Childhood traumas: Mike Ryerson
by Pete on August 30, 2010
When I was in elementary school, Channel 4 in Indianapolis would show Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot miniseries somewhat regularly. As I was a rather timid child, my parents would never let me watch it.
I eventually got tired of hearing all my friends go on about it at school, so I finally watched it on the black and white TV in my parents’ bedroom, with my hand on the switch ready to turn it off and run back to my homework at the first sound of someone coming up the stairs.
Of course, the movie gave me nightmares (see above, re: “timid child”). The scene that most people tend to single out is that of Ralphie Glick floating outside the window and scratching at the glass. While that scene was plenty creepy, the one that really got to me was Mike Ryerson, sitting in the rocking chair:
It’s the slow, creaking rock, man, like he was just sitting there waiting and there was nothing you could do. Oh, how many times I hesitated to open a door and go into a room for fear of finding something like that waiting for me.
One comment
I was looking up images to show my grilfriend who hadn’t seen the movie. Mike Ryerson in that rocking chair was one of the two most haunting images from my childhood. The other being a mechanical shark. I’m glad to read that I wasn’t alone in this. Curiously in the book the scene is very simillar sans the rcoking chair. I’m guessing it was the dircetor’s call to add it. Well done. I will now pass this hauntingly good movie onto my kids.
by Tommy on November 16, 2011 at 12:29 pm. #