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What Was I Scared Of? The Pale Green Pants Of Dr. Seuss

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If you want your kids to grow up horror fans, you might consider starting them out on this.

I’ve pretty much been planning on writing about this since I began contributing to iHorror, but after reading John Squires’ article about Halloween is Grinch Night, I found myself in the proper frame of mind, and decided now was as good a time as any.

What Was I Scared Of? by Dr. Seuss has been one of my favorite stories since I encountered it pretty much when I was learning to read, and when I think about the earliest influences of my life that led to my obsession with horror, I can’t think of an earlier example. Well, that and the first dream I ever remember having, which involved me being chased by a cartoon pair of white shoes with nobody in them, which just happens to be a strikingly similar plot to this particular story, though I’m pretty sure I had the dream before encountering Seuss’ book. Perhaps that’s why I identified with it so much.

Though it’s since been released in a standalone version, What Was I Scared Of? originally appeared in The Sneetches and Other Stories. The whole book is gold if you’re a Seuss fan (I was obsessed with Seuss as a kid, and his work still pretty much accounts for the majority of my favorite children’s books).

The basic premise is that some little guy is wandering around at night doing various things, and he keeps seeing a pair of “pale green pants with nobody inside them,” which is obviously terrifying. He was, of course scared, but in the end finds that the pants are just as scared of him as he was of them. They then become friends. Aha! Lesson learned. Classic Seuss.

Here’s somebody reading the story, in case you’re unfamiliar with it:

[youtube id=”PJXHK0HOglg” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no”]

I don’t know that I really have a point with this post, other than to draw more attention to this wonderful story, and pay it tribute. If you have kids, you should pick it up, as it’s one of those rare children’s books that will bring you as much joy as it does them. I recommend grabbing the whole Sneetches collection in fact.

I also figured that as long as I’m writing about What Was I Scared Of? and the infamous Pale Green Pants, I might as well share some other related nuggets I’ve encountered from around the web.

For example, here’s a fan film adaptation:

[youtube id=”mWbTwjgNuVE” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no”]

Here’s somebody’s tribute from Flickr:

flickr-pants

Here’s a nice model of the pants someone shared at Craftster:

Pale Green Pants

“I made them for my little sister for her 25th birthday, out of a pair of 6mo pants my daughter had just outgrown,” the artist explains. “I used a piece of aluminum wire in the waistband, and then soaked it in liquid porcelain. I molded and shaped pieces of aluminum foil around plastic bags (for bulk) and stuffed them in until I had the shape right, then let them harden. And this is what I got.”

This guy also made a pants puppet as well as “Grin-itch spinach” plants (which make sense if you’re familiar with the story) for a bunch of kids.

“I don’t really know how to explain how we made this puppet, but it involved an old pair of my daughter’s pants, a pool noodle, a drill, crumpled newspaper, a wooden spoon, duct-tape, and needle and thread,” he says. “The wooden spoon goes through the pants and a pool noodle which was sewn to the pants.”

Finally, one woman took her kid’s green pants, stuffed tissue paper inside of them, and then posed them doing different things.

Pale Green Pants Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss Pale Green Pants

Check out the full gallery here.

While there’s certainly not enough of it around the web from what I can tell, it makes me happy to see such enthusiasm for this story from those who have shared their own projects.

I’ve watched a lot of movies and read a lot of stories over the years, but there are only a handful of either that I can directly credit for my passion for for horror. What Was I Scared Of? is one of them, if not the first. So thanks for that, doctor.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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