I read all genres, with horror and psychological
thrillers being a few of my favorites, but not many fictional things actually
succeed in scaring me, as far as books and movies go (although someone in my family walking
into a room unexpectedly will almost always result in my screaming and
jumping—but that’s an entirely different story having to do with how tightly I’m
wound these days). While many people
avoid scary stuff like the plague, I love it…I think it has something to do
with the thrill of a heart-pounding adrenaline rush accompanied by the comforting
fact that on some level, I know I’m
actually safe, sitting on the couch reading or watching. So I read plenty of horror, paranormal, and
suspense, and I love watching scary flicks (find a list of my favorite ghost
movies here) although I prefer supernatural and psychological horror over the kind that feature gore or torture. So for fellow adrenaline
junkies, here’s a list of three movies and two books that did truly scare
me. Any spoilers will follow a “Spoiler
Alert” sentence, so you can safely stop reading about something you want to try
for yourself. I’d hate to ruin any
future scares!
Movie: The
Exorcist. I can’t imagine it would be
possible to spoil anyone regarding the plot of this movie (based on the book by
William Peter Blatty), since it was released in 1973 and also, if you’re
reading this, you probably like scary things and have certainly watched
it. Even though the film is a bit dated,
it’s still one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. When I saw it as a child (on TV—not sure who
approved that—some solid parenting there lol), I related more to the viewpoint
of the child, Regan. Could something
like that happen to me? And if it did,
would I be subjected to those giant needles and painful tests? Would a demon turn my head around and write
on my skin from the inside out? Those
scenes struck a visceral chord with me.
As an adult, my fear stems more from the mother’s point of view—talk about
a nightmare situation. An evil entity
taking over your child? It’s not hard to
imagine the horrifying helplessness a parent would experience, watching a demon
not only possess but also injure his or her child.
Probably the most chilling thing about The Exorcist is
that the book was based on an actual incident which occurred in Maryland, not
far from where I grew up. And then there
were the frightening real-life events surrounding the making of the movie which
led people to wonder if portraying a demonic possession actually conjured up
some evil forces – more on the “Curse of The Exorcist” in this post.
Book: Pet
Sematary. I read a lot of Stephen King,
and this is the book King calls the most frightening he has ever written. That should tell you something right
there. I can’t speak regarding the
movie, as I haven’t seen it, but I clearly remember reading the book even
though it was years and years ago, when I was a teenager. And I remember so vividly for two reasons: (1)
I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading to finish it, and it was a school night. And (2) I spent the rest of the night (early
morning, actually) scared out of mind, waiting for **!!spoiler alert, stop
reading here if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie and have plans to
now** …a shambling, undead, murderous toddler wielding a scalpel. No wonder King found the manuscript so
horrifying he almost didn’t finish it!
Very few books have affected me like that, and for the rest of the
night, my lights stayed on and every creak in our old home had me watching the
bedroom doorknob, waiting for it to slowly open.
Book: Red
Dragon. The precursor to Silence of the
Lambs, also by Thomas Harris. This is
likely to sound twisted, but this book was actually recommended to me by my
father, who instilled a love of reading in me early and knew that like himself,
I enjoyed a good adrenaline jolt as long as it was fictional. I was probably about 14 or 15 when he asked
if I’d read it, and he then told me it was the scariest book he’d ever
read. Obviously I had to run out and get
it. This is the book in which Harris
introduces the now-iconic Dr. Hannibal Lector character. But the more terrifying aspect of the book
was the psychotic serial killer nicknamed “The Tooth Fairy” by the press. More specifically, it was not only what he
did to the families he murdered, but how he got inside their homes, and
especially how he chose his victims. **!!Spoiler
alert ahead, I can’t remember when this is revealed in the book, but best to
stop reading now if you don’t know**…As it turned out, the killer had a job
developing film and movies, and he used this visual information to select
families and learn layouts of the houses.
So, yeah, this scared me so much, I actually stopped having my pictures
developed for a while, which was a major inconvenience. When a fictional character makes you change
your behavior, you know that book has made an impression!
Movie: Jaws. Based on the book by Peter Benchley, this
movie released in 1975, so of course, the special effects aren’t really
appreciated by younger generations.
Still, the fear of being grabbed and eaten alive by something unseen,
under the water, is pretty much universal, so that alone is enough to seriously
frighten most people. And then there’s
the way it was filmed, often from the shark’s point of view as it honed in on
its victims, along with the terrifying score that accompanied the hunt. Part of the horror is the randomness of the
attacks—it can and does happen to kids and teens as well as adults in this
movie—and it often happens right out in the bright sunshine, at a beautiful
place usually associated with relaxation and family fun.
This movie was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard,
very close to where I live now, so if you’d like to see some of my photos of
iconic movie spots, that post can be found here. And I have to say, this movie is even scarier
to me now, because Great White Sharks have become very commonplace off the Cape
Cod shores since the seal population became protected and then exploded. The last time I went Full Moon Paddling (a
once-a-month nighttime kayak expedition I sometimes do), we were out in open
water and something hit against the bottom of my kayak, setting me off balance
for a moment with a hollow thump. I’m sure, now, that it was just a sandbar,
but at the time, in the almost complete darkness, my heart nearly exploded and
I was certain I was about to be an evening snack. So while I enjoy the nighttime paddles, I’m
sticking to the lake and pond excursions for now. Thanks, Jaws.
Movie: The
Blair Witch Project. First of all,
another horror film set near where I grew up—Burkittsville, Maryland, not far
from where I spent a lot of time at our friends’ farm and where I set one of my
own books. So already, the proximity
alone creeped me out. But the even bigger
part was that this movie was promoted as being ACTUAL “found footage”, all that
remained after the three film students go missing--a brilliant marketing strategy that went "viral" and purposefully
added confusion to the question of whether the movie was fact or fiction. And it was very, very effective, at least in
terms of scaring me. First off, the
three went into the remote woods of the Black Hills in search of the ghost of
The Blair Witch, a woman accused of witchcraft and banished from the town. During preliminary interviews, they had also
heard horrific stories of a kidnapper who lived in the woods in the 1940s. Soon the three are lost in these spooky
woods, with no way to contact anyone for help, which is a fear most people can
identify with. When creepy things begin
happening, all recorded on shaky, hand-held cameras which increase the tension,
it’s like we’re watching these helpless people being stalked by some unseen,
possibly supernatural entity, and it’s completely unnerving to say the
least. Similar to (and inspired by) early
scenes in Jaws, this movie uses the viewers’ imaginations to fill in the
predator’s image, and the “not knowing” gives our minds unlimited reign to
conjure up something bone-chilling.
When
this movie came out, I was living in a house that backed to the woods, and
after seeing it, if I had to go out at night to get my dog in, my heart would
be racing, my ears straining for random snaps of twigs, my eyes searching the
shadows for dark figures. And I’ll never
look at a pile of rocks or sticks again without a little ripple of unease.
So those are a few fictional stories that scared the
daylights out of me! I tend to aim more
for spooky suspense in my own novels, but readers and reviewers have told me
certain scenes gave them chills, which is exciting for an author who writes
about hauntings to hear. And since I am
such a fan of ghost stories in particular, I’ve made previous lists of My Favorite Ghost Stories and My Favorite Ghost Movies, for more ideas to get your
paranormal fix. And if you have a book
or movie that scared you, I want to hear about it! Thanks for stopping by and happy
reading/viewing.
