Spooky Scary Favorites

[AnaKhouri]

Over on my author page I started counting down to Halloween by showcasing one of my favorite horror authors every day. What stuff has genuinely scared you? Books, movies, urban legends, whatever. What has kept you up far past your bedtime, afraid to turn off the light?

[Kit-Ginevra]

There's a good selection of creepy things kids have said-l think it's Reddit.
My favourite..
'So l put my son to bed and said goodnight to him. He replied Goodbye Daddy.l told him 'Aw,at night we say goodnight,son.'
He replied 'Not tonight..tonight we say goodbye. That night l slept with one eye always watching what that little sod was doing....'

[dalesys]

Margaret St. Clair "The Shadow People 1969".

Had to move out of a rented house because the basement was too evocative of this novel to my wife.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Precisely because my brain is the kind of bastard to let scary stuff simmer and come back to haunt me in my dreams, I don't tend to watch a lot of scary movies or play scary games. That said, I don't seem to have a problem watching Let's Plays of the games, and Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, although I tend to favor his less-horror-esque stuff.

Strangely, also, I used to like watching some of the Slenderman-inspired web series, like Marble Hornets, Everyman Hybrid, etc.

Other short form horror stuff from YouTube that I've watched and have enjoyed includes No Through Road and There Are Monsters. Just unnerving enough and mysterious enough to appeal to me.

[greek_jester]

For me it's the US adaption of "The Ring".

I watched it when it came out in the cinema one Saturday night. Found it quite fun (if creepy), went home, went to bed.

Now, back then I had an old portable telly on a bracket on the wall of my bedroom (glass screen, wire aerial, real old-school). I have no idea why, but for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night. I looked up, and the f@%$ing screen was glowing. I yanked the plug, threw a blanket over it, and didn't sleep again all night. The next day the telly came down and got taken to the tip. I have never had a telly in my bedroom since.

Yes, I know it was only static. You try telling yourself that at death o'clock in the morning after watching The Ring.

Another thing that genuinely scared me was the first "Weeping Angels" episode of Doctor Who. Later episodes diluted it a lot, but that first episode had my skin crawling and my heart racing.

Another Doctor Who episode that creeped me out, although not to the same extent, was "The Lonely Child". "Are you my mummy?" *shudders* What kept it from being truly scary was the ending; "For once, Rose, everybody lives!"

[Blue Ginger]

Finally someone else that got weirded out by the weeping angels. Gah! So hope they don't come back. Give me more Daleks. Exterminate! Exterminate!

The movie Dark City creeped me out. It's not exactly scary, just very disturbing. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/?ref_=nv_sr_2 I think part of it is because I have massive holes in my memory from depression and from what we now know as disassociating frequently and occasionally for days at a time. The thought of something outside myself wiping memories is horrifying.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I looked up, and the f@%$ing screen was glowing. I yanked the plug, threw a blanket over it, and didn't sleep again all night.

Heh. I know a guy in Louisiana, who watched the US version of "The Ring" like the day before Katrina hit the state. All that he ended up losing was power for a few days.

But imagine it-- you're puttering around in your darkened house, doing what you can without power. Then suddenly the TV pops on blasting static.

He about sh*t a brick.

[mjr]

Another thing that genuinely scared me was the first "Weeping Angels" episode of Doctor Who.

Weeping Angel figures would make awesome Halloween decorations for one's yard.

[Mental_Mouse]

Do you know Shaenon Garrity's Horror Every Day blog?

[telecom_goddess]

Did you all know there is a new third Ring movie out? It's called Rings and it's updated to make the video a digital file, and it's pretty good. I found it looking to see what Lizzie Brocheré (a french actress) had been up to lately.

On another note my favorite films are Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. They don't scare me but I love them both.

[AnaKhouri]

Just realized I hadn't answered this myself. Adam Nevill's novel Last Days had me giving the side eye to shadows on the wall for a long time after I read it. And Alien never fails to make me jump. The Haunting is one of the creepiest things I ever saw (the original, thanks very much!).

[Ironclad Alibi]

Did you all know there is a new third Ring movie out? It's called Rings and it's updated to make the video a digital file, and it's pretty good.

A similar update happened in the recent Jumanji movie. The board game from the earlier movie became a video game.

[MoonCat]

Some Native American legends can be quite creepy. All due respect to indigenous people, some of that stuff makes me want to sleep with the lights on.

[Marmalady]

I thoroughly recommend the stories of M R James. A writer who knows how to tell you just enough so that your imagination (which is what knows how to frighten you best) supplies the rest.

('A view from a hill' 'A warning to the curious' 'Count Magnus' and 'Oh whistle and I'll come to you, my lad' are a few of my favourites)

[AnaKhouri]

I love him! Saki and Sheridan LeFanu too.