Long before I knew anything about "horror," I would stay up and watch "scary movies" when I spent the night with my Dad on Friday nights. I was quite young, and this must have been either before he got premium channels on cable, or before I was allowed to watch the newer horror movies. I don't remember ever being disallowed to watch horror movies, so I'm not sure exactly how I ended up falling in love with the black and white classics. But I did, and Dracula, the Bela Lugosi movie from the 30s, was the first one I remember watching. It was everything a "scary movie" should be: there was a dashing but dangerous leading man (which I truly think set the standard for what I would find attractive in later years!), suspenseful plot, ominous score, and a scary story. The film somehow held my child-aged attention span and even made me yearn for more, thus creating a love for the classic b&ws as well as a Friday night tradition that I looked forward to all week.
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