Halloween Memories - Carl Manes

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The next Halloween memory comes courtesy of a fellow horror blogger and someone I consider a friend, Carl Manes from I Like Horror Movies. These are the kinds of stories that make me feel all warm inside!
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"So many to choose from.. While I have had an absolute blast in recent years setting up my anamatronic Leatherface and Freddy beside me as I mime their motions in my Jason costume, only to chase haughty teenagers down the street, there are a few Halloweens I remember as a kid that stand out more than any others.

I remember going to a haunted house at the local gymnasium with my dad, I couldnt have been more than 5 or 6. Now, I cant tell you what this place would have looked like to an older kid or an adult, but as a young kid that had been sheltered from Horror films by a dominating Christian mom, the creatures in this maze were real. I remember walking into a room with a stone statue of Dracula against the far corner wall. There was no mistaking it, it was stone. Not 2 seconds later, the statue sprung to life with an expected "I vannnt to suck your bloood," naturally sticking to Stoker's original source material. The rest is a blur, but the final stretch of hallway had a rattling cage with what I swear to this day was a real werewolf. As it snarled and gnashed its teeth while we all ran by in terror, I became certain that monsters existed. This was no cheap rug with an inanimate grin, this dude was out to hurt someone.

Jump forward about 8 years and over a hundred pounds and I found myself living a sheltered life free from all things Horror and or awesome. My mom refused to let me play D&D or Magic the Gathering because that turned kids Satan. It wasnt until I met one of my greatest friends of all time that I was finally free to explore my morbid curiosities. Josh lived on Camp Pendleton, the local military base, which was THE place to go trick r treating (even if you were a teenager). Every house was lit up and filled to the brim with goodies. After an easy 6hrs of candy snatching and gorging, we took off back to his house to start what would become my first Horror-a-thon. It was here that I first saw TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, HALLOWEEN 6, and TERROR IN THE AISLES, and I was instantly hooked. I used to watch the JAWS and NIGHTMARE series with my dad as a kid, and I had seen HALLOWEEN numerous times, but most times they were the edited TV versions, and that was the extent of my childhood viewing. I got my first taste of blood, and I liked it. Its been a downward spiral ever since, but what would have been an otherwise unremarkable night for most Horror fans was an immediate shift in lifestyle for this die hard Horror fan!"
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Thanks, Carl. I think all of us around these parts can relate to the childhood discovery of horror movies and the fascination that resulted from it!