Growing Up on Scary Movies

     It's Phriday!  Wow, what a week.  On Phriday, I write about things that scare me.  When I was a kid, I could watch any movie and not be scared.  In fact, I loved scary movies.  I remember half hiding behind my dad's chair while we watched the Exorcist.  I didn't really do a whole lot of hiding though.  I loved the Amityville movies and Jason, Freddy and Michael.  Poltergeist was another favorite too. One movie that must have scared me was E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.  I don't remember being scared in the theater, but I was afraid of the pile of stuffed animals that were on the shelf of my open closet that night.  I don't know if it is getting older or becoming a parent, but some of the movies I've seen lately are really scary.  No one else in the family likes scary movies, so I have to watch them by myself.  That makes them even scarier.
   People talk about how all the violence on TV desensitizes our children.  Well, my older daughter was afraid of the Disney villains, even the step-mother on Cinderella.  All those great movies and I couldn't even watch them with my kids.  She has no problem with Harry Potter, except neither of the girls like the scene in Year 4 when Voldermort is reborn.  I think it is one of the coolest scenes, so far.  There is one more movie to watch, and I can't wait.  I am not scared of Harry Potter movies, but I did cry when Bellatrix killed Dobby.
     My brother lent me some scary movies.  He has quite the collection.  I think the Ring was really scary, and I'm wondering now if that was the one I couldn't finish.  Afterwards I was so disappointed in myself.  I had never been afraid of movies before.  I must have grown up and lost that immortal feeling somewhere, that invincible feeling. I thought that I must be getting soft in my old age.  I don't really feel that old though. I still love a good thriller/mystery, the ones that keep you guessing up until the very end.  I love Hitchcock movies too.  There's just something about them, and my daughters will watch them with me.  Oh, and what writer could talk about scary movies and not refer to this at some point.
     "All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.  All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy. All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy." (from Stephen King's the Shining)  Think about this.  Someone had to type an entire manuscript in those words as a prop for that movie.  Wow!