As I have written about before in year’s past, I am not a huge fan of Halloween. I know, I know, I’m a bad gay. I just can’t get into dressing up, whether it’s in a cumbersome or skimpy costume, I don’t do well with makeup and asking strangers for candy lost its appeal when I got old enough to just go buy my own.
But what I do love about this season — the movies. I love scary movies. It doesn’t matter if they are slasher films, ghost stories, B-movie cheesy monster flicks, I love them all. It’s nice to get the adrenaline running and be scared in a controlled environment free from any actual danger.
For me, horror films and comedies must be watched with someone. There is no better movie-watching experience than getting scared or laughing with friends, family or a theater full of complete strangers.
I have a couple of people in my social circle that are my go-to watch buddies for certain types of horror movies. My brother Joey is the person to watch a good “bad film” with. He is also my go to for movies like “Saw” and “Final Destination,” what are lovingly referred to as torture porn horror films. My roommate Chris is the one I turn to for movies about ghosts, haunted houses, demonic possessions and zombie flicks. But my original scary movie watching buddy, the one who introduced me to the genre, is my Aunt Lori.
Aunt Lori is my mom’s sister but being only seven years older than me, she was always more like an older sister to me. She gave me my first cup of coffee when I was probably too young to be drinking it, she took me to my first dance club and she started my love-hate relationship with Freddy Kreuger when she let me watch “A Nightmare on Elm Street” for the first time when I was but a wee lad.
We were living in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the 1980s and I was about seven or eight years old. My parents were heading out for a Saturday night of grown-up fun without the kids and Aunt Lori was on deck to babysit. As the parents headed out, Aunt Lori grabbed the TV Guide, flipped to the listings for that night and there, in black and white, it read: HBO double feature – “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.”
“You all want to watch a scary movie tonight?” she asked me and my siblings. We lit up like devious little children who knew we were about to be allowed to do something our mother wouldn’t have let us do if she was there.
“What scary movie?” we asked. And then she gave us a preview of what we could expect. A monster hunting you in your dreams, killing you the moment you fell asleep. Then she put her hand in the air, wiggling her fingers back and forth and started to sing “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Three, four, better lock the door.” I remember her chasing us around the house trying to get us while we screamed and ran. I get that same feeling of fear and excitement inside whenever I start a scary movie.
We made popcorn, turned the lights off and climbed under a blanket and it was time for the movie to start. As the opening scene played out and I heard Freddy Kreuger laugh and the noise of him sliding the knives of his glove against metal, I knew I would never have a proper sleep again. The movie terrified me in all the best ways.
As I get older, I realize I’m forgetting a lot of memories from when I was a kid. I’ll be having a conversation with a family member and they will mention something about when we were kids and I’ll think, “Really, that happened? I must have forgot.” But sitting underneath that blanket with my heart racing as Freddy Krueger ruined my ability to dream peacefully is an amazing moment that I will never forget. To this day, the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films are my favorite scary movies and I occasionally still get an overnight visit in my dreams from Freddy, and I have my Aunt Lori to thank for that.
So this Halloween, if you have a niece or nephew, a kid brother or sister, or maybe your own small children, pick a scary movie that is inappropriate for their age and watch it with them. You just might make an everlasting memory for them.
In this issue, we look at how conservative groups and financial institutions are attacking content creators on OnlyFans. We also have a one-on-one with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. The LGBTQ super ally talks about his support of and work for the community as he prepares to leave office
