For many of us whom Ron "Monster Bash" Adams refers to as Monster Boomers, our love for the classic (and not so classic) horror films of yore began at an early age, when monster flicks were fun and there wasn't a hockey mask in sight.  In some cases, we initiated our entry into the love of scary movies and, in other cases, it was kind of thrust upon us.  The following is a perfect example of the latter situation, in which a kid was led screaming...

By ANDY VAUGHN

(Note: Once again, we have the pleasure of introducing a new writer to HORROR-WOOD.  Andy Vaughn is a tried-and-true Monster Boomer of the "old school" and, as he wrote us, "I just discovered your fantastic Website a few days ago, and I must say, your e-zine is the Famous Monsters Of Filmland for this generation! I am 45 years old, and a true "child" of pop culture! FM was one of the magazines that I cut my teeth on throughout the Sixties and Seventies! It's great to see that you have carried on the tried and true tradition of informing a new generation of the wonders of "what has passed before." I salute you, Renfield...you fiend!")

Most classic horror movie aficionados can attribute their "mad mania" from some grossly unsettling event which sits in their collective minds like a pouty, preserved brain lying in a dusty formaldehyde filled container on Dr. Frankenstein’s shelf.

It’s funny, in a humorous vein, that Nietzsche’s saying, runs true most of the time, and that we can turn this around, and say, "That which scares us, makes us braver"! It certainly rang true for me in the summer of 1964, for that was the year that I can attest to my first major spook, and in the most surprising of circumstances!

I was getting ready to turn five years old in August of that year, and had not yet started school. In fact, according to information that I turned up later, the whole thing took place in July. I was the quintessential baby boomer; a child who’s best friend was that electronic one-eyed monster that sat in the living room, babysitting me with reruns of The Adventures of Superman, Supercar, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker and Dick Tracy!

Occasionally, my mother and I would load up in the car with my older sister (she is 19 years older than me) and her daughter, to go to the movies! At that time, Springfield, Ohio had two walk-in theaters and three drive-ins. Most of the time we would take in a Jerry Lewis or Elvis movie, a James Bond flick, and the classic Disney icons, which, back then were only re-released every seven years.

I will never forget the day! It was a Saturday afternoon. We were going to see Walt Disney’s Lady And The Tramp. We got to the Regent Theater with its rich blood red and black brocaded carpeting and ornately carved ornamentations in plenty of time before the movie started.

They do not make movie theaters like this anymore! It was a monster by itself, and I always remembered feeling uneasy walking through its huge, glass doors. As always, a stop at the concession stand was essential to our movie enjoyment. In those days, they served the hot buttered popcorn in the sturdy ButterCup Popcorn cup or tub (Oh, its Butter-Cup…Popcorn…take sweet cream butter, and hot popcorn…)!

We entered the massive theater that had to seat 300 people or more. We usually set about half way down, on the right side. I would climb up in the seat and start munching on Mom’s popcorn as we waited for those thick, purple asbestos curtains to creep open and start the show!

The lights began to drop, as the visage of Donald Duck hit the curtains just before they began to part. We actually were treated to two cartoons that day, before the actual movie commenced. Those were the days…no commercials, only one or two trailers and then on with the show.

After the second cartoon (the name of which escapes me at this time) the screen went black for a minute or two…and then I heard a scream! Then from some ethereal darkness came the sick groan of some poor unfortunate fool, and then another scream. I felt my mother’s arm go around my shoulders as my hands immediately flew to cover my ears from the incredible noise!

Suddenly, a disembodied head began to float eerily on the screen, and I knew that this didn’t look like Lady And The Tramp!

It wasn’t until 30 years later that I learned that the movie was House On Haunted Hill, which, strangely enough, has become one of my all time favorite horror fests! As the movie rolled on, I remember covering my eyes and ears several times, while I could hear my mother comfort me through the rough parts, telling me not to look here or there, or saying that "it’ll be over in a minute". Yeah…right!

Just then I watched as Nora Manning approached her suitcase which lay on top of her bed. For some reason, I peeped out from behind laced fingers as she opened that suitcase and revealed a frighteningly bloody head!!! That was the last straw…I lost it, and started a little scream fest of my own.

Mom grabbed my little hand and we quickly exited the auditorium, and went down stairs to a women’s lounge. Mom began to sooth my tortured cries, and I remember her distinctly telling me over and over again, "It’s just a movie." We stayed in the lounge for awhile and then went out and began walking in the lobby, as one of the greatest horror movies of modern times played on in the auditorium.

The girl at the concession stand finally came out to tell us that House on Haunted Hill had finally ended and that Lady and the Tramp was beginning. We rushed in and took our seats as the Walt Disney- Buena Vista logo hit the screen and I was once again safe and secure in knowing that I could count on watching a feature length cartoon now, instead of hearing rattling chains, and seeing gruesome heads!

It really was a strange thing, and I never truly learned why the theater showed a horror movie and a Disney cartoon back-to-back. But later in life I happened upon an old copy of the Springfield newspaper and there, in all its glory, was the ad for a Saturday matinee in July of 1964 featuring House on Haunted Hill and Lady and the Tramp! Most unusual!

I went for years not knowing the name of that frightful flick, and then in the early Nineties, while watching House, I saw the scene with the bloody head! I threw my head back and howled…I knew instantly that this was the movie that freaked me out when I was four years old! I somehow know, in the far recesses of my mind, that this was the movie that sparked my interest in Famous Monsters Of Filmland, the Aurora monster models, and all of those great horror movie dusk-‘til-dawn showings that I attended throughout the Seventies at the Stardust and the New Moon drive-Ins.

So, fangs a lot to William Castle!!! He remains to this day, the only "ghoul" movie director to run me out of a theater screaming bloody murder at the top of my lungs! Castle indelibly etched what ‘ghosts’ into making a true horror movie! I can only imagine what I would have done if I had seen it during the original run with Emergo?

Thanks, Andy!  That's a great Monster Boomer memory, and it's certainly a twist on the usual scenario, in which kids were supposed to go see, say, some Disney flick but watched a cool Corman or Castle chiller instead.  But any introduction to the fun of scary films is a good introduction.

Article copyright © Andy Vaughn

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