Almost everyone seems to be able to remember an occasion in their childhood when an especially terrifying mass media portrayal took hold of their consciousness and left them frightened, shaken, and troubled for a considerable period of time. Many researchers have reported that such enduring fright reactions, which often involve sleep disturbances and nightmares, are not at all uncommon (Blumer, 1933; Cantor & Reilly, 1982; Eisenberg, 1936; Hess & Goldman, 1962; Himmelweit, Oppenheim, & Vince, 1958; Johnson, 1980; Palmer, Hockett, & Dean, 1983; Preston, 1941).