When I was a kid, Halloween was a big deal. I loved monsters, and regularly built monster models: The Mummy (with real cloth!), Frankenstein’s monster, King Kong (with real fake fur), the Invisible Man (an empty stand with footprints). I loved being scared!
Later, as a middle schooler, I switched to doing the scaring. I’d dress as a ghoul and jump down from the garage rafters with a hideous (“kideous?”) cackle–and candy, of course; a proper scream deserves a reward. Sometimes things backfired. But I still loved it.
As an adult, I’ve rather lost the joie de horreur. I’ve never really found a place in my heart for axe murderers. Give me a good ol’ “What’s that? Oh, it’s nothing. Wait–yes, it is!” movie any day. But a guy with a chainsaw? Not so much. Reminds me of that dead tree limb I need to remove from my back yard. So, I guess I’ll spend another year handing out candy, dressed as a disarmingly handsome older(ish) gentleman with a beautiful wife, and then watch season two of Stranger Things. Again. Besides,
Who wants to do all that walking?
oh, but leather face and his family are the true embodiment of horror 😀
Because…?
Because they appear as seemingly ordinary folk yet are madly insane deep in their minds… 😀
Good answer. Criminal insanity is definitely more prevalent in modern horror than it was in older films (Psycho notwithstanding). What bothers me is when the emphasis is on gratuitous gore. I find it more perverse than scary. I prefer scary vs. gross-out thrillers, like A Quiet Place or Don’t Breath.
I agree. The films you just mentioned are superb in their own ways. But, it may astonish you that not once in TCM did the chainsaw actually pierce the flesh… (Im talking about the original here)
That does surprise me.
That’s hilarious, Mitch. Happy Halloween and God bless!
You too, Nancy!
My two favorite childhood memories of Halloween were dressing up as a cyclops caveman in second or third grade. My mom sewed a fake fur rug into a caveman costume aka Fred Flintstone. Had a big plastic club too! And a few years later dressed as the Tin Woodsman from Oz. Cardboard boxes painted silver, silver makeup – it scared my dog to death. Then he was totally confused by my voice coming out of this scary figure! These days, I just enjoy the young coworkers going all out in their offices for the Employee Family Halloween
I was about to say that I stopped wearing costumes when I grew up. But that’s not true, I just started getting paid to do it (though not generally very much); I became an actor.
Ha! Make believe that encourages others.
I too prefer watching Stranger Things 🙂
I like the older suspense type horror movies. I’ve become numb to jump-scares and gore.
I was never into monsters. I like ghosts, of the Something-Not-Quite-Right-Here variety.
Brilliant as always, Mitch. “joie de horreur”. Bwahaha!
Hahahaha love it!
So clever!
Been there done that. Great post with all the things that used to be. Nowadays we just look at the day as another day. Sometimes I hope nobody comes by. That jump from the garage is a litle dangerous now.
;>)
Thank you. I needed to laugh.