Born to parents whose wedding bands are modeled after the One Ring, I was introduced to The Hobbit at a very young age. The movies were on constant replay once they came out, of course, but I also read the children’s book two or three times by the time I was in seventh grade. Gollum was my original nightmare–his entire presence in the book is extremely creepy, and the many versions of him in the media are all equally scary. The version that scared me the most, however, was the 1977 animated film version of Gollum, where he looks like a huge frog dipped in battery acid and has the voice of a nightmare. Brace yourself before you look that one up.
Coraline is known for being both equally feared and loved, but I have always been terrified of it. Neil Gaiman knows exactly what children are scared of, and I am not afraid to admit I was his target audience. The character that was scariest to me was Mr. Bobinsky. With his odd appearance and creepy rat circus, I went to sleep every night scared that he would flip into my room and kidnap me. Needless to say, Coraline still scares me, and to this day I refuse to watch the film ever again.
Some of the coziest memories I have of my childhood involve The Spiderwick Chronicles. My sisters and I used to curl up next to my mom in her bedroom, listening to her for hours on end as she read each book to us. While the books are really well written and interesting, the goblins were always my least favorite part. The illustrations creeped me out from the beginning, but as they became a bigger part of the story and the protagonist was warned not to step outside the protective rock circle, they only made my fear grow. When the movies were released I knew they would be in my nightmares, and I was right. Every time I went outside that year I stayed clear of the woods in my backyard, just in case.
We all know fairytales have horrible origins from the Grimm Brothers, and as a child, I was obsessed with the dark tales that turned into Disney movies. When I discovered A Tale Dark and Grimm I was in about 4th or 5th grade, and I absolutely loved the dark yet enchanting themes. Although charming, this book still had a character that caused me to only read during the day: the Devil. Not only is this character extremely predatory and spooky with his pointy chin and three golden hairs, but his silhouette on the cover always freaked me out. Luckily, I was still able to finish this book and the rest of the series despite my fear.
Literature can shape us in so many ways, and fear is certainly one of them. While these characters scared me as a child, as an adult I can finally learn to appreciate their stories. They may have given me nightmares, but that simply means that they were written well enough to impact me. If this wasn’t true, I wouldn’t be writing this blog!
Callie Andrews, Pine Reads Review Writer, Social Media, & Web