Watched The Exorcist when I was ten years old with my Nan … probably hadn’t laughed so much in my life up until that point. Possibly explains a fair bit.
15 or 16. Not a minute too soon. And I wish I were more like myself than I am. At least we can spell and know the meaning of words. Some of us do in several languages because we’ve read both original and translated versions.
I read the Exorcist waaayyy too early and way before I discovered Stephen King, and after that, he didn’t scare me much, except for Children of the Corn, years later when I was driving home from work at 1 AM with cornfields on both sides of the road… But I digress…
Salem’s Lot (I can never look at a blue steel hammer in a hardware store without thinking of a specific scene) and the Boogeyman (I’m 55, and must have the closet door closed in order to sleep).
I saw Salem’s Lot on HBO when I was young. I know I read The Running Man and the other Richard Bachman books when I was 14, but I had already read Carrie and Christine before that. I know I had a collection of Stephen King novels by the time I was 19. Formative years, lol.
No we just had traumatic films like “the never ending story” “watership down” & other “children’s” films that gave us lasting trauma, nothing fazes us now 😂
The Stand. Read the massive book, then rented the entire thing from Blockbuster. I think it was either 4 or 6 vhs tapes in total – and there weren’t recaps like movies and shows do now. Just a long something like eight hour long movie…
I watched, swampthing, raw head Rex, pumpkin head, Friday the 13th, a nightmare on Elm Street 1,2, and 3, Halloween 1 and 2, puppet master, Poltergeist, Phantasm, and many many more Horror movies before age 6.
Born in 1982, and relate more with genX
Post-soviet guy here – we’ve had that local cable TV in the 90’s that just aired whatever VHS they’ve bought recently at 8pm (!), and you never knew what’s coming! The Lion King? Terminator 2? Alien? 101 Dalmatines? Lolita? The Shining?
So some rando was literally in power of whether kids and teens in a town of 10,000ppl are going to have nightmares tonight, or their first wet dream, or be able to sleep at all.
Still finding ways to blame media for the way ppl are. I was born in 1980 and gotta tell you had no library or movies close to us. Just two tv antenna channel. It was the freedom after school and chores to make mistakes and be ourselves without worrying about how others saw us.
I was at least ten before I picked up IT.
What?
I learned to read from a Sleepy Hollow audiobook at the age of 3. Good times.
I found a book of Poe stories when I was 5 and read it. Followed by King in early teens. There’s no coming back from that! 🤣
The Stand had me sleeping outside my parents’ door for a couple of nights in like junior high…and checking my throat in the mirror for about a week.
Watched The Exorcist when I was ten years old with my Nan … probably hadn’t laughed so much in my life up until that point. Possibly explains a fair bit.
The Shining. I read it shortly after my dad took me to see the movie. An excellent film, but the book is terrifying. I was 12.
My start in horror was HP Lovecraft stories. Stephen King never scared me because of it.
We were woke before that was a term
I’m the exception to this rule. I never read Stephen King until I was in my thirties. Maybe even forties.
We all read 1984 IN 1984.
THAT’S why we are the way we are.
15 or 16. Not a minute too soon. And I wish I were more like myself than I am. At least we can spell and know the meaning of words. Some of us do in several languages because we’ve read both original and translated versions.
My trauma came way before my ability to read. Sorry…
I read the Exorcist waaayyy too early and way before I discovered Stephen King, and after that, he didn’t scare me much, except for Children of the Corn, years later when I was driving home from work at 1 AM with cornfields on both sides of the road… But I digress…
Nope, it wasn’t Stephen King. It’s just who we are. Don’t mess with us and we won’t mess with you
Movies first but Christine, cujo, IT and so on. But we were all stand by me on our bikes on the tracks miles from home by the age of 5.
I read ‘It’ when I was 10 🤦🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
The stand uncut at age 13
Several and Flowers in the Attic among others.
That’s a good theory with plenty of evidence to support!!
I dream worse than his best stuff, kinda always did. Carrie was an awesome movie, and Cujo as well. His Bachman books were amazing as well
Took cujo to school in 6th or 7th grade
Salem’s Lot (I can never look at a blue steel hammer in a hardware store without thinking of a specific scene) and the Boogeyman (I’m 55, and must have the closet door closed in order to sleep).
I saw Salem’s Lot on HBO when I was young. I know I read The Running Man and the other Richard Bachman books when I was 14, but I had already read Carrie and Christine before that. I know I had a collection of Stephen King novels by the time I was 19. Formative years, lol.
No we just had traumatic films like “the never ending story” “watership down” & other “children’s” films that gave us lasting trauma, nothing fazes us now 😂
The Stand. Read the massive book, then rented the entire thing from Blockbuster. I think it was either 4 or 6 vhs tapes in total – and there weren’t recaps like movies and shows do now. Just a long something like eight hour long movie…
I watched, swampthing, raw head Rex, pumpkin head, Friday the 13th, a nightmare on Elm Street 1,2, and 3, Halloween 1 and 2, puppet master, Poltergeist, Phantasm, and many many more Horror movies before age 6.
Born in 1982, and relate more with genX
Stephan King isn’t scary, don’t know why people insist he is. Don’t get me wrong, I love his stories, but they aren’t scary!
No, I watched Anthony Hopkins in “Magic” at the age of 6… To this day it’s still the only nightmare I can’t wake myself up from.
Post-soviet guy here – we’ve had that local cable TV in the 90’s that just aired whatever VHS they’ve bought recently at 8pm (!), and you never knew what’s coming! The Lion King? Terminator 2? Alien? 101 Dalmatines? Lolita? The Shining?
So some rando was literally in power of whether kids and teens in a town of 10,000ppl are going to have nightmares tonight, or their first wet dream, or be able to sleep at all.
Still finding ways to blame media for the way ppl are. I was born in 1980 and gotta tell you had no library or movies close to us. Just two tv antenna channel. It was the freedom after school and chores to make mistakes and be ourselves without worrying about how others saw us.
I know I did. Pet Sematary traumatized me at 8.
Oh hell, my Mum let me watch Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ when I was 61/2, Stephen King was a doddle after that! 🤣🤣
Isn’t that a bit to specific? I mean define a whole human being by a book… shhhh give me a break.