David: Sympathies for Mr. Uris

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It's not much of secret, but I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it here:

I'm scared of clowns.

The fear is much more mild than when I was a child. It all started with a pretty horrific kindergarten-age nightmare which led to an unshakable distrust of facially applied white grease paint. in that dream, I awoke to find a film projector at the foot of the bed, throwing the moving image of two clowns picnicking under a giant oak tree on my wall. I climbed out of bed and walked closer to the wall, confused about where the projector had come from and interested in what the movie playing was.

One clown started juggling. The other did handsprings. I laughed.

That's when they both stopped and looked at me.

After a couple seconds of us staring at each other both clowns started walking towards me. Towards the "camera". Both disappeared out of frame as they approached; one to the left and one to the right.

They were gone, but the film still played. The leaves on the tree and the grass on the ground moved with a gentle breeze. A bird flew by in the sky. I walked closer until I was right in front of the wall.

I should have noticed that I wasn't casting a shadow.

White gloved hands shot from the portal on my wall; one to the left and one to the right. Each of them grabbed an arm and pulled me through. Now I was being dragged. Away from the floating window that showed my bedroom and towards the giant oak tree. It was the only visible landmark on an endless field of green grass. Soon I found myself on the picnic blanket, looking up into the tree. In the leaves of the tree was Telly Savalas in makeup as the Cheshire Cat. He smiled, but didn't speak.

The clowns both smiled at me. I nervously smiled back. One them grabbed my foot and started eating it from the toes while the other began to do the same with my hand.

It seemed an eternity before I woke up.

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I had a love / hate relationship with the IT television movie when I was a kid. I loved the story, even enjoyed the fear, but suffered the nightmares of Pennywise and his teeth.

I think I read the book after seeing the TV movie, but can't say with 100% certainty. I think I grew up a lot while reading that novel (IT was my first Stephen King book). It remains one of my favorites of his. As someone who was a bit of an outcast youth I yearned for a friend group akin to the Losers.

Over time the fear has subsided a great deal. I still feel a ping of anxiety if I see a clown in person, but nothing like the almost crippling fear of youth.

When IT Chapter 1 came out I looked forward to a newer and perhaps more faithful adaptation. I loved it, but it terrified me. Especially a scene involving a projector and a clown emerging. While a bit older, the kids are kids in a time I remember. Pennywise himself behaves like something out of a dream (he kind of is...). It's all very personal.

I haven't really been paying attention to release dates, but an ad for IT Chapter 2 just happened to catch my eye yesterday. There's a big part of me that doesn't want to go.

I'm already scared, and I haven't even seen a second of it.

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Tickets bought for Sunday night. Just realized I don't own any brown pants. Might buy some.

Archimago - ()

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Nathan Tyree - (Overwhelmed by existential angst)

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David - ()

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