Somehow my colleagues and I got to talking about childhood fears. They began to remember what caused us to have attacks of uncontrollable, irrational horror that could not be explained and overcome.
I'm not talking now about the fear of furry spiders, caterpillars, butterflies and other crawling and soaring animals. I don't mean fear of heights or confined spaces. All these phobias are familiar, understandable, “familiar”. But there are others, those that are born from associations that form in a person's head. What gives rise to horror, a vile, sticky feeling of powerlessness, a desire to run away, hide, not look, merge with the landscape?
I'm talking about the fear of seemingly harmless objects, things, events. Well, what can be scary in a funny carnival mask, or a clown cap? But it is precisely these items that cause discomfort for many.
One girl remembered how, in her distant childhood, she almost disrupted a costume show in kindergarten on the occasion of the New Year. All children are like children, and she began to cry at the sight of the teacher, disguised as either a fox or a kitty. Neither persuasion nor the removed mask helped, so that the child would make sure that in front of him was a living person, and not a monster.
Another employee described how he was hysterical in a circus. As long as the audience was entertained by dogs and bears, everything was great. But as soon as the clowns jumped out from behind the curtains, he was terribly frightened. In order not to disrupt the program, the parents had to hastily take the sobbing child out of the hall. Since then, he says, not a foot in the circus, although he has ceased to be afraid of clowns, well, or at least began to be calm.
I also made my own contribution to the general wave of memories. I was about five years old when my mother and I went to a fabulous performance at the Youth Theater. Everything was great until an actor in a cat costume appeared on the stage. Why I was "overwhelmed", I still do not understand, it seems that I was already conscious and I was not a timid child … But the fact remains: the whole theater was roaring, even the actors shuddered. I had to leave without even watching the play until the middle. The saddest thing is that no one was seriously interested in my fears. Maman was outraged that the money had been paid for the ticket, and there was zero sense.
But now I remember this case with humor, because then I quite calmly watched various performances with the participation of people in animal costumes.
Another horror from childhood haunts me to this day. I think my peers remember that there were few cartoons on TV in the 70s and early 80s. They went strictly on schedule, and the repertoire was so-so. It was only later that funny uncles Fyodor, Sharik and Matroskin appeared. And in that distant time, cartoons were either ideologically consistent or strange.
Promotional video:
This cartoon was called "Caliph Stork". In short, as far as I remember the plot, it was about a certain Khalifa, jaded with life, who did not know what to do with himself. Either the astrologer, or the magician invited him to smell the magic powder, promising that his life would sparkle with new colors. And she did indeed start playing. Yes, having sniffed the powder, you had to say the magic word "mutabor". And after that, magical transformations began. Why am I describing the plot approximately, the picky reader may ask? Because until now I have not dared to revise this cartoon!
As far as I remember, it was drawn as if with a pencil, and the frames themselves were "mixed", smoothly flowing into one another.
So, after uttering the magic word, the caliph and his subordinates began to happily transform. Everything. Yes, not just magical, but terribly disgusting! Nightmarish monsters, as if composed of parts of different animals and people, and creepy monsters marched across the screen, happily repeating the spell "mu-ta-bor". Now I am writing these lines, and already, cringe with disgust and sticky horror!
It would seem that it is easier, type in the name of the cartoon in a search engine and look at "an adult's head", drive away fear, get rid of it forever. But I can not. I can't even look at the screen with one eye, I'm afraid to see again these vile monsters transforming one into another, giggling and raging.
In whose sick head this inconceivable, terrible plot was born, what kind of powder did the author use, who thought of this!
Although, I assume that some people have a fairy tale on this topic. The story is not taken from the ceiling, but how scary! Probably, the authors pursued good goals, they wanted to show the younger generation that laziness and idleness lead to irreversible consequences. Boredom pushes people to do rash things, such as using laughing powder.
By the way, I still don't remember how the cautionary story about the bored Khalifa ended, he was able to return to his previous state, or he got stuck somewhere along the way from one metamorphosis to another. I don’t remember, apparently because I’ve never watched this cartoon to the end. I didn't even turn on the TV when I knew it was on the program. The fear was so strong that it seemed to me that cartoon characters could jump from program to program and enter the room. And this horror from childhood haunts to this day.
Now, having become older and wiser, I am trying to find an answer to the question of what scared me so much about this cartoon. I think it’s about the picture and the sound of the mysterious spell. Let me remind you that the cartoon was painted in dull brownish-gray colors, which in itself has a depressing effect on the mind. From psychology, we know that dark tones catch up with despondency and melancholy, and light ones, on the contrary, increase mood. Remember how dreary and uncomfortable we are in winter, when there is a monochromatic landscape around and there is not enough daylight.
Yes, I remembered, the music that accompanied the video was depressing and disturbing. Apparently, the eerie picture and gloomy soundtrack influenced the fragile children's subconsciousness. Or maybe it was some kind of strange experiment? Not over me personally, but over a whole group of people? Maybe there is a secret code in the music of the cartoon and the picture that activates fear? If so, then the reality is much worse than it seems at first glance!
