I put off delving into Lynch stuff for years because while I very much crave for the offbeat weird/creepy/anxiety-inducing/dreamlike/surreal vibe, David Lynch is praised everywhere for that, and partly I was afraid that his work wouldn't live up to the expectations that I'd formed, while another part of me was kind of "saving them" for when I felt I'd reached a level of emotional maturity and media literacy, so that their meaning and purpose wouldn't be lost on me, in a sense. I'm 28 years old and I finally made the jump some months ago.

I started with Blue Velvet because everyone was saying that it's by far one of his most accessible projects (not counting the Straight Story of course). And while I liked it, my initial impression was that it was way goofier and more mundane than I expected. Getting into Twin Peaks right after kinda gave power to that opinion as well. But all the while, there was a reoccurring sensation. Not dread, not anxiety, something that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Having now seen the entirety of Twin Peaks plus the biggest chunk of his filmography, I revised my opinion on Blue Velvet, because the man is pure genius and I cannot fathom how he consistently achieves the effect he does on my psyche through his movies. Mulholland Drive being the absolute pinnacle.

The closest way I can describe it is that when I watch something made by David Lynch, it feels like I've already lived the emotions it conveys, and I've already been in all the liminal rooms and locations it shows. I'm not watching a movie for the first time. I'm just unlocking the memory by watching it. No other piece of media apart from Lynch's works has ever done this to me, and I can truly say that I feel his brand of surrealism and horror now.

TL;DR I heavily second looking into Lynch's work, OP.