Scary Movies from Childhood: A Testimony of Early Fears

As many of us can recall, horror movies have a particular impact on our young minds. This journey explores the first encounters with scary films and how they can linger long after childhood. I'll share my personal experience of the first horror movie I watched, along with a childhood memory from a shared horror encounter.

The First Horror Movie: Psycho

My mother was a fan of horror and thriller movies. Even though I was too young to watch most of them, the family tradition was to go to the video store on Fridays and pick out a 'funny bad' horror movie. The first one that truly scared me was Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was around the age of 12 or 13 when I watched it.

When the scene where the character turns the rocking chair around and the object revealed, followed by the eerie music, I was deeply frightened. I jumped out of my seat and landed in my friend's lap. My nervous system was upset by the surprise, which made the experience even more memorable. We were staying at my friend's house during that week, and I even had a delayed penicillin reaction, which had left me looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

More Scary Encounters in Childhood

The first scary scene that involved a child in bed with a rocking horse that glowed and moved was particularly vivid. The sliding motion of the rocking horse was what scared me the most. The way it stared at the child with glowing red eyes and moved slowly across the floor was disturbing. The sound it made added to the realism of the scene and made the experience unforgettable.

This episode has stayed with me, causing nightmares for many years. Every time I thought about the scene, I would cower under the covers and avoid checking my room for any glowing red-eyed toys. Years later, I had a nightmare about a sinister figure in a dark room with glowing red eyes. Some things never change!

Conclusion

The early years are full of transformative experiences, and sometimes a scary movie can be a significant part of those. For me, Psycho and the scene with the glowing red-eyed rocking horse remain deeply imprinted in my memory, showing how our early fears can shape our perceptions for a lifetime. Even at 54, the lingering effects of these early experiences speak to the long-lasting impact of horror movies on our psyches.