Gotcha where I wantcha. Now I'm gonna eatcha!

The Mexploitation horror blog is asking an interesting question: "What made you get into horror?" I don't remember a defining moment in my life; a couple of things combined to do the trick. One was an early exposure to classic horror films. I remember seeing the original King Kong on a big screen at my elementary school and Son of Frankenstein at our local children's museum. Occasionally a local TV station would run Creature from the Black Lagoon or another Universal monster film.

Even before those experiences though, was a love of scary stories. I loved collections of ghost stories and I loved those stories kids tell each other about babysitters in the house alone.

Alvin Schwartz has combined those two loves in a set of books called Scary Stories that collects spooky urban legends and folklore with disturbing illustrations by Stephen Gammell. I think it's cool that it's marketed under Children's Books. That and my Mexploitation-inspired recollections reminds me that a fascination with horror and being scared starts very young. As a parent and someone who's trying to write a kid-appropriate horror comic, that's good to remember.