before the text

I think I must have been 10 or 11 when I watched the 1979 movie Salem's Lot. I was going through a phase where I was really into horror movies, most likely a result of my successful acquisition of the video game Resident Evil 2, which was, as all M-rated video games were, forbidden by my mother. It was a Saturday night and I was bored. None of my favorite shows were on so I began the tedious task of surfing through the channels. With the basic cable package we had back then, I would usually go through all 68 channels at least twice before finally settling on what looked like the most entertaining show. Tonight was different. I browsed through the network channels, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC.... Same old boring stuff, I thought. However, after I got through the public access channels I stumbled on a frightening scene. A young, ghastly looking boy was floating outside a window, scratching. I instantly got chills up my spine, and I was confused. The black cable box read channel 34 in bright red letters. I knew The X-Files was on channel 2 and Unsolved Mysteries was on channel 56. As I continued to watch, the realization that I was watching an old horror movie set in, and I was ecstatic! The movie was scary. It was also dark. Most of the movie took place at night, and there were all these morbid, ghostly looking characters preying on citizens of the small town. It didn't take me long to realize the movie was about vampires. Then came the shot of the Marsten house. At the time, it reminded me of one of the old farmhouses my parents and I would drive by on the way up north. However, my perception of these kinds of houses was bright and cheerful. This house was different. It was dark and sinister. As the shot continued to zoom in, the vampire was revealed. Now I had real chills. The vampire was terrifying. A bald, pale skinned creature with bright yellow eyes and twisting fangs. Even though I prided myself in not having a nightmare in a few years, I didn't want to take the chance. I had to turn off the TV.... Now it's time for me to read 'Salem's Lot, the novel that inspired the movie I saw as a kid where the imagery scared me so much. They always say the book is scarier than the movie....

Here is a link to the trailer for the original 1979 movie.