I have been fascinated with Halloween, ghost stories, horror movies and all things paranormal ever since I was about 6 or 7. Saturday nights at our house in the early 60’s was all about The Jackie Gleason Show. But after that show, we switched to Chiller Theater. Its opening sequence was a scene from “Plan 9 from Outer Space” with a great orchestrated theme song. I remember it like it was yesterday and thus began my love for these movies. Years later, after actually having my own psychic experience; seeing my friend’s deceased grandmother sitting on a couch in his basement, I realized I needed to look into this and find out what the heck is going on here.
I recently
watched my new copy of “The Conjuring” and seeing the characters of Lorraine
and Ed Warren brought me back to the mid 70’s and a presentation of theirs I
attended on Long Island. The Warrens were great; entertaining and informative
and also pioneers in the field. In addition, before Jason and Grant and the
“Ghost Hunters” TV show, there was the “godfather” of psychic phenomena as it
was known, Hans Holzer. In the 70’s I had the honor of taking a Parapsychology course
from Mr. Holzer. His lectures were incredible, especially listening to EVP’s
before they were EVP’s. What we listened to were cassette recordings made with
a hand held mono recorder/player in haunted houses and cemeteries. Truly
chilling stuff! In fact, I urge you to record your empty house when you leave and
then listen to the recording when you return. You may be surprised at what is
there.
Some people
get a rush or thrills from roller coasters, other thrill rides or riding
motorcycles. For me, there’s nothing like that feeling when you are watching a
scary movie and don’t know what’s coming next or what lurks around that corner.
Or the feeling you get when you hear that strange noise and the goose bumps follow.
And what about that shadow you think you just saw out of the corner of your eye
which causes the hair on your arm and neck to stand up. How cool is that!
Horror
movies for me are full of contradictions. They are so much fun. But also, they
are scary, creepy and make me feel uneasy at the same time. Rather than turn
this into a top ten list of favorite movies, let’s just say I love them all. I am
particularly fond of the timeless nature of the “The Exorcist”. However, I also
remember numerous copycat films that followed its release. One particular film comes to mind. I recall my cousin Roseann and I in 1974 (I think), going to the
movies to see “Beyond the Door”, a B-movie Exorcist rip-off. Upon returning home
and entering a basically dark house, we were startled by my mother sitting on
the steps who says "How was the movie?". Of course she seemed to be dressed
just liked the possessed woman in the movie and her sitting there in the dark was just creepy. She totally scared the shit out of us as
we walked in.
Over the
years I’ve been criticized for letting my children watch horror movies. I
believe that if you reinforce the fact that it’s a movie and not real and if
it’s not too intense or bloody, most children can handle it. This is
entertainment. Real life is what’s frightening. I think about a home video of
Emily at maybe 3 years old looking out from behind her crib saying, “Freddy
Krueger’s coming”. I realize it’s not Disney, but very funny. And then there’s the
story about one of the first times Marian met my son Nick. For some reason I
had him at work with me and when Marian came in the building, he was watching a
video tape called “The Boogeymen”. It was a compilation of the popular horror
movie killers like Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers and Pinhead from Hellraiser. He
was about 10 at the time and Marian (who I only knew a few months then) says
“You let your son watch this trash? What’s wrong with you?” Ah, the good old
days. Finally, what makes a dad more proud than that rite-of-passage and
finally realizing the kids are old enough to watch “The Exorcist” for the first
time? Brings a tear to my eye!
Naturally
this is all tongue in cheek, (to a point) and as the kids were getting older we
had our own classics such as Nickelodeon’s “Are you Afraid of the Dark?”, “GooseBumps”
and one of our favorites, “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. We made some memories,
and now the kids look back fondly, I think? In June of 2006, the remake of “The Omen” was
released (6/6/6 to be precise). I remember my mother begging us not to go see
it on that date as if we would be releasing some ancient curse on us all if we
did. Funny stuff…And tell me I don’t come through in the clutch to celebrate
birthdays. Emily’s 15th was a weekend spent in the Lizzie Borden
House, complete with a tour that night, group discussion about the crime, and
then breakfast the next morning cooked by a worker dressed just like Andrew
Borden, murder victim. The funniest part was watching my 12 year old son
hitting on some twenty-something girl there. Nick’s line was “ Hey, wanna do the Ouija
board with me?” Doesn’t get any better!
Now, when
Halloween rolls around, it is a time to reflect; a time to think back and
recall the memories. It’s the warm and fuzzy feelings brought on by night after
night of horror films. For example, there’s the original John Carpenter Halloween
and Nightmare on Elm St. Then we settle in for a night of Friday the 13th followed
by part II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII. Well you get my point. I also don’t
mind when my cousins Andrea and Maria make fun of me and send me creepy pictures
of dolls or clowns on Facebook. They are just mad because I know dolls come
alive at night when everyone’s sleeping, that’s why Emily never had any. And
you never saw a clown at any of my kid’s parties did you? I know better. But
have your fun, its ok.
Funny how
life is? Now Marian, who read me the
riot act years ago when I let Nick watch his video is my wife and watches
horror movies. Her famous quote during every movie is “Why do you make me watch
this shit?” I don’t make her, she can’t resist! We even had our own ghost in the
old Wallkill apartment. You’ve heard about the little boy dressed in white
haven’t you? I fondly remember my mom
visiting with her bottle of Holy water. Remarkable…And now Marian just shakes
her head as Louis sits and puts on “The Shining”. She can’t believe he laughs
when Jack Nicholson says “Wendy, I’m home” as the axe goes through the door. Or
how he constantly rewinds and replays the “Here’s Johnny” scene as he gets ready to take care of Wendy. Yes Louis is one of us now.....There's no escape...…As in the words of Stewie Griffin, “Victory is mine!”
Have a Safe and Happy Halloween Everyone and Redrum to all!
by Nick Malcuit (10/30/2013)
Thank you Nick for bringing back such a funny memory and I won't embarrass you publicly by sharing the whole doll being thrown down the basement stairs story!
ReplyDeleteRo, please feel free..lol.
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