Yes, This Will Be On the Test

Writing, Reading, Laughing

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

N is for NIGHTMARES


Welcome to Yes, This Will Be On the Test.
Waving to visitors, new followers, and fellow A to Z participants. I’m sending virtual hugs to you all for taking a moment to stop by.

I’ll be sharing my “take-aways.” All those snigglets, golden nuggets, and lessons learned from other creative sources.

Scroll down this link to find other wonderful A to Z participants.

The first fellow to give me nightmares was -


the wolf from Peter and the Wolf. 
Prokofiev's music was the icing on the terror cake. I was sure Mr. Wolf lived under my bed. As a kid, I would leap off my bed into the center of my room if I had to get up at night so a wolfish paw wouldn't drag me to my doom.

When I was twelve, I read LORD OF THE RINGS and the wolf was usurped by -


the Nazgul.

Thanks, JRR Tolkien, my nightlight stayed on until I went to college.

TAKE AWAY - 
An effective villain creeps off the page smack dab into your nightmares.

Who scared the bejeepers out of you?

34 comments:

  1. The Wicked Witch scared the heck out of me and was in my nightmares.

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    1. I refused to go on the Disneyland Snow White blacklight ride for years because of the witch.

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  2. I didn't read scary books so I can't name anyone.
    Nana Prah

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  3. I used to be scared of bears, tigers, and the Wicked Witch.

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  4. Maleficent used to scare the crap out of me when I was little. Not as herself, but when she turned into that giant black dragon. *shudders*

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    1. That transformation was wrong on so many levels.

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  5. Oh my gosh! That peter and the wolf short is nightmare fuel. So is Secret of NIMH, but I actually watched that countless times as a kid. It made my parents worry. :)

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    1. What - NIMH was scary? I never saw it. *Heads to Netflix*

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  6. The wicked witch in Snow White and the forest scene. Then there was poor Hansel and Gretel, lost in the forest. Then I saw The Birds movie by Alfred Hitchcock. So, all nature scared me silly! This must be why I love scary stories:)

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    1. My short story in Paramourtal 2 (shameless plug - see sidebar) is a Hansel and Gretel 10 years later story. I scared myself writing it.

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  7. Disney's cartoonists were the best at creating characters who made me keep the light on at night.

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  8. I don't remember a particular character, but now that you mention it, that wolf is really, really scary, considering it's a children's story!

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    1. Cartoon wolves scare me, but I think the real ones are amazing.

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  9. Anything with clowns was enough to send me to bed with nightmares, no matter how happy it was. To this day I think they're creepy but thanks to my husband shoving them in my face so much I no longer want to hide under my blankets when I see one.

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  10. I always stayed away from scary books... even now, I can't really read horror...

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    1. You'd think I'd learn my lesson, yet I just got into American Horror Story on TV. Break out the nightlight.

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  11. Reality scares me now.
    The first Amityville horror was creepy. Who didn't see pig eyes outside of their window after that? Before that was Jaws. I didn't want to go near the bathtub for months.

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    1. Jaws ruined the beach for me and I grew up right next to it.

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  12. Awesome. The big ones that got me: dolls. (Like the Porcelain doll, you know, the doll Chucky was based off?) I also saw a movie where a mirror killer existed. As in, if you could see your reflection, he could appear and kill you. It was pretty freaky and I was a little scared of mirrors for a while.

    True Heroes from A to Z

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    1. I used to teach with someone who kept hiding a Chucky doll in my classroom. It got me every time.

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  13. IT and Freddy...I did not like kruger...still don't...*shivers* and IT...nope, won't go there.

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    1. Stephen King stories made me barricade my door with furniture while I slept - or tried to sleep.

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  14. Bob from Twin Peaks.

    There was a scene when he was sort of crawling over the back of a sofa. I was raised on horror movies and that was the first time a show creeped me out so much I had to look away.

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  15. I don't get nightmares from movies easily but the movie Conjuring creeped me out for a LONG time.

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  16. I didn't need any help from movies. When I was a kid, I was sure there was a monster under the bed and at least one in the basement, probably more! And -- ahem -- it's possible that sometimes being alone in the house still creeps me out...

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    1. I think basements are required to come with monsters.

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  17. Nothing scares me.

    (What do you think I'd reveal it on the Internet?)

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  18. The description of Randall Flagg in The Stand is utterly chilling. While Jamey Sheridan did a wonderful job of bringing the villainous Flagg to life in the miniseries, there was no way he or anyone else could truly impart the terror that Stephen King evoked with his words.

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