Spooky Portraits

As a teenager, my entire view of Chinese tv serials and movies was shaped by actors dresssed as jumping Chinese vampires with ridiculous make-up wearing Qing dynasty court garb. When I walked by an antiques shop and saw these replica portraits hanging by its entrance, I literally froze and shivered in the bright sunshine.

I have this intense dislike for this sort of portraits with long-dead humans in this sort of long-dead fashion. They scare me and give me nightmares. When I visited ancestral halls in China with thousands of portraits hanging off the walls, I literally ran away to the nearest spot at an angle where I couldn't see them no more.

The thing is, many fancy wency international hotels think that it's artistic or classy by putting these portraits into the rooms.  Arrrrgh. Whenever I step into a room and see this sort of portraits adorning its walls, I will leave immediately. I will either demand to change a room or for housekeeping to remove the frames within the hour. Eioooowwwww.

My problem is, I'm reminded that when my grandfather died, he left me some portraits of some ancestors in this sort of pose and dress.  At that time, I stashed them away in some rented locker to be forgotten through the decades. But every now and then, I get this shockingly rude reminder I have portraits like that which I can't just dump in the garbage bin to recycle.

Grandfather used to proudly hang them up at home in their glass-encased glory. He would tell me stories about these fearsome people. I would be cringing and wishing that I could just disappear. After a while, he stopped telling me stories. I know he doesn't think so, but I remember every word he said, every one of those names and stories. I can re-tell those stories as well as he did, but without that conviction and eloquence. As much as I love my grandfather, I'll never hang these portraits in my own home. *shudder*