tumblr_nohlq9fsi41r0mjn1o1_500Fear is a real topic of consideration this week.   Upfront I have to say I have been diligently searching for images from or even confirmation of the topic for today, and just like real government information on important topics like UFO’s, Big Foot, or where our tax money really goes, there is absolutely no record I can find of any of them.   But I can say without a doubt that when I was in 4th grade, these were the most terrifying, nightmare inducing, over-the-top fear creating, adult indoctrination devices I was ever exposed to in my entire life.

They came as a 35mm filmstrip in a little red case with an accompanying cassette and I’m pretty sure were used when our teacher had reached her breaking point with us and needed to a) find a hidden flask in her desk, or b) just wanted to punish us for being bad.  And I wish I could say this was a part of sex-ed;  We didn’t have sex-ed in the 70’s, it was still all about you might notice your body changing and you may have grown another arm and turned purple, but don’t worry, suffer in silent shame – but most of all don’t discuss what is happening to you with anyone at school  back in those days (we were progressive)

https://youtu.be/BdVcySx2q2w

No, the thing that honestly caused me reoccurring nightmares for literally the rest of my life were all about the very real terrors that were lurking all around us ready to invade and destroy us.  And I cannot for one moment understand why any of this propaganda was ever produced, let alone acceptable to show to children in a public school at any time in the history of the world.

Topics included:

  • Killer Bees (or as they were formally known Americanized Killer Bees)
  • Sharks
  • The aftereffects of a nuclear attack
  • Earthquake destruction (no where to run)
  • your gonna die broken alone and terrified from some horrible un-treatable disease (alright I made this one up, but still it would have totally fit this line of crap children’s educational media)

I’m not kidding. This stuff actually was inflicted upon us.   The Killer Bees filmstrip alone caused me to run in terror from every honeybee I saw for years to come.  It started with the ominous warning of how a mad scientist had messed with nature, crossed the genetic aggressive nature of the African bee with the honeybee and now these hyper intelligent and extremely deadly race were on the way up from South America, managing to book passage on unsuspecting ships under the name “Buzzy” and were going to wipe us off the planet as soon as they reached the United States…AND THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE IT HERE!!!!!!  As a close reenactment I present a 1974 ABC movie about demonic possession of a family via Bees: 

https://youtu.be/VRp19zZHVu8

Now the bees did eventually make it up here to Southern California.  I don’t believe they were able to inflict too much damage, though I do remember a few people with bee allergies having it pretty bad, and they just eventually dropped off the grid news-wise.   Why?!?! because it was all concocted to scare the crap out of us and try to teach us at an early age that the world is a terrible horrible place ready to snatch our very “souls” from us every given moment.

life in general actually handled that…wonder why they didn’t have a filmstrip about that?   Let me know if you remember any of these ancient long forgotten torture devices. 

How to Survive a Killer Bee Attack

 

Here to illustrate the paranoia induced by filmstrips is a YouTube video featuring one of the school filmstrip players I remember and a filmstrip made by Disney called “Pooh Meets A Stranger”  Never walk alone people!!!!

#219 Remember the old FILMSTRIP Projectors from School? A TRIP down Memory Lane! TNT Amusements

And bonus here is how to survive a shark attack…it would have been really nice if they had given us methods of survival back then, but it wasn’t about that…we were going to die an immanent death from these things back then…”yay” science!!!

How to Survive a Shark Attack

 

 

About the Author

Victoria Susan (Vicks She/Her) is a lifelong horror fan. She also grew up in the amazing period of time in Southern California when Knott's Halloween Haunt was a regular event and became a true fan of the art and artistry of the haunt community. LGBTQIA+ you used to find her most every fall chasing Norm around with a Video Camera as Horrorbuzz.com's Video Director. Now relocated to Orlando, Florida - where the mazes are houses she enjoys the theme-park scares on the other coast. Still with a video camera in her hand.