Halloween Memories and Recommedations

When I was growing up in Long Beach I used to go trick or treating with my older brother Jon on Halloween. He is 3 1/2 years older than me and as you might expect he couldn't wait to dump me at every turn. I would follow him around lagging behind, calling his name, crying and being just a general pain in the ass.

We lived around the corner from The Laurel movie theater. It was an huge old style movie theater with high ornate ceilings and a balcony where Long Beach's young people would go to makeout. Jon got stuck taking me to The Laural every Saturday morning and of course, he would dump me as soon as we got there.

The Laurel Movies and Luncheonette

The Laurel would show scary movies around Halloween and most of the time my Mom wouldn't let me go when they were playing. I was prone to nightmares and these movies didn't help things. I remember being really mad at her for not letting me see Gorgo. Gorgo was a Godzilla wannabe and Mom knew that it had all the trappings of a movie that would scare the crap out of me. I wonder why she didn't think this stuff when Thirteen Ghosts showed up playing at The Laurel when I was about 9 or so.

Jon and Little Sister PITA(pain in the ass)

Jon took me to the movies that day and when we got there we were given special glasses on the way in. It was filmed in the old style 3-D and you needed the glasses to see the movie without all the blurring. I remember that it didn't take long for me to get a really uncomfortable and funny feeling in my stomach once the movie started. I started whining to Jon who was partying with our neighbor friend Layne. Just like any older brother he more than didn't want to be bothered with me.

As the movie went on I got more and more scared and as a little girl would do, I started to cry. Well, that was more than Jon could take. It was totally uncool to be stuck with your little sister at the movies but even more so when she was crying. Instead of taking me home or doing some other good brotherly thing he got up, told me he was going to get candy and never came back. There I was absolutely scared out of my wits crying up a storm. A friendly stranger talked me down and when the movie was over I ran home hysterical. Jon got into big trouble with Mom for that one and me? I didn't sleep for weeks. Neither did Mom.

Jon, Me and Layne in our 20's

I was angry with Jon for many years over the Thirteen Ghosts incident and have thrown it in his face often over the fourty plus years since it happened. Of course, all these years Jon has called me a wimp. He remembers it as a stupid movie that was unworthy of the stink that I put up. I remembered it as being the scariest movie I ever saw.

Recently I saw that Thirteen Ghosts was going to be on TV and I decided to watch it to prove to myself that I have actually grown up and would be able to watch it with no fear. I also wanted to prove to myself that I was right and Jon was a crappy brother at the time.

I got my drink, settled in and waited for the movie to start. Once it started it didn't take very long for me to start feeling uncomfortable. I felt the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as I had felt 40 years ago. Well, I lasted about 20 minutes and decided that this time I would not sit and cry. This time I would change the channel.

Jon and I still laugh and joke about Thirteen Ghosts even though I know that I was right and he was wrong. The movie was scary and Jon had been a crappy brother. He has since redeemed himself but little sisters don't forget this stuff.

If you are looking for a scary movie to watch for Halloween try the old original Thirteen Ghosts. It's an oldie but a goodie. Another good one is the original movie called The Haunting. I saw that one at The Laural with Jon too. Once again, it scared the crap out of me but this time Jon stayed with me through the whole thing. I guess he felt guilty. Nah....Oh yeah...don't forget The Crawling Eye. It's another great Halloween flick.

Happy Halloween to all and step away from the candy. :)