For me as a kid, scarier than a machete-wielding stalker or malicious aliens were the monsters that allegedly had my best interests in mind: my parents. They weren’t bad parents, but thanks to a few movies and television shows I was convinced that some day they could turn out to be evil. The nightmarish parental vision that stayed with me the most was on an episode of FREDDIE’S NIGHTMARES that I caught one night while battling insomnia. “Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?” (1989) concerns a babysitter named Lisa at a seemingly ordinary house with someone very strange in the basement. You see, the family’s daughter murdered the mother, and rather than letting the girl rot in jail they simply imprisoned her below the house, with the dumbwaiter serving asher source of nourishment. The parents see nothing wrong with this arrangement, even though occasional screams escape from the basement during the Lisa’s stay. Through strange circumstances, Lisa is lured to the basement and imprisoned while the evil girl (who coincidentally looks much like Lisa) escapes. Despite Lisa’s many pleas, the family keeps her locked into the basement, thinking it to be one of their daughter’s ploys. Months pass and eventually Lisa escapes but to her horror finds the evil girl living at her house, with Lisa’s mother mistaking the lass for her own missing daughter. The idea of Lisa being falsely imprisoned haunted me, especially since my family lived in a house with a sprawling basement and a firewood elevator — more than accommodating facilities to jail a troublesome child should my parents see fit.

Thanks Adam! You lucky kids can not only visit Adam regularly at DVD PANACHE but watch the episode of FREDDIE’S NIGHTMARES of which he speaks, in it’s entirety HERE. (Both highly recommended!)