An Ode to Scooby Doo

Words by Casey Hynes

Sitting in my living room, a then-large screen looms before my then-tiny body. Brightly coloured figures dance across my eyes; four teenagers and a big dog, on the hunt for a mystery to solve. I am entranced. When whatever monster they are chasing is unmasked, I am filled with joy. Almost like I have beaten the bad guys alongside them.

Countless stories and quests are available to me on that big screen, in beautiful animation and occasionally, live-action. The DVDs of their adventures act as my night-time companions via my little bedroom television, offering fuel for my dreams so that I too may beat ghoulish witches with the Hex Girls and ghostly pirates with the Harlem Globetrotters. Their stickers on my walls offer protection from the nightmares. 

Ghouls, ghosts, witches, globs. Aliens, monsters, werewolves, zombies. Never terrifying, for encountering them in that modern-day enchanted mirror is never done alone. No harm, no foul. No one or nothing is hurt, bar the villain’s ego. Important lessons, for when the masks come off, it is always one of us sitting underneath. 

Learning to poke and look where perhaps it is not encouraged. See what may lurk beneath, question what might not be right. Solve the mysteries in everyday life, though people wear different masks off-screen. Villains are not easily unearthed or defeated. 

No fear to be found within their tales, only spooky thrills and well-timed laughs. For little me knew that the sun would shine brightly on the five, and that those meddling kids would always save the day. For how could any foe, vampiric or cyber or otherwise, ever win when they came up against such good friends.

Good vs evil. Always good.