Parisians flee, sidewalks empty as France enters lockdown

US wages and benefits grow at sluggish pace amid pandemic

Uh-oh! Is there something behind that bush? Maybe something evil and furry and out for blood?
				Walking home in the darkness after watching a scary movie at the neighborhood theater in the 1950s could be &#8211; well &#8211; a bit nerve-wracking for a kid.
				But, appropriately for Halloween of 2020, I&rsquo;m glad I binged on those old flicks. I&rsquo;ll even go so far as to say that they taught me valuable life lessons. Here&rsquo;s some of what I learned.
				&ldquo;Them&rdquo; (1954). Ants grown to the size of Mack trucks by A-bomb testing in the desert go on a rampage of slaughter, and it takes the Army to stop them. Lesson: Don&rsquo;t be astonished by consequences you failed to foresee because maybe you&rsquo;re not as smart as you think you are.
				&ldquo;The Thing from Another World&rdquo; (1951). A murderous vegetable-like creature from a crashed UFO terrorizes an isolated military base above the Arctic Circle, until the lone woman in the group figures out how to kill it &#8211; cook the darned thing with electricity. Lesson: Sometimes it pays to shelve standard wisdom and listen to those who can think outside the box.
				&ldquo;The Wolfman&rdquo; (1941). Shown at my favorite theater as a rerun, the plot has Lon Chaney Jr. bitten by a wolf and turned into an irreversible shape-changer as he&rsquo;s trying to help a lady being attacked by the animal. Lesson: Sometimes, though it&rsquo;s very sad to say, bad things happen to good people who are trying to do what&rsquo;s right.
				&ldquo;Invasion of the Body Snatchers&rdquo; (1956). A doctor returns to his small-town home after a lengthy trip only to discover some subtle and frightening changes in the townspeople, changes that no one else seems aware of. Lesson: Pay attention to even the smallest details, or you might suffer for your negligence.
				&ldquo;House of Wax&rdquo; (1953): This early 3-D epic (seen with plastic glasses) told of a demented museum owner who finds a unique way to create lifelike exhibits &#8211; he kills people and dips them in wax. Lesson: Learn to look beneath the surface, because that&rsquo;s where the truth, however unsettling it is, can be found.
				&ldquo;Creature from the Black Lagoon&rdquo; (1954): A party of research scientists sails up a jungle river after hearing stories of strange life forms &#8211; one of which turns out to be pretty nasty. Lesson: Even if you&rsquo;re a Ph.D., there&rsquo;s always going to be something new out there to surprise you.
				&ldquo;The War of the Worlds&rdquo; (1953): Aliens climb out of their UFOs and start wiping out humanity with death rays, until finally something we take for granted proves their undoing. Lesson: Despite our faith in logic, science and military power, our real salvation might lie elsewhere.
				&ldquo;The Invisible Man&rdquo; (1933): Actually, I caught this old film on TV. A scientist trying to do good accidentally unleashes evil on himself and others when his serum for invisibility drives him mad. Lesson: Explore every possibility before you try something new and different, because there might be something you&rsquo;ve overlooked.
				&ldquo;The Incredible Shrinking Man&rdquo; (1957): A happy couple out on a boat trip finds life shattered when a mysterious cloud at sea begins shrinking the husband down to the size of a bug. Lesson: You never know when happiness and security will be interrupted by some event totally unexpected, so stay alert.
				Well, there are lots more scary movies that taught me something. In some ways, the old neighborhood movie theater was as educational as a college. Plus, the old movie house had fresh popcorn.

Remember When: Huge ants, other monsters brought terror to big screen