The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers story
A boy who doesn't know what fear is sets out into the world, hoping to learn for himself what it means to be afraid. Starring Peter MacNicol as Martin, Dana Hill as Princess Amanda, Christopher Lee as King Vladimir V, David Warner as Zandor the Innkeeper, Jack Riley as the Deacon, and Frank Zappa as Atilla. Narrated by Vincent Price. Written by Bruce Franklin Singer. Directed by Graeme Clifford.
22 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 16 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| fear | choice | The story is about Martin being too much of a simpleton to realize that he should be afraid of ghosts and other stereotypically scary things. He finally got the "shivers" he sought when Amanda proclaimed her love and started planning out their future together. |
| haunted house | major | Martin spent three nights in a ghost infested castle. |
| human aspiration | major | The story focuses on Martin's efforts to experience for himself what it is like to feel fear. Martin lacked certain human emotions, in particular "fear" and "the blues". He roamed the world in a quest to experience these otherwise universally human traits. |
| infatuation | major | Amanda was clearly besotted with Martin. |
| undead being | major | Marin encountered ghosts and walking corpses in the haunted castle. |
| what it is like to be different | major | Martin had trouble fitting in because he wasn't subject to the same fears and superstitions as other people in his town. |
| brother and brother | minor | Martin's superstitious brother was alarmed to find Martin standing under a ladder. |
| courage | minor | The evil sorcerer said that Martin was wrong to think himself valiant. |
| death incarnate | minor | Martin got the better of a cowled, sickle swinging creature that was presumably Grim Reaper. |
| father and daughter | minor | King Vladimir was haunting the castle to keep from having to give his daughter, Amanda. |