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The Projector: Horror For Beginners (Patreon)

Published:
2022-10-07 17:32:39
Imported:
2022-10
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Content

A few days ago, as September turned to October, my daughter made a vow to watch "something spooky" every day of the month. So far, that hasn't worked out that well, though she keeps finding loopholes for things that count as "spooky," like the (very silly) video game Ultimate Chicken Horse (because cartoon animals being in peril is apparently spooky enough).

So far I've tried to show her one spooky thing, an episode of The Twilight Zone that terrified me when I was a kid: "The Dummy." If you've seen it you'll know what I'm talking about. It's the one where Cliff Robertson plays a ventriloquist in an unhealthy relationship with "Willy," his dummy, whom he believes to be alive (and who truly does seem to be alive). For a week after watching it, Willy's voice saying "I wouldn't put you in a box!" gave me the shivers.

She thought it was pretty good. Not scary, though.

This was exactly the reaction she had when I showed her Poltergeist, another nightmare-inducing experience from my childhood. "Pretty good. Not scary." So I decided to up the intensity. I showed her The Ring, the 2002 remake of Ringu that I remembered as a truly scary movie, but also one that was more suggestive than graphic. She liked it a lot. It didn't scare her. The Others: same reaction. Did I mention she's 11?

As a horror movie fan I love her enthusiasm. As a responsible parent I'm not sure what to do next. I know there are some truly next-level horror films that she'd find upsetting, but I don't want to subject her to those. But could she handle Dawn of the Dead? It's gory, but I'm not sure her generation is as upset by gore, or at least that kind of gore, from an era defined by extremely fake-looking blood. And maybe it's a generational thing. Scott tells a story about his father being so scared by a movie that he chewed through a leather belt to calm his nerves. That movie: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

So consider this a prompt for the Halloween season. Is there a responsible way cultivate a kid's horror interest? Any recommendations?

In the meantime, we hope you're enjoying our current double feature. We're currently halfway through a pairing of The Long Goodbye and Confess, Fletch.

Oh, and as a supplement to our Don't Worry Darling bonus episode, please enjoy this experiment recreating the film in The Sims, conducted by Vulture.

Files

Comments

Mark

I'm pretty sure I was watching Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street movies on TV (i.e. nudity censored out) at the age. I can't remember if I was *allowed* to, but I did. ANoES did give me nightmares, but eh, you take the good with the bad. Didn't stop me from wanting to watch more. /From the school of thought, "what I did as a child should constitute as good parenting, right?"

jamsheed siyar

I watched The Shining when I was a couple of years older and it frightened the shit out of me. Obviously big difference between 11 and 13 and also I watched things at wildly inappropriate ages probably.

Michelle M

Has she seen Over the Garden Wall? That may not scare her per se but it’s definitely spooky and ramps up the intensity as it goes.

ducki3x

My horror-obsessed daughter watched the original Halloween about that time, and it landed perfectly. She's also a big fan of Ti West's The Innkeepers and Dream Warriors (the best Elm Street in her opinion).

Jonathan Anderson

My first was Alien, which I thought was horribly boring and way worse than Aliens until that night when I realized any sleep I got was going to be a blessing because I was just petrified. I'll second Brian and say Halloween though, I feel like that's a good introduction. Not quite as scary as Nightmare on Elm Street and not as gross out as some of the later slashers.