Sometimes I would go and check out the quarter prize machines (which are a staple at every grocery store to this day) to scope out the groovy goods. Other times I would just stay put in the line with Mom. What was the determining factor? The front page of the Weekly World News. The headlines that adorned that magical bit o questionable journalism were quite often the stuff of legend. THREE HEADED BIGFOOT FOUND IN NORTH DAKOTA! SPACE ALIENS TAKE OVER ENTIRE TOWN IN VIRGINIA! FISH FOUND WITH HUMAN LEGS! 
For a kid obsessed with Dinosaurs, Monsters and UFO's, this was quite often the highlight of my week. However just as often as the front page would keep me in awe, it would scare the crap out of me. Doomsday messages, "real" photographs of Satan in the smoke of an oil fire and various other frightening phenomena would be emblazoned across the front page. Sometimes Mom would let me buy the paper so I could read all about Bat Boy's latest adventures or how the Hubble Telescope managed to take a photograph of heaven.
There was one issue that scared me more than any other, and I've written about it before: The Last Words of the Challenger Crew. I'm not going to go into detail of that particular issue because I already did so here. I'll tell you what though....that stayed with me for a long time. I felt an icy pit in my stomach that I just couldn't shake. To this day, if Weekly World News or The Challenger come up in conversation my first thought is immediately that horrifying transcript that I read that night....and it still sends a chill down my spine.
Pretty creepy. The "end of the world" stories always got me. I was up late one night when I was a kid and the programming had lapsed from regular stuff to the overnight PTL Club broadcast. This guy was preaching Biblical end times and even assigning a specific date to it. I was still in single digits, and I was terrified. I cried.
ReplyDeleteAwww. That's really sad Brandon. uh....what was that date, anyway?
DeleteI'm so freakin' old that date already came and went a lifetime ago. I like the redesign, too, Matt. Puts me in mind of the 70s, shag carpet, and lava lamps (all good things, dammit). The Mayan stuff wigged me out, too, and I can't watch movies like 2012. I have to skip the Nostradamus specials on the history channel, too.
DeleteThanks man! I was going for that late 70's early 80's neon video store vibe! Mission accomplished! :-)
DeleteI was pretty sure that if the world did NOT end in 2012, the History Channel would have no more programming. It seemed that's all they showed was doomsday scare mongering.
Thankfully now we're back to Ancient Aliens, America Unearthed and UFO Chasers! WHEW!
Oh man, I've seen lots of those late night evangelical apocalypse programs. That stuff always scared the crap out of me too. To be perfectly honest, even though I didn't buy into the whole Mayan 2012 thing, I still had a bit of a fear twinge reaction when someone would mention it, or when watching one of the gazillion shows about it on the History Channel. I think deep down a part of me was actually expecting some sort of catastrophic apocalyptic occurrence on 12/21/12....
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! Dig on the new look! Seriously? Ya think they could have? Never even considered that. I was working at a school for at risk kids at the time. There was an Elementary Class, a Middle (Jr. High) School, and a High School class. So we crammed all the kids into one room gathered around the tv that day to watch the shuttle. And then it exploded. Not to make lightly of the recording, but that's pretty much what it sounded like in that classroom when it exploded. Just think a bunch of kids on meds and then the dang thing exploded. Needless to say, it did not have the "impact" on them we were going for. My mom never bought me World News...or Malto Meal...she said she hated the guy on the commercial cause he looked like such a dufus. And he did, but I really wanted it! All my friends had it! lol. Until next time...Keep those fires stoked! Oh yeah, the results of my poll are in. One didn't go my way, but I guess that builds character right?
ReplyDeleteEternally Yours
Hey Warden!
ReplyDeleteGlad ya like the new look!
They say that the crew may have survived the initial explosion, but I don't know. I remember the day the shuttle exploded all too well. I was in elementary school and they gathered us all together in the cafeteria to watch. When the shuttle exploded I remember one of the teachers starting to cry, which made some of the students cry. Still gives me chills.
Malt-O Meal! I remember that stuff! Heh heh.
I'm sorry your poll didn't go your way. :-(
Yah. Well, I know Brandon voted for Michael. And he's demanding a recount or absentee ballots. lol. First thing that came to mind for me was, I'm sure there were some "hanging shards." lol Did your mom buy you Malt O Meal? I'm so jealous!
DeleteActually I don't think I've ever had Malt-O Meal....but I do remember the commercial!
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