first post in her new series – What Scares Us? My First Fear. I love the idea of examining early memories of being afraid and/or exploring the things that frighten us. I was also pretty excited to contribute a piece myself! I knew there could be only one topic for this reflection. As I look back to my first vivid memory of heart-stopping, soul-chilling terror I journey back to the summer of 1989. A soon-to-be seven year old Michael was settling into a dark movie theatre with his family. He was ready for fun…but what he found was dark, disturbing, raw, primal fear. This experience has haunted me to this day. What movie did I see? None other than the heart-stopping, soul-shaking horrorfest that was Ghostbusters II. Continue reading “What Scares Us? Michael’s First Fright – Ghostbusters II”
What Scares Us? My First Fright (Part One) – The Insidious Chipmunk Song
This may alarm you (in fact, you might want to sit down to hear it), but I wasn’t always an intrepid pioneer who sojourned through the world of horror with ease, grace, and relative peace of mind. I know: you thought I was born unflinchingly brave and are now trying to deal with the shock of finding out that even I, your humble Just Dread-Full writer, used to scare easily. But when I say “easily,” you might not understand just how easily I scared. To paint you a vivid picture of how far I’ve come in my (almost) 32 years of existence, how much bolder and more brazen I am, I’ve decided to tell you about one of my first scares (I’ll probably tell you about the other in a second part of this segment). Long before I sought the adrenaline of a tasty jump-scare, I used to quiver, quake, and cry at sudden upsets to my calm surroundings. I was, to be truthful, kind of a baby. You may gather that this is true when I tell you my earliest scary memory.
Continue reading “What Scares Us? My First Fright (Part One) – The Insidious Chipmunk Song”
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