March 24, 2013

The Brain Eaters Invade Massachusetts Middle School

By Geoffrey P. Hunt
The best of the schlock sci-fi thrillers from the 1950s were The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Blob. Further down the marquee was another cult favorite, The Brain Eaters, appearing at premier theaters in 1958.  Following a well-grooved genre, the brain eaters were alien parasites attaching themselves to unsuspecting victims' spines. More than 50 years later, the brain eaters have re-appeared at a Middle School in Ipswich, Massachusetts, specifically targeting its principal, David Fabrizio. How else to explain his cancellation of "Honors Night," replacing it with an "All-Inclusive Assembly," as reported in local press accounts and picked up nationally? Perhaps the Ipswich Water Department conducted hydrant flushing on Fabrizio's street this past week, rinsing away his common sense along with iron and copper deposits. Or the Mass DEP water quality tests came back with alarming levels of mercury -- the most likely agent for his mad-hatter hysteria. Whatever the source of...(Read Full Article)