things we're 'ascared' of
Posted
by
Trish_Terrors
| Posted on
07-28-2010 12:38 PM
There’s an odd creepiness to certain figures in a child’s world. Take the myth of the Tooth Fairy: little ones are told that if they tuck a fallen baby tooth under their pillow, a supernatural, fairy-like apparition will creep into their darkened bedroom while they slumber and snatch away the dead tooth right from under their wee head in exchange for a coin or two. Shivers!
Screenwriter Joe Harris zeroed-in on the inner creepiness of the Tooth Fairy and created Darkness Falls with Joe Fasano as a retelling of this myth. In their version, Matilda the Tooth Fairy wreaks revenge on the townspeople who lynched her by killing children. But of course, her young victims are only those who use a time-honoured Scary Movie Convention: they look out from under their bed covers at the very moment they shouldn't -- in this case, when Matilda the Tooth Fairy comes to collect their fallen baby tooth.
Whether it's the Darkness Falls version of the Tooth Fairy or dear old Santa Claus, the essence of scariness in some childish things is just this: childhood figures that scared us (and still do) are made all the creepier because kids are expected to believe the person or thing is wonderful and supposedly brings joy to the world. For some kids the much-anticipated annual visit to the Mall Santa spirals into a nightmarish visit with a massive, bearded monster. I always loved Santa and still do, but the blood-curdling screams coming from Santa's Castle at malls everywhere tell a different story.
I use to think that anyone afraid of clowns was in need of a good shrink, that is until I saw some pics of serial killer John Wayne Gacy in his Pogo the Clown outfit. Looking at those photos was like staring into the dead-eyed face of Satan himself. So, if you were one of those kids who screamed at the sight of a clown and still do, after seeing Gacy as Pogo I’m now on your team.
I must confess I still become wide-eyed with a mix of repulsion and fear at the site of the Wizard of Oz’s ghastly Flying Monkeys. Even non-winged monkeys, with their shriek-shrieks and their creepy little hand-paws are menacing and unpredictable.
So what 'childish thing' scared you as a kid and still does? Snow White’s weird little Dwarfs? Blinky-eyed baby dolls? The tooth-stealing fairy? Or, do you embrace all fantastical figures with childish delight? Of course you do! Well then, try this experiment: watch the Dusk premiere of Darkness Falls. Then turn off the TV and sit alone in pitch darkness. All alone. Pull a blanket over your head, and listen in silence for the sounds of the night. But whatever you do, when an approaching footfall clumps down the darkened hallway, and when you hear the raspy breathing of whatever it is that's skulking towards you...don't look out from under the covers.
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