The Ramblings of Guise Dugal

Ok, not all the terrors of my childhood, but just a sample of things that freaked me out as a kid, and in some cases continue to bother me to this day.

Clowns
Clowns don’t scare me as much as bother me, theres something about people wearing too faces at once, able to smile while being angry and laugh while crying. I feel uncomfortable around them, however, they make the best villains in my opinion – such as Joker, Pennywise, Chief Clown.

Examples :

From Left : Joker (Jack Nicholson) from Batman, Pennywise (Tim Curry) from Stephen King’s IT, and Chief Clown from Doctor Who : Greatest Show In The Galaxy

Scarecrows
Scarecrows are much like Clowns, in that they don’t scare me as much as bother me. Wurzel Gummidge was the old freak out for me, and I know I’m not the only one who dislikes Scarecrows, they’ve had a use in movies for years as a portent or form of evil (Tim Burton uses scarecrows as a trademark that he directed the movie). The main fear aspect comes from the idea of an innocent humanoid dummy coming to life, but able to return to innocent form when needed.

Living in a village where scarecrows were quite common was therefore damaging to the psyche, especially during storms when the lightning and wind would give the strobe light effect of movement. Worst was when an allotment on the hill, up from the Primary School I went to, had a scarecrow visible from the school playground that would fall down out of view and we’d see the gardener walking around and later the scarecrow would be back.

Examples :

From Left : Wurzel Gummidge (Jon Pertween) from Wurzel Gummidge

Spiders
Spiders but me at unease, too many legs and eyes, and the whole web thing to help catch bugs which it will then proceed to drain the fluid from.  Of course, I know I have little to worry of them, but I’d rather have them nowhere near me. This wasn’t helped by the increase in spiders in TV and Film, such as Dr Who (Planet of Spiders) and Knightmare (with Ariadne’s Lair).

Examples :

From Left : Great Old One from Doctor Who : Planet of Spiders

Autons/Empty Eye Sockets
The Autons were one of the scariest Doctor Who enemies I saw as a young sprog, they were unlike any other enmy I had seen, they were as commited and invading as the Cybermen or Daleks but came in a more humanoid look, but without the human weakness of the Master, and they came to life from mannequins and pretended to be police. They also had empty eyes, and as everyone knows the eyes are the windows to the souls.

Examples :

From Left : 1970s Auton FashionShow and Doll HeadsDoctor Who : Spearhead From Space

Robertson’s Golliwog
The Golliwog first appeared on jars of Robertson’s Jam in 1910 and became one of the most recognisable brands in the UK. It spawned a range of toys and collectibles. In the 1980s, the name became Golly amid accusations that the character perpetuated stereotypes. It was finally dropped in 2001. As a child someone thought it was a good idea to give me a hand knitted golliwog, it scared the bejeebus out of me.

Examples :

From Left : Golliwog

Freddy Krueger
My caring, loveable brothers hired out Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 when I was still in Primary School, and had me watch it with them. The effect is that it’s one of the only horror series that I will not even look at a poster of.

Examples :

From Left : The Glove from Nightmare on Elm Street

Unsupported Heights
Or more importantly, falls from them. It’s actually just vertigo now, and someday I’m sure I’ll get over it.

Tags: fear