Countdown to Halloween: No, no, don’t cry, ’cause if you cry … they’ll hear you …

Between the bloody delivery room scene, the “something chewed through the umbilical cord” thing and the bizarre, animal-like crying of Junior, It’s Alive traumatized me in a lasting way. And since my mom is an OB-GYN nurse, at the time it meant it wasn’t unusual for me to be hanging around doctor’s offices and hospital labor wards surrounded by pregnant women.

Which only emphasized an important lesson: If you hear the pitter-patter of little feet … run.