A Healthy Respect for the Supernatural
Mummies, zombies, vampires and a host of supernatural and not very nice beings have drifted through my consciousness since I was a kid. I was convinced that my closet door would open late at night, just as I was about to drift off to sleep, and allow monsters into the room. I saw it. Felt it. And despite my parents explanation of dreams and nightmares, I carried the knowledge along with me. There are moments when I’m suddenly superstitious. Or I sense something dark, malevolent. Perhaps rooted in the youthful mutations of my brain from watching scary movies on Chiller Theater.
Perhaps it’s no surprise I crossed paths with a vampire in college. Vampire Larry with a coffin at home to sleep in, custom tailored vampire clothes and real vampire dentures. He was also a table tennis playing friend who sold bible reference books during the summer in Oklahoma. Or maybe Nebraska.
This contact sheet of 4×5 negatives was some of my first large format work — created in 1974. I won’t identify Larry since I think he may have become a captain of industry and probably wouldn’t appreciate the trip down memory lane on the internet. I don’t really know. Haven’t seen him since 1976.
Who Stole the Fear?
This photograph was made for his “Silent Night” Christmas card. Funny what young minds come up with. Late one night in a graveyard, three fools making vampire photos. And this long before Twilight, True Blood and the rest of the vampire life genre. Larry was a follower of Christopher Lee. Bela Lugosi was nothing.
I think about this photograph and wonder where the fear has gone. Fear of money, health, retirement, bills. Not much anymore about vampires. Or zombies.
Perhaps I need a little more of the beliefs and faith I had as a kid.
Just saying…
I think the rational fears (or should we say “nervous preoccupations?”) of encroaching adulthood naturally overtake the imaginative fears of childhood…though hopefully not extinguishing that center of imagination that can fuel potentially grander creative endeavors. (As far as your vampiric buddy? Might’ve become a big hedge-fund guy. Wild photos though!)
Once in awhile, when things are quiet and I can just sit, I’ll think about some of the things I did as a kid and try to remember what I was thinking. There definitely was an excitement that is hard to replace as an adult. I do get close when I’m riding the Vespa. And sometimes when I make a photograph. Or when my wife shares one of her ideas. I suppose it’s there more than I think, and my memories of childhood are filtered to display only the best…
For a while I belonged to a car club for hearse drivers so guys and gals like Larry are common place in my life. Zombies and such have very little interest in my life unless they are comedy related.
Car club for hearse drivers — now that’s wild.
Man, nice story and photos. The good ‘ol days eh.
Paul
Old days at least. And photographically, they were great. Was learning a lot in a hurry back then.
Interesting — I was meditating on this just yesterday, as I typed up these notes for a lecture on the Gothic Romance (and BWB gets at the same thing, above):
The gothic allows our rational, scientific culture to explore the threatening safely: we can approach death through the lens of fantasy and artifice, looking if not closely at least frequently at that which we fear most in a way that is spooky rather than truly psychically damaged.
In other words, like its modern outgrowth, science fiction, and perhaps like graphic novels and superheroes, we can look at the real in a way that is unreal enough to allow us to look long and hard.
This is probably related to tragic plays (novels, films etc.): these all allow us to stand just close enough, and yet just far away enough, from true terror and loss.
And most of this stuff is consumed when we are at that tender age wherein we are neither child nor adult: we need to look at the hard stuff but we aren’t quite ready to look at the hard stuff.
And we are midway in our journey from the fantastic world of childhood – when we truly believed that there might be a monster under our bed – to the unforgiving confines of adult reality.
As I read your comments it was hard not to think of all the situations where people avoid the hard look at things — real or unreal. It almost seems as if the world wants to pretend things are one way when really it’s another. Could be politics, marriage, children, work — almost anything.
And probably what rang mostly loudly — “…to the unforgiving confines of adult reality.” That’s the real, scary stuff!
Good luck with your lecture. Reminds me that in retirement I need to sit in on some classes…
College is such a great place to explore new personas. It lets you find yourself and get loose screws tightened for the life to come.
College is a great place to explore, but UGH, the cost! There have to be cheaper alternatives to exploring.