Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Curse Of The Vampire


We were moving into a new house. We moved a lot. This time Daddy was working for a farmer. Part of the pay package was that we got to live in one of the extra farmhouses the farmer owned. That was a common practice at that time.

At that time there were only five of us kids. I am the oldest, about ten years old at the time, and the youngest one was about three. Needless to say we had a lot of stuff to move.

Daddy was pulling a trailer behind his car with as much as he could fit in at the time. He and my uncles would bring a load, empty it, and go for the next load. Mom and those of us old enough to help were busy putting things away.

It was a fairly hot summer day. In the 1950's people did not have air conditioners. The house had good ventilation though. A nice breeze blew through and helped keep us as cool as possible.

Mom decided finally that we had been working hard enough. It was time for a break. There was no furniture there yet so we had nothing to sit on. The floor was dirty from all the traipsing in and out. We flattened a couple of big cardboard boxes and sat on them to have a snack and something cool to drink.

Mom was entertaining us by singing a few songs. Then we asked for a story. We didn't want one of the same old stories she always told. We wanted something new.

She could not think of any. We begged. Finally she started to tell a story and quickly realized we should not hear it. She said it was not a good story for us. We begged and she finally gave in.

Her story was about Dracula, the vampire. We had never heard of vampires before. It was an exciting story. When it was over my little brother was fast asleep and the rest of us had to go back to work.

We worked hard all day. At the end of the day we had not even had time to put the beds together so we slept on the floor. Our rooms were upstairs. The boys were directly across the hall from us girls. The top of the stairs was right outside our doors.

It was a sweltering night. We had all the windows open to catch any breeze that might pass by but there were not many of those.

The main problem was that it was dark outside. Vampires come out after dark. They prey on the blood of poor unsuspecting victims. We were all afraid to go to sleep.

My mother assured us that a vampire could not come into the house unless someone invited it in. We were taking no chances. She told us to leave the lights on which we did.

Having the lights on accomplished two things. Number one; it was dark outside and we could only imagine what was lurking out there just waiting to attack. Number two; moths were attracted to the light. They flew up and banged against the windows. We all knew it was vampires trying to get at us.

Mom tried to calm us. It didn't work. She tried being firm. It didn't work. She finally ended up sitting at the top of the stairs between our bedrooms until we finally fell asleep.

I have been afraid of vampires ever since. See what you did, Mom?

18 comments:

  1. Isn't it amazing how our minds work overtime as childrenand we can carry a fear forward into our lives! Great story!

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    1. I am afraid I was not able to fully explain how scared we all were. It was quite a night.

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  2. I'm sure you were able to sleep the next night, vampires or no.

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    1. Yes I was. I kept my blankets up around my neck and ears. Still do. This happened about 60 years ago. I was traumatized I tell you.

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    2. Ha. I think you should have told Joanne that, no, you haven't slept a wink in 60 years. I certainly would have believed you.

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    3. Lucky for my credibility. I would not lie especially about vampires.

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  3. Reading your comment above that you sleep with your blanket pulled way up around you, I do the same thing! My sister and I saw some scary movies when we were kids and I don't think I am still afraid of the dark but I do still sleep that way, out of habit, I tell myself. LOL.

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    1. I am not afraid of much but I am very afraid of vampires.

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  4. Kids are so impressionable. I try to be mindful of that around our great nieces and nephews.
    R

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    1. We were so protected from "bad" things when we were children. I think that is why the story had such an impact on me.

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  5. Does Nebraska have another name...Transylvania? Heh-heh-heh-heh!

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    1. Not Funny! Actually I certainly hope not. Besides I think I might have noticed more evidence. Although there is one little town we visited where my son was convinced was a "red nek bandage town". Now you have me wondering......

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  6. I loved your story. I just put up a post about Trump, and when I read your post, I thought that, well, Trump/vampires, vampires/Trump, what's the difference except that one scares the hell out of a lot of kids, the other out of many adults.

    When I was a kid, many things scared me, but the one that first comes to mind was the movie, “House on Haunted Hill.” I saw it again a few years ago and found it so bad that I didn’t even finish it, but it sure had the opposite effect when I was a child, especially the part where the floor would open, the victim would fall into a vat of liquid, the liquid would bubble, and a skeleton would float up.

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    1. I am happy you enjoyed it. It was a different time and we were not allowed to see a lot of the things that children are exposed to now. No wonder we were scared out of our minds.

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  7. The imagination is a great master - I loved your story, Emma!
    I still remember a female teacher in our fifth class who had lived a while in Argentinia and was a highly gifted story teller (ghost stories and other dark things) Some lines of a creepy story run "You better watch out! H." - a dripping tap tapped out this message in Morse code into the room. The rest of the story I have forgotten - but not that mysterious "H."

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    1. I would like to hear that one. Scary stories are usually fun. This was the first I had ever heard about vampires and the dark night in the country in a new house was too much.

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  8. I have become a faithful listener of podcasts, Emma, so I well know the power of story on one's imagination.

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    1. A well constructed story can make you fell it is real.

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