Where To Watch
Boris Karloff used to receive angry letters from mothers claiming he'd given their children nightmares
For Karloff, fame came at a steep price.
If you're a creative person who likes to share your work with others, one of the hard truths you'll have to face is that not everyone will love what you do. Sure, some critics are unnecessarily harsher than others, but it takes tough skin to be an artist. When you put your art into the world, you must understand that sometimes, it's enough for you to love it, instead of the rest of the population.
As the star of films like Frankenstein and The Mummy, Boris Karloff proved himself unmatched in the horror genre. However, one group of people who were none too pleased about the success was a group of mothers whose children had been frightened by Karloff's films.
In an interview with The Kansas City Star, Karloff revealed that he often received angry letters from these mothers, whose criticism wasn't easy to simply brush off.
"I needed success," he said. "I needed it darned badly. My wife and I had pretty tough sledding before it finally came...when mothers began writing me notes accusing me of giving their children nightmares, I wondered if it was all worth it."
It was an issue that plagued Karloff for longer than you'd think. "Of course, I tell myself that one of the oldest pastimes of children is to scare themselves," he said. "I've heard little girls talk themselves into believing the bogeyman is around the corner and apparently enjoy it. I know that adults love horror stories, that Poe is an international best-selling classic, and that magazines specializing in the weird can depend on monthly circulation. I tell myself I satisfy a normal instinct in people...But I guess a lot of that is a subconscious effort to convince myself."
But while mothers weren't too pleased with Karloff, that was nothing compared to the amount of love and appreciation that his fans had for him.
Related
14 Comments
I watched every movie on the "Creature Feature" movies on Saturday nights as a kid in the late 60s and later, and particularly loved the Universal Monsters the most.
My mother knew it was just part of growing up and back then, there really was not a lot of gore like today's horror movies. I think I might side with mothers today on some of the modern movies.
Shaming and guilt-flinging are silly.
Because that also would be silly.
Harrumph on, muman.
