With
all Hallows approaching, got me to thinking about a real life scare
that I had a long time ago...
Both
my parents are fright junkies. My Mom filled us full of ghost stories
that she said happened in our family, like the night she watched two
white terry towel bath robes belonging to her two brothers, suddenly
slip off the hooks in the bathroom, crawl across the floor, open the
window in the bedroom and slip out, to disappear forever. Uncle Billy
and Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Alice always backed up the story as did
Granddad. Our Grandmother, whom we called Mother, was also ticked off
because she made the robes, she was a seamstress, and I don't think
she bought the story. Yet they were never found.
My
Dad just liked scaring people, telling us from the time we could
listen about this creature named Bloody Bones. “Bloody Bones is
gonna git you so you better watch out!” He would say imitating the
monster and chasing us around the room, tickling us breathless if he
caught us. Dad had a crooked finger from a fire cracker accident,
which made his hands a lot creepy when he went into his Bloody Bones
act. He also took us to every scary movie that played at the Twin
Drive In, in Bond Hill or Norwood, depending on what side of the
fence you lived on.
As
kids, we were taught and knew not to go into those dark or odd places
where things seemed a bit off, so to speak. Usually I listened, but
one time I got caught. Years later, Hollywood made the movie The
Exorcist. I'd read the book....bought by looking at the cover of the
paperback...didn't know anything about the story...just read
it...couldn't put it down. But it literally scared the hell out of
me. I got to seeing things and smelling smells in my house. My
imagination was working overtime for real.
The
first thing I wanted to do was to get the book out of the house,
which I did. I gave it to my brother in law who was on his way to
Vietnam. He read it and tossed it overboard. It's still at the bottom
of the Gulf of Tonkin, unless some fish scooped it up thinking it was
food. All our conversations turned to that book until he got home.
My sisters, both of them, read it too. The Exorcist was the
recommended book from the Moore sisters that year.
Anyway,
when the movie came out, of course, I had to see it, so my brother
in law and my sister and I drove out to Springdale Cinemas. He was
back by then. The crowd was huge, but so were the winds. A freak
windstorm blew up knocking out electricity for miles around. It was
freaky because other than the winds, the weather wasn't bad, sticky,
cool but no rain, like the rain would come later. All of us in line
were nervously joking about the weather and how maybe Mother Nature
didn't want us to see this movie.
It
was still early in the evening, so the three of us decided to drive
downtown to the Regal Theater in the West End. Chinese Connection was
playing and my brother and I were huge Bruce Lee fans. My sister was
along for the ride, since she didn't like chop socki movies nor
horror films, to this day.
We
got downtown and couldn't get into see Bruce, so we decided to head
home. My sister had to work the next day so my brother and I decided
to meet the next day to see the movie. Trouble is, he thought we were
going to see Bruce and I thought we were going to see The Exorcist.
The next day, I went to Springdale while he went downtown. I waited
and waited for him. Couldn't call because the cell phone addiction
hadn't happened yet . We were still on pay phones and carrying
quarters, just in case. So I butched up and went inside to watch this
movie. whose book had almost literally scared me straight when I
read it. The movie was just as bad/good. The theater was packed, but
I'm alone again with this stupid story. At one point, I realized I
was holding hands with the stranger sitting next to me. In fact we
realized it at about the same time. We looked at each other and
laughed nervously...but we didn't let go....not til the credits.
Then
I went home to find my family... safe again....it was after
all...only a movie.
Epilogue:
A few years later, I met the Priest who performed the real exorcism
and he told me the real story which led to some more sleepless
nights. The real story was so much worse..But I'll save that for
another day.
Happy
Halloween!
1 comment:
From the Hill-
Appreciate the post. Already added you to my blog roll. I needed some way to vent. Does it show?(grin)
The Fool
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