Everyone remembers the first movie that frightened them as a child. For Jerry Garcia, that movie was Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

The Grateful Dead frontman spoke about his love for the 1948 film on AMC’s The Movie That Changed My Life. Garcia first saw the film when he was still a child, taken to the theater by his mother.

“I’d never seen a horror movie before,” said Garcia. “I don’t know that I understood who Abbott and Costello were.”

In spite of this, Garcia was effectively terrified by the movie. “It frightened me where I wouldn’t even actually look at it,” said the actor. “I mostly hid behind the seats. I had my head down and I cried. It was like the first time you’re on a roller coaster. I don’t remember anything except being frightened...It scared me out of my wits. But it scared and fascinated me.”

However, Garcia’s fear wasn’t traumatizing; it intrigued him. The musician became taken with classic horror antagonists. “For me, the iconography - Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, and the Wolf Man became figures of tremendous fascination for me,” said Garcia.

Garcia was also impressed by the comedic element of the film and the way Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were able to wield their sense of humor like a powerful weapon. “Comedy and being funny is a smart strategy to get by in life if you’re not powerful,” said the musician. “It works at disarming powerful adversaries.”

Most importantly, Garcia, who reveled in his oddball status, credited the film with his appreciation for all things strange and unnatural. “I have a general fascination with the bizarre that comes directly from that movie,” said the musician.