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\u201cMy earliest and most vivid encounter with sheer terror took place in a movie theater when I was 3 years old. It was at the Fresh Pond Cinema in Cambridge, Mass., not during a showing of \u2018Cujo\u2019 or \u2018It,\u2019 but another dog and clown horror classic (masquerading as a kids\u2019 movie), \u2018Air Bud.\u2019 Still indelible in my memory is a particular scene in which the sottish, spiteful clown re-emerges intent on snatching Buddy, our endearing, basketball-dunking dog pal, away from his newfound, but kind, young companion. Even now, I\u2019m not sure what was scarier: watching the clown reappear on the screen, or the deafening, collective cry of fear that erupted from me and the rest of the audience of toddlers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Clare Goslant of Cambridge, Mass., on seeing <\/em>\u201cAir Bud\u201d<\/em><\/strong> at age 3.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe wicked witch was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen. I screamed and shut my eyes every time she appeared. That same year, after I had watched \u2018The Wizard of Oz,\u2019 I was cast as a wicked witch in my second-grade play. I cried and cried when I came home. I had wanted to play the fairy princess. My mother taught me how to cackle. And she said I\u2019d be the star of the show. She was right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Cathy Arden of New York, on seeing <\/em>\u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d<\/em><\/strong> at age 7.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt was supposed to be a children\u2019s movie, but the scene of Bambi\u2019s mother dying in a forest was something I found terrifying!\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Carter Bancroft of Huntington, N.Y., on seeing <\/em>\u201cBambi\u201d<\/em><\/strong> at age 5.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy older sister and I were dropped off at the big movie theater for the Saturday matinee. She left me all by myself and went off with her girlfriends. This was before parental helicopter-ing. \u2018The Wizard of Oz\u2019 would later be broadcast annually on TV. Kids were able to cuddle with grown-ups in the safety of their own home, with the happy songs, cute little Munchkins and Dorothy\u2019s funny friends. There\u2019s no place like home. That\u2019s a whole different process than I experienced, and it was a whole different picture for me. It was not so much my young age, but watching a family movie in that wild setting, having such a powerful effect on my senses, made it my first scary movie. I was scarred for life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Don Feiler of Mattituck, N.Y., on seeing <\/em>\u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d<\/em><\/strong> at age 5.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n