To get in the Halloween spirit, I’m sharing a bookish spine-tingler from the past.
It was a dark and stormy night. . .
No. Wait—
It
A week or so ago, the illustrious Chuck Wendig asked his readers to discuss their favorite Stephen King story. That’s a tough one. I could rattle off at least a dozen of Scary Stevie’s stories that continue to haunt my dreams and spur irrational fears twenty-five years after reading.
Maybe because I read IT when I was thirteen (what the hell were my parents thinking?) and the unlikely heroes of the story were around my age. I was already plagued by an overactive imagination, and IT crawled into kid’s brains and dragged their worst fears and phobias into reality. I’d been creeped out by clowns since watching Poltergeist at eight (again, thanks Mom & Dad). Or maybe IT was just a damn good (though occasionally wordy) tale.
IT preyed upon my irrational phobias. When I was six, I was stuck in the hospital for two long weeks. After my parents left to get some much needed sleep, the sadistic nurses allowed me to watch two movies that tormented me for decades: Piranha and Jaws. Picture it: an already frightened little girl, alone in a dark hospital room, eyes wide in horror as Jaws chomped on Quint and piranhas devoured kids in inner tubes. In the dark hospital room, evil fish baring razor-sharp teeth swam around my bed, waiting for me to dangle a toe in the blood-drenched water.
I saw them for years.
Once I read IT, I became terrified of my swimming pool. The pool had a drain. IT came through drains. IT would appear as a swarm of piranha, stripping my pale flesh with razor-sharp teeth. IT would shift into a shark, pulling me under the turquoise water, swallowing me whole.
I stayed out of the deep end. And I barely swam alone until I was seventeen.
Oh, and there was the little episode of the balloons. . .
My wonderful Dad had read IT before I did. Prankster that he is, he decided to traumatize his child play a prank. The drain in our shower had been loose for weeks. Though I was a mature thirteen, I placed an oversized bottle of shampoo on top of the metal grate, just in case (as I wrote—overactive, occasionally irrational imagination). That evening, I’d dropped my towel in the bathroom. One of my parents called me away, made me do a chore or something before I could turn on the water. When I returned, I pulled back the flowered curtain to find the shower drain tossed against the wall. . . and a bunch of balloons bobbing against the harvest gold tile directly above the open pipe. My parent’s laughter couldn’t drown out my screams. ***
Explains a lot about me, right?
In the spirit of this spooky time of year, which book(s) scared the bejesus out of you?
***Please note: after digging though our respective memories, my mom and I have realized that she bears no responsibility for said “Balloon Incident.” My father admits nothing.
I almost didn’t click on this because I hate clowns so much. I’m glad I did though – I enjoyed your writing : )
Karen
It’s a tie for the book/story that scared the bejesus out of me the most. Two short stories by Stephen King (I think they’re both in the book Nigh Shift) – “The Lawnmower Man” and “Children of the Corn”.
Why do so many of us HATE clowns? There must be a study somewhere. Those were great S.K. stories. Lawnmower Man freaked me out.
My dad used to think for some reason I loved watching scary movies as a kid.
I did not.
So we watched a ton.
I love, love Stephen King but not his super scary stuff.
Amber recently posted…Cats…Freedom on the Freeway… An Adventure with Dad
I can’t read the scary stuff anymore. At all. You’d think it would be easier as an adult. Nope.
I have a fear of clowns that stems from Poltergeist and seeing the cover of “It” in Blockbuster – damn that Pennywise. I never read it, and I tried to read The Shining after I saw the movie. I couldn’t make it past the first chapter. I need to stop watching movies before I read the book.
Dana recently posted…The hidden dangers of room service
Yes—must read the book first! The Shining was awesome, one of S.K.’s best by far. Since the movie is coming out soon, go read THE BOOK THIEF if you haven’t already. Totally not scary (but disturbing, touching, and amazing). Must read that book first.
I hate scary movies and books, so thanks for explaining the premise of “It” without going into gory detail. I don’t think I could have handled that balloon prank.
that cynking feeling recently posted…Creepy crooning
Oh boy, I don’t think I would have dealt with that prank your parents pulled very well. EEK! And I was older when I read IT. Of course, I’m a big chicken-baby.
I’m a big chicken-baby now. I squirm every time I see commercials for Walking Dead and American Horror Story. Age made me more susceptible to being scared somehow.
