Don't be afraid of the dark....

"One Two, Freddy's Comin' for you .Three-four, better lock your door. Five-Six, grab your crucifix. Seven-Eight, better stay awake. Nine-Ten, never sleep again." 

Most of my childhood (you can ask anyone) was spent idolizing(yeas, messed up as it may be) Freddy Kreuger, Chucky, Jason Vorhees, and Michael Meyers movies. The favorite of course being Nightmare on Elm street and Child's Play. 

In the early 90's there were these toys called "My Buddy" dolls. I'm convinced that, either they were made as a result of Chucky dolls, or Chucky movies were made as a result of the My Buddy dolls....with the likelihood that in some world, some where- some kid said his doll was talking to him, and making him do crazy things. I remember I'd scare my sister, by pretending the doll we had at home, was indeed Chucky, and in fact out to get her. 

   


Although I probably missed most of the Freddy-buzz when the Nightmare on Elm Street movies first came out, I was a huge fan by the time I was 4. 

I, my sisters and my cousin can attest to our infamous weekend nights at grandma and grandpa's house sitting on the couch with popcorn watching this beyond-scary-striped red and green sweater wearing-cellar-lurking psychopath on the USA network, curled up feeling as though we were getting away with murder (No pun intended), getting to watch this movie as Grandma sat in the background shaking her head at Grandpa's bad influence. 

I remember my grandpa used to remind me of Freddy Kreuger, in his basement with his wood burning stove. I remember being scared to death sometimes at night, to even look down those stairs at my grandparent's house...for fear that indeed, freddy kreuger would be standing there waiting for me in the "cellar". 

Little did I know that Freddy would essentially haunt my scariest of dreams, for the remainder of childhood and early adulthood. I to this day, still find Freddy in the background of my worst nightmares...






Movies out there today aren't the same. They're scarier. They're more frightening, and more realistic...and more intending to screw with your mind to the point of sleeping with the light on for a month after watching the movie, or-  until you forget about it enough to fall asleep without the paralyzing fear of whatever horror character is haunting your thoughts that day.

I scare myself so much sometimes I can't stand to walk into a room that's dark, without turning on the light first.

I don't even like the 6-7 o'clock hours of October, because I literally feel like I'm stuck in a Halloween movie, wondering when a hockey-mask-wearing killer is going to follow me into my house without me even feeling the breeze as he snuck past me! 



And so, movies continue to get scarier and as I get older, Halloween continues to get creepier and i find myself just waiting for Christmas because at least then....There's no scary times to dread!