Uncanny

    Freud's analysis of "the uncanny" basically is defined as being frightened by something that is familiar to us. I would have to say that I agree with Freud's analysis as a distinct element of the Gothic sensibility because the things that were told to us as a kid to get us to behave isn't something we would normally think would come true and in the end frighten you. In this case, The Sandman was a story told to the children that if they did not go to bed at 9 o'clock at night then the Sandman would come and essentially make their eyes bleed out and then feed the children to their kids up in outer space. This story was told a lot to Nathaniel (the main character in the story) and it eventually made him scared that it would actually happen to him. There is a similar story that we were told when we were younger that when you go to sleep, the sandman comes at night and puts "sand" in your eyes and that's what is in the corner of your eyes every morning when you wake up. When you are told these stories there is a sense of familiarity when you hear that same story when you are older, but you do not expect it to come true. For the story, the tale that was told to them when they were younger was actually something that they thought was real and is what killed his father. However, Nathaniel remembers who was with his father when he died as a child and realized that it was not the Sandman but rather someone that the family was friends with and trusted.