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Shadows and Fog…
The wind almost whistled. Slowly but terrifyingly, two women both dressed in white, walked through a field of sugarcane in the dark, toward the distant drums of a voodoo ceremony. My vivid and youthful imagination – I remember thinking distinctly- this could just as easily be happening in an Indiana cornfield. The TV screen was so charged with atmosphere it was if any minute Papaw’s trailer would suddenly fill with Shadow and Fog.
Weekend sleepovers at my grandfather’s would be the place I discovered the films of James Whale, Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton. Like the majority of scary movies I obsessed over, they contained the eerie use of shadows: deep black and shades of gray and silver. Fog that wrapped its way up and down wet deserted streets. Always a beautiful woman, eyes darting here and there and her heels clicking on the damp pavement. She pauses while a hand reaches out from the shadows. Films that I loved from the 1940’s were layered with these techniques. Beautiful, poetic, these movies made you less scared than simply mesmerized with such striking imagery. Like looking through a breathtaking old photography book you discovered in the attic, these films were old and contained scratches making them imperfectly perfect.
“Boy, you are on your own with this crazy Goddamn movie.” This would become Papaw’s standard proclamation every Friday night throughout my childhood. Needless to say, his tastes ran more toward John Wayne. But he would make sure I was all set up for my movie night, even if he wouldn’t stick around to watch it with me. So there I would be on a dark night. Settling in with “The Body Snatcher” a bag of pork rinds, ice cold Mountain Dew and knowing soon a foggy, black- and-white apparition would appear on the screen, and make me smile.
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You always make me feel like I am right there with you, thru every moment of it…..even got the taste and smell of Mt. Dew and pork rinds lingering in my mouth. Another…as always…great one. Keep on keeping on!!! Always look forward to the next blog. My dear, talented friend. XOXO 🙂 <3
Kathy,
You were probably there with at one time or another… I loved putting pressure on my friends to watch those old movies…
xooxoxo
Love, love, LOVE this, Eddie! I did the same thing at my Grandma’s. Different shows and different snacks, but the same feeling. Thanks!
Rea,
That makes me smile!!! There was nothing better than escaping in those movies at our grandparents. Pork rinds (MERCY)
Thank you for your support and voice for Farm Stories!!!
Another great story Eddie. I too was right there with you watching the scary scene.
It wasn’t that exciting at my papaws…Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw on his tv. lol!
One of my favorite memories of going to grandpa’s was trying to sneak a Brach’s chocolate star out of his crystal candy dish without mom hearing the ting of the lid. I always got caught and grandpa would always tell her to let us have it. (I know he bought them just for us). Also, I’ll never forget the smell of Jergen’s hand lotion. Gladys (grandpa’s 3rd wife) always had a pump bottle sitting on the counter and of course, our hands were always dry ;). So many wonderful memories.
Sheli,
Hee Haw was a favorite at Papaw’s as well!!! Love the candy dish caper. I remember one could almost get that lid off and then as you reached in “TING” Funny stuff!!!
Thanks for reading and sharing your wonderful memories!!!! xoxo
Frankenstein, Cat People, The Body Snatcher…so many of the great old black and white movies! Back when acting was acting and didn’t rely on special effects to carry the show. You’ve written a chapter that lots of us can identify with and relive our own fond memories.. Please, give us more! <3
kat,
Love all the movies you named. Timeless. The lighting, sets, costumes and the acting. Who would have guessed the direction movies would go.
Thanks for reading and your wonderful feedback!!! xoxo
So glad I can “watch” scary movies through your eyes so I do not ever EVER need to, have to watch them myself!! love it, as always!
LJB,
I always forgot these movies were supposed to be scary as they were so beautiful. The way they were filmed. Lighting and the costumes. The creatures always seemed like they were from the island of misfits.
Thank you for reading and your wonderful feedback….
re: the island of misfits…I almost think I could watch the old movies with you! wow, that was a wonderful ”word picture” for me!
LJB,
That’s a date, when your ready!!!
xoxox
You can tell we grew up in the same time and area. Love the old horror movies, pork rinds and Mt Dew! I just Dvr’d a bunch of the old ones last night. Loved the story!
Terenda,
Just like before, it’s yesterday once more!!! Loved the sweet with the salty. I miss my Papaw and more than anything the story made me think of him. Enjoy the movies. Sounds so cliché but they truly just don’t make them the way they used too.
Thank you for reading, supporting and adding your voice to Farm Stories!!! Means so much to me!!!
It’s wonderful to see your real live friends, recollecting some of this with you because they were there in person when you were children, or because they share the memories with you. And though our connection is less direct, I feel no less vividly the shifting of the shadows, the attenuated light, the flicker of the screen…and more hilariously, the crackle of the bag of pork rinds and the fizzing of the Mountain Dew. Your writing is so evocative, Eddie, both of the common recollections shared by some of us Of a Certain Age, but it’s more than that. It’s your voice, the voice of the storyteller finding and becoming the voice of the writer. Many of us are one or the other, but not both. xo
Angie- It’s been so wonderful having so many connect and respond to these little stories. My mom tells me when I was a little boy telling stories about anything, the amount of detail was entertaining though sometimes exhausting. Ha! I don’t think they quite knew what to make of it.
Thank you again for a beautiful response and support…
xoxo