Spooking My Childhood Self

By: Connor Lenahan

Halloween calls for celebrating the things that scare you most. For me I am not scared of all that much save for bees and falling. But there is no fun in that. So instead I am going to feature three of the scariest stories of my childhood. Yes, we are going to celebrate Halloween by watching Thomas the Tank Engine.

Where better to start than “Percy’s Ghostly Trick?” This episode still terrifies my younger brother Chase to this day and he is 18. All things considered this is a well told story given that it’s a kid’s show – yet all Thomas stories are. But what makes this terrific and extremely scary to 4-year-old Connor is that the music to the story is straight up terrifying. I’m gonna keep a nightlight on tonight.

Then there’s the equally eerie “Duncan Gets Spooked.” This episode was one that I found unsettling as a little kid for two reasons. First off would be the violent way that the trucks fall from the bridge in the opening frame. That’s weird, but not as weird as when a train falls into the ravine only to “never be found again.” So he died. Yeah. That happened in this story along with a creepy bit of music. Note to self, avoid all bridges.

I’m going to have nightmares of this damn boulder tonight. This is terror fuel to me as a 20-year-old man. Someone hold me.

Happy Halloween to you all. Go eat all the candy you normally would just with the proper justification.