I’ve started up a blog about horror movies, and I was thinking of making a regular childhood trauma feature, so all this is really useful! I can definitely identify with a lot of your fears. For anyone who wants to know, mine were:

·         IT. More specifically, Pennywise. THAT FUCKING CLOWN. I didn’t even see the actual film until I was about 13, but they showed it on TV when I was seven, and I saw a trailer for it, and that alone left me terrified.

·         The part in Fantasia with the dinosaurs. More specifically, the part at the end of the sequence where they’re all dying, and they’re trudging through the desert, and they can’t find water, and they’re dropping one by one. SO UPSETTING. Weirdly, I loved the ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ sequence where the devil and his minions create havoc. I used to watch that part again and again, and I always got annoyed when the Ave Maria segment began, the devil got scared away, and the people went to church. Looking back, I don’t know why my mother wasn’t more concerned about me.

·         Watership Down. All the rabbits dying horribly! And they were all so mean to each other!

·         The part in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase where the factory owner’s son (who, to be fair, was a dick) gets crushed in a mangle. Ugh, my stomach clenches just thinking about it.

·         Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. I loved the Indiana Jones films, but I was terrified of Arnold Ernst Toht. He was an evil nazi, so I think I’m justified. I was even more terrified when his face melted. That shit just wasn’t right.

·         The Witches. Oh holy moley. I had to sleep with the light on for months after seeing this film. I think because they wore masks and wigs and gloves so they looked like ordinary people, but were really these terrifying monsters. And the fact that they only went after children. Ugh, my dad thought it would be a good idea after this to take me to see a stage play of The Witches. The Grand High Witch had stage makeup that made her look like she was burned, and her eyes glowed red. I spent most of the play hiding under my seat. Thanks, dad.

·         Ursula’s death in The Little Mermaid. Just… ugh.

·         Aslan’s death. This was in the BBC version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that was on TV when I was little. My mum got it for me on video one Christmas, and I watched it all the time, but I had to get her to fastforward through the part where the White Witch kills Aslan. It was more than my little heart could bear. 

·         I used to stay up late when The X-Files was on, and watch it with my headphones plugged into my TV. I could cope with most of it, but I remember two episodes that really freaked me out. There was one called ‘Signs and Wonders’ which was all about demonic possession, and another called ‘Badlaa’ about this little crippled midget who wheeled himself around in a cart and would kill people and live inside their bodies. Although watching that one years later, I was no longer scared when I realised the guy who plays the midget is Deep Roy, the actor for the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’m just glad I never saw the episode ‘Home’ when I was little, because that shit is terrifying.

·         Jurassic Park. Mostly the raptors, if I’m honest. And the fact that they were so clever and worked as a team. Though the T-Rex was pretty terrifying as well. I was scared of that film, but I loved it dearly.