Friday, July 13, 2012

What Are YOU Afraid Of??


...for me it was Jack in the Boxes with their non-musical 'clink clink clink' before the deformed puppet jumped out of the box. I used to dream of a large one in my front yard that would pull me back inside of the box to kill me. And yes it was a clown Jack in the Box. Why is it always a clown Jack in the Box? Even that Jack guy that sells burgers on TV gives me the willies.

But nothing got to me more than one night when I fell asleep as a kid while watching TV with my folks. When I woke up this National Film Board of Canada short was playing and I couldn't even breath I was so paralyzed with fear. Fuck you NFB and your multicultural mosaic! They often show it when they need to fill a minute of air time and I usually watch it to the end just because I can't get my fingers to work the remote and I think that if I do turn the channel they will know and come for me later. And that Renaissance flute music? Positively bone chilling!



8 comments:

M. D. Jackson said...

I had the same experience but for some reason it was always Ryan Larkin's animated NFB film WALKING that was more unsettling to me. To this day I can't quite figure out why, but it disturbs me on a very deep level.

Kal said...

I have never seen that film before. I have to find it to see why it terrified you so.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

I like how Pierre Trudeau turns into the baby right at the very end. Tell me I'm not right, eh? Eh?

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

For me its always been crowds. I never minded being in a confined space, but fill that small space with an army of people and I would claw my way out of there.

I was watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark" the other day, and nearly soiled myself during the scene were Marion is running through the piles of mummies and there have been similarly frightening scenes in zombie flicks like "Dawn of the Dead".

I wonder if it might be linked to a fear or subconscious memory of suffocation given how crowds seem to crush or choke an individual out of existence.

Kal said...

Erik we must have been seperated at birth. I can't do crowds, Christmas crowds are bad but summer crowds are the worse. There is no were to cool down from all the people.

Kal said...

Unless you figure out a way to freeze them at will with some easy to carry source of liquid nitrogen.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Exactly why I do my shopping either online or through local second hand stores. I only go out to the mall if I have a coupon for something and go to movies early in the morning so I can have as little interference as possible.

Though I guess this means I'll never attend something big like San Diego Comic Con.

Speaking of sales, I wish there was someway to tell that to all these people who have been coming by trying to sell me stuff door-to-door. The door is open for air circulation! It is not an invitation!

Kal said...

Online shopping is a gift. The mall is so hit and miss. Plus there are positions for snipers throughtout the complex. I am a big enough target as it is.

I resigned myself to the fact that my best way to enjoy the comicon 'experience' was right from my chair. The best cosplay and stories and video come my way. I don't have to suffer for the experience. There should be a badge for everyone who CAN do the pilgrimage. It really is our North American Summer Pop Culture Mecca.