Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Floating Skull

When I was really young, I bought a plastic model kit of a human skull (I guess my mother must have bought it for me now that I think about it). Made by the Skillcraft Company, it was pretty detailed and complex, some of the teeth were in two pieces and required assembly. The end result was a neat anatomically correct human skull, and the coup de grĂ¢ce - it was made from glow-in-the-dark plastic. Anything that glows green in the dark is an instant obsession to a boy. I spent way too much time studying it in the dark... seeing how bright I could get it to glow by leaving it on the top of a lamp for a really long time, or making dark hand prints on it by keeping my hand on it while bathing it in light.

One night after turning off the lights and going to bed, my brother and I heard a noise from the closet. It was one of those moments where you freeze and attempt to process what's happening. Then we heard the closet door slowly begin to open. Out floated a glowing green skull in a pitch black room. It was a combination of horrified screams and uncontrollable laughter as it floated towards us and dove at us. It made figure-8's in the air before it came back for another attack. You could hear my dad stifling his laughter at the end of the assault as the skull opened our bedroom door and floated out and away.

Image source.

10 comments:

Countess VonRauber (Heidi) said...

That is awesome =) What a fun memory!

NecroBones said...

Yeah, those skulls were great. I still have mine too. In my old haunt as a kid, my problems was that the glue didn't always hold and the jaw would fall apart.

Great story about the haunted nighttime attack! :)

The Captain said...

While I read this my smile got bigger and bigger as I experienced your memory in my minds eye. Awesome story! I have a glow in the dark skull in a birdcage hanging over my workbench in the garage.

Jon Glassett said...

Your dad sounds awesome. After I changed the sheets and flipped the mattress I would have been so psyched.

Nev said...

BAhahaha!! Nice. thats exactly the type of fun Im looking forward to when my boy is just a little older. Mwhahaha!!

SPOOKSHOWS.COM said...

That's a fantastic story! I still have my glow in the dark skull - I don't know how it's survived all these years. I used to float it in my fireplace held with black thread, a hidden black light above it. From the bottom fireplace trap I put a small fog machine. The breeze from the fog machine would make the skull wobble - oh so slighty - and added a lot to the creepy effect.

Anonymous said...

that really brought back memories of my dad. he was constantly scaring me at halloween time! ( i think that is why i am like i am now)

Jason-v said...

What a great story!!!!

Grim said...

Your dad is awesome... kind of reminds me of how I am scaring my kids all the time, and possibly scarring them for life. Then they kind of get mad when they try to scare me back and it doesn't work.

The Gill-Man said...

Great story! I had a glow-in-the-dark skull that I once hid in my grandmother's closet! She screamed so loud she woke the whole house up!