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[darchildre]

Poll #25357 Questions about The Neverending Story

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

View Respondents

Should I replace my paperback copy of The Neverending Story with a hardback copy?

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No - you already own it and the reading experience is adequate if not ideal
0 (0.0%)

Yes - the colored text is Important
7 (63.6%)

I have only seen the movie and will move on to the next question
4 (36.4%)

What is the most emotionally distressing part of The Neverending Story (film version only)?

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Artax drowning in the Swamp of Sadness
7 (77.8%)

The Southern Oracle dissolving into dust as Atreyu speaks to them
1 (11.1%)

The Rock Biter and his "good strong hands"
1 (11.1%)

The whole terrifying scene with the Gmork
0 (0.0%)

Something else I will mention in comments
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[maharetr]

I *have* read the book, and the sequels(s? are even more hazy). The movie is stronger all round in my head, but regardless, coloured text is always important (if you can afford it and find it, etc, etc)

It's probably telling that I only peripherally remember the Southern Oracle and the Rock Biter, and even then it's only because you mentioned them. I don't remember Gmork at all. but ARTAX, oh GOD.

[darchildre]

It's funny, because I almost left Artax off the poll because I forgot about it. I'm aware that scene is a Big Thing for a lot of the internet but it really never has been for me. It's extremely sad, don't get me wrong, but the stuff that messed me up more as a kid was the Nothing - that was a particular kind of tragic horror that I hadn't experienced before this movie/book.

The Gmork is the big animatronic wolf-thing at the end of the film. It scared me so much that I once stopped the VHS tape at that point as a child and then couldn't watch the movie at all because trying to rewind it would have meant potentially encountering the Gmork again. I had to make my mom do it while I was out of the room.

[out_there]

I went with Artax drowning because that did make me teary, but honestly, the Rock Biter and his good strong hands always caught me out too.

[out_there]

The Gmork is the big animatronic wolf-thing at the end of the film. It scared me so much that I once stopped the VHS tape at that point as a child and then couldn't watch the movie at all because trying to rewind it would have meant potentially encountering the Gmork again.

Ah! I remember being terrified of that wolf as a child. It was the scariest thing in that movie. And then seeing it as an adult, I was amazed at the shonky animatronics and how I'd ever found it frightening...

[tricksters_queen]

See, Artax made me sob as a child, and Gmork terrified tf out of me.

The whole concept of the Nothing, I agree, is a specific kind of horror that I had difficulty shaking as a kid, and still bothers me to this day... and yet, I still chose Artax? I think because that scene still produces a deep sadness when I re-watch, whereas, as much as the concept of the Nothing is still horrifying, I am no longer as afraid of the concept of not existing...and as scary as Gmork is, that scene doesn't stick with me as much now that I'm an adult.

I mean, honestly, all the scenes you offered upset or disturbed me as a kid. It's kind of a wonder that I love the movie so much? Falkor is my favorite thing.

[darchildre]

There's also something to the idea that the Nothing is a huge threat that's hard to hold in your mind, where Artax' death is smaller and more personal.

It possibly says something about who I am as a person that I'm having trouble thinking of a work of fiction that was Important to me as a child and that I still love that didn't either terrify me or make me cry.

That is how you get Horror People, I expect.