I’ve written before about what made me fall in love with horror. It was Tom Holland’s Child’s Play, namely my mom’s willingness to let me watch it ad nauseum growing up. I even remember the first time I was introduced to it—there was a trailer that played on my VHS copy of Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy. While I can’t specifically place the first time I saw every horror movie I’ve seen, a few do stand out as tender reminders of my introduction to the genre. There was my awful first day of sixth grade (kids called me mean names) that my mom assuaged by renting me Scream 3 from Blockbuster. Then there was watching The Descent with my friends a year later during winter break. There was renting Tod Browning’s Freaks on Netflix in high school whereupon an entire new world of horror opened up to me.
Earlier this week, Reddit matched my nostalgia by asking; what was the movie that made you fall in love with horror?
The original poster’s story is incredibly sweet. Both he and a friend watched Halloween. Two decades later, they continue to “Geek out” over it. For other posters, it was less about specific movie, more about a specific channel. Growing up, I couldn’t get enough of both Fearnet and Shock Til’ You Drop. Talk about a throwback, right?
Phantasm resonates with me, too, because it’s my mom’s touchstone horror movie. For decades, both she and her brother shared a perennial fear of the Tall Man. Those memories even helped her grieve when he passed away.
I also have to call out the poster who spotlighted The Others. Watching that for the first time was a formative experience for me. It remains one of my favorite horror movies ever, and I was fortunate enough to revisit it in length for its anniversary.
The Ring is also a popular entry on the Reddit post, with several commentators pointing out their first experience with Gore Verbinski’s masterful remake of Hideo Nakata’s classic. Now I desperately want to watch The Ring again.
I encourage you to check the full Reddit post out. It’s as tender and earnest a post as they come, full of horror fans connecting over shared scares, and shared experiences. And, of course, I want to know what movie made you fall in love with horror. Definitely let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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