Has someone or something reminded
you lately to write your personal history?
If you haven’t finished it (meaning you’re not walking dead yet), here’s an idea: make a list of Halloween/scary
memories you can flesh-out later (oooh,
gross!) I find writing my history by
topic works better than writing chronologically. It’s like the “swiss-cheese method” that makes
a project look like bites taken here and there; (think rats, not vampires.) As I recall from reading the book many years
ago, “swiss cheese” is my favorite part of How
to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, a little paperback
book by Alan Lakein; (he deserves thumbs-up credit here.) (OK, I’m trying to control myself.)
(A
little chronology here:) <(No, MS-Word, I don’t want a smiley face! Undo!)
My
earliest scary memory is a nightmare – the worst ever. A huge, menacing black bear in the stormy night sky was reaching down to grab me. I barely escaped, in spite of my agonizing, slow-motion run across our big backyard on Second Avenue. (Why couldn't I move my legs faster?! I tried so hard! Aaaagh!!)
I may have had this dream more than once, never to be forgotten.
“1954
[attraction opened as] Spook House” This
must be the ride I remember at Lagoon (amusement park in Farmington, Utah) – very scary for me at the time! A classic, shocking, jerky-ride spook alley, totally out of my control. – lagoonpark.com/pdf/... (page 8 of 42)
Late
one night, three days ago, I heard a Halloween special broadcast of Exploring Music on Classical 89 (BYU) radio
that told a story of a banshee. "Demons,
Spooks and Other Things That Go Bump In The Night” was presented by the host, Bill
McGlaughlin. This reminded me of a film I saw when I was young, that scared me so much when the banshee appeared, as my
younger brother crawled under the theater seat, I wanted to go with him! “Darby
O'Gill and the Little People, a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film
starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O'Dea …” – en.wikipedia.org
Google
defines banshee: “(in Irish legend) a female spirit whose wailing warns of an
impending death in a house.” Urbandictionary.com
morphs it eerily: “A mythological,
female, magical creature that flies all night looking for prey. They feed on
people's sadness. They kill by screaming in such a high …” (Sorry -- this is too
scary.)
Naturally (spookily), like everything now, you
can watch the scariest part on YouTube: “The
Appearance of the Banshee” with Connery and the old man calling, looking for
young Katie, and finally the banshee appearing as the elder found her fallen on the
mountain. “Keep away! Keep away from her!!”
Imagine it using today’s computer graphics! Old is “bad” (good and scary) here.
– youtube.com/watch?v=rhxC_1wuo3E
– youtube.com/watch?v=rhxC_1wuo3E
Another
movie, about a dark, scary mansion at night, makes me shudder to this day. As a tender young boy, I walked with a friend
to an old theater in downtown Salt Lake.
I distinctly remember entering late, just as a small box was opened ...
with a human head inside! I was ready to turn around and go home right
then! "House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American horror film … and stars
Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren. …" – en.wikipedia.org
Get
the picture? Jot down some of yours on a scratch paper or whatever. For fun! (I
could insert a picture here, but it might frighten the little ones.)