Not only do I love SK, but I loved IT, too!!! I love being terrified by his stories!!
Rebecca @ Love at First Book recently posted…The Man Who Quit Money by Mark Sundeen
He is the King of terror. ::wink wink:: Have you read Dr Sleep yet? Pure awesomeness.
IT was indeed a frightening tale. Stephen King’s books have scared me more than any other novelist–and that includes Lovecraft.
Tina recently posted…Wrecking the Curve
Somehow, I’ve never read any Lovecraft. {Go ahead, slap my hand.} I should remedy that soon. Thanks for the reminder.
Wow, your parents were evil! 🙂 We live in Boston but have a place in Maine, not too far from Stephen King’s house. Every back road, every town is like something from one of his books. Pet Semetary is one that scares me, but I would have to say The Shining is the one that scares me the most.
Bill Dameron recently posted…Reality TV
I haven’t read the book, but that’s only because I saw the movie and it scared the living crap out of me, so I didn’t even go there. I mean…those fangs…*shudders*
Linda Roy – elleroy was here recently posted…Out To Lunch and Still Waiting For the Check
The book is SO much more terrifying than the movie. Although, Tim Curry did a fab job as the clown.
well the clown in this post did. i also almost didn’t click. freaked me out. i remember IT well. my father read it too and it scared the daylights out of him, so i refused to read it. now i’m glad. when i was younger i saw Salem’s lot, which gave me nightmares for years and of course, jaws, never got over that one.
It’s amazing how movies & books from childhood can freak us out for life. I’m working on getting over Jaws. I didn’t go back in the water until a few years ago (quite a challenge as a beach-going Floridian), and that was only so I wouldn’t pass my phobia on to my kid.
IT – AGH. This was my experience with the book, too, except I was 14 or 15 when I read it. My little sister, four at the time, would hide the book because she thought the cover was so scary. And I had a hard time taking baths for years after.
Natalie – The Cat Lady Sings recently posted…Mother and Son
Great post! Very accurate and well-written. IT is a creepy ass story. I also read it young, around age 12 or so. I read King’s Thinner around the same age, and for some reason that freaked me out more. This was a very enjoyable read, and I love how every reader, who is probably also a great fiction reader, can relate to it in some way — if not with that specific book, certainly a similar book or film. Also, I really like your page layout and design — quite lovely.
Never read the book, but the movie scared me to death. Still can’t look at that clown…had to scroll down really fast past his picture 🙂
Mamarific recently posted…The Phone Call
At least all those fears didn’t go to waste. Look here you are now with a story that would certainly get laughs instead of shivers. And that’s quite a feat in writing. I make people cry with the way I write. Boo hoo
OMG on the balloons- I would have freaked out.
I started reading It about that age as well. And it’s one of the few books that I’ve ever started reading that I didn’t finish. I usually finish anything(even the super awful book I was reading last night that I think might be the worst book ever)- it’s a compulsion of mine. But with that one, I knew I wouldn’t be able to function if I kept reading it.
Favorite Stephen King is hard. The Green Mile was incredible. There are a few stories from Nightmares and Dreamscapes that stick out for me, even though I think it’s been almost 20 years since I read them. Least favorite is Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
Shell recently posted…I Miss It: Pour Your Heart Out
Can you believe that I’ve only ever read one Stephen King? And it was 11/22/63 so not one of his scary ones. I’ve never been one who can handle horror movies or books, and not much has changed even though I’m in my 30’s now!
Shana Norris recently posted…Writing Workshop :: Two Words of Advice to My Younger Self
My favorite Stephen King–although I don’t find it the scariest, just the most engrossing–is “The Stand.” A book that terrified me as a child (before King’s time, since we’re about the same age) was an edition of “Jane Eyre” that included a full-page engraving of the mad Mrs. Rochester bending over Jane in her bed. I was so afraid that some fearsome figure would come in the night to hang over me that way. Just looked at it now (still have the book), and it’s not nearly as frightening as my memory of it.
Linda Lange recently posted…HALLOWEEN AS IT USED TO BE
THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING THAT CREEPY CLOWN AT THE END OF YOUR POST. You didn’t have to write anything else…just that horrid clown would have been enough. Now I’m going to have nightmares about the book AND the clown. How dare you!
Kat recently posted…Your Heart’s Not Small
I love that book! I was a few years older than you when first I read it but I have never looked at clowns the same way since. Of course Poltergeist didn’t help either….
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