I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark is a creepy 1930s fever dream

If you have six minutes and like feeling slightly unsettled, you should watch this tonight.

It is perfect for people who miss when cartoons were actually weird and didn't care about being "nice" for kids. 👻

If you hate old, scratchy audio and rubber-hose limbs that defy every law of physics, you’ll probably hate it though.

So, the dog leaves this party at 3 AM. Three in the morning.

He says goodnight to everyone, but you can tell he's already a little jumpy by the way his ears twitch.

The atmosphere in these early Fleischer shorts is just... different. It feels wet? Like the ink is still drying on the screen as you watch it.

He starts walking through a graveyard, which is always a great choice for a shortcut in the middle of the night. 🙄

Then his shadow starts acting up. It doesn't just follow him; it starts actively messing with him.

There is a moment where the shadow just detaches from his feet and it is genuinely spooky for something made in 1930.

It reminds me a bit of the dark mood in Der Herr der Nacht, just much more frantic and rubbery.

Dick Huemer and Dave Fleischer really knew how to make everything look elastic.

The dog’s legs move like they are made of cooked noodles. 🍝

I noticed one background tree that looks like it has a human face for exactly two frames. I might have imagined it, but I don't think I did.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark (1930) through its definitive frames.

The music is that classic, tinny jazz that sounds like it is being played through a rusty tin can. It really adds to the creepy factor.

It is not quite as intense as something like Shipwrecked Among Cannibals, but it has its own brand of dread.

The dog keeps trying to outrun his own outline. It is kind of a metaphor for anxiety, maybe? Or maybe they just thought it looked cool.

Probably just thought it looked cool. 🤷‍♂️

I love how the dog talks to himself. His voice is so squeaky and high-pitched it almost blends into the background noise.

There is this one part where he trips and the way he falls looks so painful despite him being a cartoon character.

It is much more interesting than some of the more "proper" films from that era, like Her Accidental Husband.

The graveyard gate looks like it is reaching out to grab him as he passes. 🧤

Honestly, the ending feels a bit rushed. It just kind of... stops.

But that is fine. It is a six-minute nightmare and then it is over.

Watching this made me want to check out A Close Shave just to see how animation changed over those early years.

Anyway, go watch this if you want to see a dog get bullied by his own silhouette. It’s weirdly relatable.

We have all been scared of the dark at some point, right? Especially when the shadows start moving on their own.