The Stuff of Nightmares
As a child I was drawn to horror flicks. These were generally in black and white and shown late at night on the only TV in the house. So I was generally alone in the living room in the dark with the sound really low. I was warned off this practice by my mother who was sure The Monster from the Black Lagoon would give me nightmares. Never did. Tarzan, afternoon reruns, however were a totally different animal. Mother, hoping to get a total night's sleep without a screaming child, explored why Tarzan gave me nightmares. "Because they are real," I responded. "They are just actors," Mother explained. "But they have no zippers down their backs," I said. Ever the very attentive to detail child I had seen the zippers on the monsters. I knew they were wearing costumes. But not the bad men on Tarzan. They were real. Africa, the dark continent existed. And there were evil white men who killed and enslaved. They also existed outside of...