How I became a horror movie fan

As protective as my parents could be (especially Mom), they didn’t always think things through clearly. Like it wasn’t probably a great idea to take a five-year-old to see “The Amityville Horror.”

It’s a wonder that I ended up becoming a huge horror movie fan. I could have easily been scarred for life! Sure, watching the movie as an adult I can appreciate the cheese factor, but as a kindergartner, walls that bled were the stuff made of nightmares. Of course, I had an interesting viewpoint, as my mom’s hand came down to cover my eyes every time a “scary” scene appeared. Still, there was the spooky music score to contend with.

Image credit: Amazon.com

I’m guessing my parents didn’t bother to read the reviews or maybe the babysitter cancelled at the last minute, but I will always remember sitting shellshocked in the backseat of the car after the movie, trying to pretend I wasn’t scared out of my mind while my mom explained to me that the movie was just make-believe. She was right in more ways than one, as the “true” story of the haunted house in Amityville was debunked.

Dad didn’t have a problem with horror movies, even though he could have terrible nightmares. But he was definitely not a fan of “The Amityville Horror.” Why? He didn’t like how the priest and nun were depicted in the film!