Sleep Tight - Original Painting

Created for the Exhibition: The Boy With A Leg Named Brian: Memoirs by Pete McKee

When my dad worked nights I would try my best to stay up as late as
possible, especially on a Friday when the horror films were on. ITV’s
Appointment with Fear, which started after News at Ten, had the
scariest introductory title sequence ever: a montage of classic horror
monster faces morphing into each other one after the other, set to
a creepy soundtrack. It was more terrifying than the actual movie
that it preceded. Rarely did I get past this before calling it a night
and heading off to bed. I’d managed to scare myself to death and
give myself nightmares. I imagined Frankenstein’s monster walking
through my bedroom door in the middle of the night, not pausing
to think why he would leave the Bavarian mountains, jump on the
number 36 and head over to my house to single me out. Horror was
an obsession for kids in the ’70s. Newsagents sold fold-out magazines
that would open out into a poster of Dracula or some other Hammer
horror creation. You could even get glow-in-the-dark construction
kits of horror characters, though they were way out of most council
kids’ league as they cost a fortune. The most-borrowed book out of
Jordanthorpe Library was A Pictorial History of Horror Movies.

The upshot of my horror obsession was that I invariably ended up
in Mum’s bed. She let me stay under the proviso that I didn’t fidget,
which is like telling a dog with fleas not to scratch. All I know is that
I cherished those moments – to feel my Mum’s skin and be comforted
by the warm scent of perfume, Park Drives and hair lacquer.

Product Details

Created in 2024.
Emulsion on board.
Framed in non-reflective museum glass.
Measurements including frame: 496mm x 675mm