As a child, I was terrified of this villain (and the movie, and the book)

It started with the movie.

I must have been around five. We were then living in a tiny kommunalka apartment on the eastern edge of Moscow. Kommunalkas were apartments shared with other families. So my parents and I shared a room and we shared the rest of the apartment with a lady who occupied another room.

Even though in the evening, after I was put to bed, my parents installed some kind of a barrier to prevent me from seeing their part of the room, I could still get a glimpse of the TV in the opposite corner of the room. One night there was a black and white movie that absolutely terrified me.

The Invisible Man from 1933!

Now that’s horror!

I’m browsing through Youtube to share a good scene. There are many! This one for example.

I wouldn’t see this movie again for years but the invisible man had become my biggest childhood fear. The very thought of lying in my bed and an evil invisible murderer lurking near me filled me not just with fear but utter helplessness. Invisible villains can’t be fought.