Reliving our childhood dreams

Halloween is rooted in our memories of being a child. Carving pumpkins, picking out costumes, creating themed candy boxes for school were just a few of things that made Halloween exciting. However, when it came closer to the days of the holiday, the Halloween countdown on Disney channel started and is one thing many people of my generation recall. Disney Halloween movies were a signature of what it truly meant to be the season for Halloween as a child, along with the obvious boatloads of candy.

If you’re around my age, you remember likely the Halloween Disney movies for example; Halloweentown, Twitches, Hocus Pocus and Don’t Look Under the Bed.

We remember most of them very well but there’s one that you might’ve not watched all the way through as a kid, and that’s Don’t Look Under the Bed. I remember having nightmares after watching this movie. If you’re still having trouble recalling what this movie’s about, I’ll jog your memory.

Don’t Look Under the Bed was released in 1999 and is about a Boogeyman that lives in a supernatural world that can be accessed by peering under your bed. The main characters are driven mad by their imaginary friends that they once believed started appearing and wreaking havoc in their town of Middleberg. The only problem is, they’re the only ones who can see their imaginary friends. After descending into the boogeyman’s domain to rescue one of the imaginary friends and battling the boogeyman, everything ends up being well and they go to sleep with their imaginary friends, slowly fading away with the promise of retaining their belief even when they grow up.

Watching clips of it now, you may view it as a tacky 90s movie, but as a child, I know you were more than terrified. In fact, Disney took it off the air because numerous amounts of parent’s stated it was “too scary,” and gave their children nightmares. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one.

After watching Disney Halloween movies, it was time for trick or treating. Often pairing the Halloween costume with a winter jacket and gloves. This is when the hunt for as much candy as possible started. We would often strategize houses and find the houses that *gasp* gave out full-size candy bars.

After filling a bright orange plastic pumpkin bucket, we headed home gleaming. Dumping all the candy on the kitchen table and sorting through what we did and didn’t like always required unwavering attention. There was only one thing that was met with a disgusted look, Almond Joy’s. At least our parents got something out of it too.