Traumatized for Life: A Childhood Memory #MFRWAuthor Blog Hop, Week 21
I managed to harvest a photo from the past, and a childhood memory of an event that forever impacted my choice of entertainment.
Rites of Passage
Most likely my brother has just said something to annoy me, thus my frown and his smirk.
The date: May 8th. My brother and I made our First Holy Communion along with 30 or 40 other children. I was in first grade, he was in second. We’d moved the summer before, and the base chapel where my dad was stationed before worked on a different sacramental schedule. My poor brother got stuck with little first graders.
First Communion is a huge rite of passage involving much preparation. We practiced our processional, endured hours of catechism, shopped for the dress, the veil, the shoes, and in my brother’s case, a suit. All the extended family attended, even the Methodists and Baptists in our little clan.
And then, all the family piled into cars and went back to our tiny two-bedroom house where my parents hosted a big party in our honor.
And then…
With all the cousins running around in the tight little space, someone turned on a movie to distract us: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Good Lord!
The Chucky Face
I know, I know, it’s a funny movie, if you watch it as an adult. Abbott and Costello are hilarious. But my seven-year-old reaction was the same as my son’s when he came home from a sleepover at a friend’s house when he was seven. His host had put on the first Chucky movie.
That day I went from receiving Jesus in Holy Communion to having the Bejesus scared out of me!
I don’t really do horror
Though people have pushed me to try. I saw Halloween in the movie theater. Yes, the 1978 version with Jamie Lee Curtis. Shortly thereafter, I broke up with the guy who insisted I go with him to watch it. Nowadays, if my husband is watching a horror movie at home, I leave the room when it gets to be too much for me. I’ve probably seen all of The Shining incrementally, chopped up into manageable pieces.
I know. I’m a wimp.
This is a blog hop so please hop along with my fellow MFRW authors to see what they remember from childhood.
Image credits: the author, IMDB (movie poster), and depositphotos.com (Chucky face)
ALina – you are far from a wimp!!! One of my favorite things is a scary movie – the scarier the better. But I have friends who don’t like to watch all the blood, gore, and horror. Doesn’t make them wimps and you’re not one either! BTW That Abbot and Costello movie? I’ve seen it over 200 times! Yeah – it’s just that funny.
I’ve seen snippets of it as an adult and it really is hilarious. But…I still have a fear reaction to the Wolfman in that movie, like a tiny bit of PTSD. Thanks for taking time to comment, Peggy.
I feel your pain. I don’t do horror, either. Never have. I remember watching some scary movie about a preying mantis when I was a kid and lying awake for what felt like hours afterward, scared out of my wits. Don’t blame you one bit for breaking up with that guy!
Haha. I’m glad I found a guy who puts up with my aversion to horror!
OMG Chucky at 7??? What in the world. I don’t blame your son for being scared. I’ve not seen the movie you mentioned, but I’m the same way with horror. I’m not a fan. My hubby and I did do a marathon session of the Friday the 13th movies because in this day and age to me they were more comical than scary. Not gonna lie, the Nightmare on Elmstreet movies though can still get me.
Yeah, we were surprised too. The friend was 8, but still… I can do fun movies like Practical Magic at Halloween, or ghost hunter shows, but otherwise, no slashers for me!
Isn’t it amazing how our child mind can interpret something like Abbott and Costello as super scary? I still avoid watching Village of the Damned because it scared the bejeebers out of me when I was 8! I have watched some horror, and it doesn’t take much to send me over the edge with that. NOPE NOPE NOPE!!!
I’m with you, Elle!
I’m not a fan of scary movies, either. As a teen I went to see Pit and the Pendulum and The Tingler at the same time. I had nightmares for…ever. During the movie they stopped the film and turned off the lights. Someone came over the speaker and said the Tingler was in the theater. LOL I can LOL now. So I stay away from scary. You and your brother look very cute.
The Tingler– that’s one I don’t know! I’ll have to check it out!
Picture a larger than life centipede. Ick!
Big time ick!
I sympathize, Alina. I’m not into horror either. My favorite horror movies are Love at First Bite and Young Frankenstein! I think I did see the Abbott and Costello movie as a child, but I guess it didn’t scare me too much. A&C were hilarious.
You were adorable in your first Communion dress.
Aww, thanks, Linda. My mother gave me that dress when I was an adult. We didn’t have a lot of money, so it was a big expenditure, and she hung onto it. I think I finally got rid of it after she died.
LOL! I had a similar reaction to Abbot and Costello Meet Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde when I was ~6. Church showed children’s movies after mass, and me, my sister and my cousin went to see that show. I got so scared I wanted to leave. My big sister refused to leave but my cousin Paulette agreed to walk me home. I still don’t like horror, but most movies are closer to funny than scary.
It really is a pretty funny movie, just not for a little kid!
I’m with you – NOT a fan of horror movies! I remember seeing one at a kid’s Halloween party. My younger sister was there (and I SWEAR it was the praying mantis movie Sherry mentioned). I was scared, so I told them that it was really my little sister who was afraid and I had to take her home. Got me out of seeing it, lol.
Little sisters can be useful at times! Glad I’m not alone in my horror of horror!