You were afraid of what?

Yesterday evening I was working on my homework and really needed to concentrate because I was working on a test. My lil' man was being extremely boisterous - even passing gas at will. I have no idea how he did that, but he thought it was hilarious. I told him that I didn't know what I was going to do with him.

That shut him up. He became serious just like that. He said, "You're not going to do Hansel & Gretel on me, are you?"

That kind of caught me by surprise. I couldn't believe he remembered that story to the point where he realized he was being annoying, and thought I'd drop him off in a dark, wooded forest all by his lonesome because of that.

I guess "Hansel and Gretel" is one of those creepy stories that leaves an indelible impression on a kid--parents colluding to leave their children to fend for themselves in the middle of the forest at night, only to be coaxed by the irresistibly delicious home of a cannibalistic witch.

Then I got to thinking about things that I recall being creeped out about as a kid. Of course now I laugh at them, but the fear, at that time, was real....for some reason.


Does anyone here remember "Sideways Stories from Wayside School"?

From Wikipedia:

The school was supposed to be built one story and 30 classrooms long. However, it was accidentally built with 30 stories, with one room on each story. (The builder said he was very sorry.)

• 30th story – This is the highest classroom of the school. Most of the stories involve students in this classroom and take place here. The teacher for most of the series is Mrs. Jewls.
• 19th story – The 19th story does not exist. The reason is that the building was inadvertently built with story 14 directly on top of story 12. The teacher of this class is the fictional Miss Zarves. In Sideways Stories from Wayside School, the 19th chapter is omitted and in its place is a message stating that the 19th "story" does not exist. In Wayside School Is Falling Down, Allison accidentally ends up in it.
• 18th story – Miss Worm teaches here.
• 14th story – Mrs. Smith teaches here. In "Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School", Kathy runs down to Mrs. Smith's class.
• 12th story – Nancy's friend Mac learns here, and they eventually switch names.
• 5th story – Lunchroom
• 2th story – Teacher's lounge
• b7f – Library
• b4f – Counselor's office
• b2f – Ballroom
• b1f – Principal's office and bathroom
  

I just remember the teacher turning into a ghost or bat - I can't remember exactly what it was, I only remember being afraid. Why? I was pretty sheltered as a young child.

I also remember there not being a 13th story, which as I later came to find out, is pretty standard. (I think that's pretty stupid, actually.)



Robocop was pretty bad, too. I actually watched that not too long ago, and I think I was right to be afraid of that one. I specifically remember the first time I was able to watch this. Our parents were over at a friend's home where they had this playing. I can only imagine that my parents were a little frustrated that I was glued to it, as it was my first glimpse of real violence in movies. A scene that sticks with me is of that guys body being eaten by acid just as a car plows right into him, splattering him like an egg on a windshield. I think I was okay to pee myself. Up until that point, life had been devoid of any malice and suffering. This was an awakening for me.


I don't have an excuse for this one; Peewee's Big Adventure has to make the list. First, there's the part where he's picked up by Large Marge, which as he comes to find out is actually her ghost. Sure, it's silly now because the horrible graphics only pale in comparison to what we're able to now achieve. Back in the 80's, these graphics were actually pretty damn good. (I was probably about seven or eight when I watched this, so what do I know. Maybe I was really just a punk bitch.)



Then of course those hateful clowns on there. There's a statue of one cackling at the bike rack when Pee Wee's bike first goes missing, and then the ones in his nightmare that seek to burn his bike in a pit of magma.


Stephen King's Cat's Eye was pretty scary when I was younger. I don't even remember what it was about, so I just visited the IMDB page. The only thing I remember is this gremlin-like thing that would try to suck the breath from Drew Barrymore's character and eventually got chopped up by a fan, or something.















Aside from that, I used to be afraid to flush the toilet in the dark. Something to do with this being a step in summoning Bloody Mary? I have no clue. Doesn't make sense to me now either.

I think those are the only things that scared me as a child. I suppose more things would have made the list if I was exposed to them, but I wasn't exposed to much, so what can I say?

Is there anything that still leaves a haunting impression on you? Have you revisited those things lately only to realize how unfounded your fears actually were? I know I've got to be forgetting something.