# Thanks to Stephen King . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651 "2012-02-22T19:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PalJuicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@PalJuicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PalJuicy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/1 "2012-02-22T19:15:01Z")
My closet doors are never left open. Not even just a crack. After reading \*The Boogeyman \*in 1986, I never leave my closet doors open, because – well, you just never know. Have you ever been influenced to do (or not to do) something odd because you’ve read it in a book or seen it in a movie? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/2 "2012-02-22T19:21:13Z")
Due to the woman in the bathtub in Room 217 of the Overlook Hotel, I for years compulsively glanced into the tub of every bathroom I entered, and would not have been wholly surprised to see a dead lady floating there. Thankfully, due to my vigilance, this never happened. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/3 "2012-02-22T19:24:48Z")
You won’t catch me leaving my feet out from under the covers after reading Pet Sematary either. I became very conscientious about brushing my teeth before bed after reading a YA book by Betty Miles. I can’t recall the title, but it had a line in it about how the girl’s mother wouldn’t let her drink soda, and how it was kind of disgusting thinking about all that sugar hanging onto your teeth. I would lie in bed at night, think of that line, and swear I could \*feel \*my teeth softening! ---
**Author:** ![surfrider55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@surfrider55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surfrider55)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/4 "2012-02-22T19:29:44Z")
These are hilarious. I do some of these as well. No matter how hot it is, I will never leave my feet uncovered or ever hang them off the edge of my bed. I also try not to close my eyes during the shower for fear that the water will turn into blood. I’m not quite sure where this one came from… ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/5 "2012-02-22T19:31:51Z")
Earwigs. After seeing them in Star Trek, I would sleep with my head to the side so one ear was pressed to the pillow, and the other ear was covered with a hanful of blanket. I don’t remember how long that lasted, but it was long time. At least a matter of months. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/6 "2012-02-22T19:34:10Z")
Oh the Star Trek ear fear! Yep, after seeing that I slept with my head under the pillow for years. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/7 "2012-02-22T19:37:06Z")
> [@PalJuicy](#): > > My closet doors are never left open. Not even just a crack. > > After reading \*The Boogeyman \*in 1986, I never leave my closet doors open, because – well, you just never know. I can’t believe you shut your closet doors because of a Stephen King story. How silly! I’ve been doing that since childhood to prevent the Things from getting out. I didn’t need corroboration from some _novelist_. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/8 "2012-02-22T19:38:34Z")
After watching _The Blob_ as a kid, for quite some time I tended to check nooks and crannies like the bottom of my bed under the sheets or underneath lampshades before reaching to turn on the light. Just in case there was a blob lying in wait there for me to poke a hand or foot into it. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/9 "2012-02-22T19:38:57Z")
After seeing _ **Midnight Express** _, I’ve never stood close to wall-mounted clothing hooks. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/10 "2012-02-22T19:40:19Z")
> [@surfrider55](#): > > I also try not to close my eyes during the shower for fear that the water will turn into blood. I’m not quite sure where this one came from… Thanks to _Arachaphobia_, you know that you have to keep them open in case there’s a mutant spider ready to bite you in the shower, right? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/11 "2012-02-22T19:56:27Z")
Thanks to Steven King… I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I’d shown the movie **Alien** to the kids from **IT**. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/12 "2012-02-22T19:57:51Z")
> [@PalJuicy](#): > > Have you ever been influenced to do (or not to do) something odd because you’ve read it in a book or seen it in a movie? I like mayonnaise on my french fries thanks to _Pulp Fiction_. I don’t, however, “drown them in that shit.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/13 "2012-02-22T19:59:12Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Due to the woman in the bathtub in Room 217 of the Overlook Hotel, I for years compulsively glanced into the tub of every bathroom I entered, and would not have been wholly surprised to see a dead lady floating there. > > Thankfully, due to my vigilance, this never happened. 😛 I was already wary of bathtubs and shower curtains on account of _Psycho_, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/14 "2012-02-22T20:10:04Z")
When I was probably 7 or 8 I was flipping through the channels and stumbled across a show I haven’t been able to identify in adulthood. To my young mind (and all my recollection is suspect due to it being over 20 years ago), it was presented as a filmed court case. A family of at least a mother and son were trying to break their lease or something and the landlord wasn’t having it. They argued the apartment was uninhabitable because it was haunted. The ghost was a woman who had been murdered by her boyfriend and now would occasionally show up. There was testimony about how her appearance matched how her boyfriend had mutilated her. What screwed me up was that she had been decapitated and the mother claimed to wake up to the woman’s head on the pillow next to her. It was definitely months or longer that I had to sleep with my hands on either side of my head to prevent any disembodied heads from sharing a bed with me. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/15 "2012-02-22T20:42:29Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Due to the woman in the bathtub in Room 217 of the Overlook Hotel, I for years compulsively glanced into the tub of every bathroom I entered, and would not have been wholly surprised to see a dead lady floating there. > > Thankfully, due to my vigilance, this never happened. 😛 I go one step farther and will not lock a bathroom door behind me if the bathtub shower curtain is closed. I open it first. I read _The Shining_ in 1991 when I was in seventh grade. Today I turned 32. I still check. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/16 "2012-02-22T21:22:02Z")
Due to Friday the 13th’s “knife through the guy’s throat” scene, I always checked under my bed, all the way to about age 25 when I moved out. I also opened every closet, looked inside, and closed it, and made sure every drawer was shut. I have stopped all of it since I got a dog because they magically keep away serial killers. But to this day, I cannot let any limb hang over the edge of the bed. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/17 "2012-02-22T21:45:34Z")
After reading Thomas Harris’ _The Red Dragon_ I slept with a firearm under my bed. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/18 "2012-02-22T21:47:12Z")
_IT_ is the reason I will still not stand directly on top of a shower drain to this day. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/19 "2012-02-22T21:48:45Z")
I have a vague memory from a horror movie on tv when I was little. It had drawers that started out with chicken eggs (it was a farm) but then had dead bodies. I still sleep with all the draws closed tight. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651/20 "2012-02-22T21:52:41Z")
Thanks to H.P. Lovecraft I realized that the universe is full of evil so bad that it will drive you mad. Leave the closet open or closed, it doesn’t matter. We are all doomed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-to-stephen-king/613651.md?page=2)