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  • I Want to be Scared

    I’m tired of the books I’ve been reading and would like book suggestions for something scary. I know fear is a personal thing and that what one person finds scary another person doesn’t so I’ve listed what movies, tv, and stories I found scary and why.

    Movies
    House of Wax (Vincent Price): I think it was the two identities…Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.
    Pit and the Pendulum (Vincent Price)—Hey, crazy man with two personalities tortures and kills, then entombs a victim forever. What’s not scary about that?
    Wait Until Dark—Whole messing with the victim’s head idea.
    Aliens—The idea of something growing inside you.
    Jaws—I think it’s the timing…lull you into a false sense of security, then BAM!
    The Mummy—Mostly just fun, but there were moments especially when the group was being tracked in a dark maze that I found scary.

    TV episodes
    x-files:
    Ice—The worms that would take over the victims’ brains and change their personality
    Detour—Chameleon-like beast that picks of members of the group out in the woods one by one.
    Folie a Deux—Call center workers are bitten by a monstrous insect that turns them into zombies/drones but they look completely normal to everyone else.

    Occasionally man v animal stories—if they’re told right. (Sasquatch, yeti, etc.)
    Ghost stories.

    Books/short stories
    Dracula—still scares me if it’s night and I’m alone
    I read this one vampire story that took place in Viking times. Basically the vampire came into the village in winter time—when the sun never rises. (I know, I know, “30 days of Night” only I heard that both the movie and the book sucked)
    The Most Dangerous Game—Man is the apex predator.

    Stories I didn’t find scary:
    The Shining
    The Ruins—not suspenseful or scientific enough. You knew right from the start that everyone would die. You knew that the giant plant would kill them but not why.
    1408—Made no sense, was just odd
    The Ring—Weird/gross imagery. Just not scary.
    Any horror story involving incest or necrophilia. Not scary at all, just squicky. Eww.

    Stories I find scary but not in a good way: Satanic ritual, demonic possession, etc.

    So CS members, scare me!
    Last edited by flybye023; 04-12-2009, 05:05 AM.
    My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.---Cary Grant

  • #2
    One of the scarier movies I've seen over the last while was a BBC television film called "Ghostwatch"...

    "On October 31st, 1992, the BBC aired a live documentary about house that is haunted, including a reporter with camera crew interviewing the family from inside the house. No one was prepared for what happened next..."

    Well, OK, it wasn't live, or a documentary, but it was damn good and it has never aired in Britain again after that night. It is the "Orson Well's War of the Worlds" of British television.
    "Kamala the Ugandan Giant" 1950-2020 • "Bullet" Bob Armstrong 1939-2020 • "Road Warrior Animal" 1960-2020 • "Zeus" Tiny Lister Jr. 1958-2020 • "Hacksaw" Butch Reed 1954-2021 • "New Jack" Jerome Young 1963-2021 • "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff 1949-2021 • "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton 1958-2021 • Daffney 1975-2021

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    • #3
      The Complete Works of H. P. Lovecraft

      I suggest the following:
      At the Mountains of Madness
      The Call of Cthulhu
      The Colour Out of Space
      The Haunter of the Dark
      The Hound
      The Rats in the Walls
      The Unnamable

      ...but not if you enjoy sleep.
      » Horse Words «·» Roleplaying Stuff «

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      • #4
        Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

        It scared the living hell out of me. Heck, it scared my supposedly unscareable boyfriend. Most realistic cinematic violence I've ever seen.
        "Even arms dealers need groceries." ~ Ziva David, NCIS

        Tony: "Everyone's counting on you, just do what you do best."
        Abby: "Dance?" ~ NCIS

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        • #5
          Here are some books I find disturbing:

          House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

          (Very long, unconventional style and format. Not shock-scary but I found it profoundly disturbing in a primal manner)

          Anything by Ramsey Campbell (He has written Lovecraftian fiction as well as other stuff; he is especially interested in the horrific potential in modern media such as film). I recommend Ancient Images, Alone with the Horrors, and especially The Overnight.

          Shirley Jackson is a classic and I liked The House on Haunted Hill and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

          Ambrose Bierce, Sheridan LeFanu and Saki (H.H. Munro) were masters of the Victorian short horror story. M.R. James is also delicious.

          There is also The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, though you have probably seen the movie.
          https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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          • #6
            Quoth KabeRinnaul View Post
            The Complete Works of H. P. Lovecraft

            I suggest the following:
            At the Mountains of Madness
            The Call of Cthulhu
            The Colour Out of Space
            The Haunter of the Dark
            The Hound
            The Rats in the Walls
            The Unnamable

            ...but not if you enjoy sleep.
            Took the words right out of my mouth. Lovecraft gives me the heebie-jeebies! I would add The Shadow Out of Time to that list, as well. And Whisperer in the Dark or whatever that one is called. I also liked The Thing on the Doorstep, which was so much scary as disturbing.

            http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/ has all of Lovecraft online.
            "Eventually, everything that you have said becomes everything you will ever say." Eireann

            My pony dolls: http://equestriarags.tumblr.com

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            • #7
              The Shadow People - Margaret St. Clair (1969)

              We had to move to a house without a basement after my wife read this book.
              I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
              Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
              Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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              • #8
                I know it's been out for a long time, but if you haven't read this one: It by Stephen King. Gave me nightmares for weeks and I still look at clowns a bit sideways.
                You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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                • #9
                  The only movie that freaks me out is The Event Horizon. I couldn't sleep for awhile after that.
                  I have a...thing. Wanna see it?

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                  • #10
                    Various random ideas:

                    "The Amityville Horror." The book, not the movies so much.
                    "The Exorcist." Book or (original) movie. Fucking scary shit. And yes, I HAVE stood on those stairs, thank you very much. (The movie "Exorcist III" was good too, but "Exorcist II" sucked balls.)
                    "Christine." Book, but movie is good too.
                    I know I am going to get roasted for this one, but I found the first "Candyman" movie to be scary as hell.
                    "Prince of Darkness." The movie. Don't know if there was a book.
                    "The Omen." Book or original movie. Creepy shit.
                    This is a bit odd, but the Doctor Who episode entitled "Blink."
                    The first "Saw" movie. It is not just gore. It is fucked up.
                    The very first "Nightmare on Elm Street," before it became a comedy campy series. Also, "Wes Craven's Final Nightmare" was pretty creepy.

                    And if you really want to be creeped out by truth, which is usually stranger than fiction, check out "The Last Victim" by Jason Moss, "Deranged" by Harold Schechter, "Citizen X" by Robert Cullen, "Cannibal" by Lois Jones, or "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. Some of the creepier books I've read about real-life killers...and I've read a few. ("Cannibal is not about a serial killer, but just about one of the creepiest real-life crimes I've ever read about, being either a murder, a suicide, or both, depending upon how you look at it, but still ultra-creepy.)

                    "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
                    Still A Customer."

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                    • #11
                      Any Edgar Allen Poe, if you can tolerate the typical-for-his-era writing style (me, I find that hard).

                      Garth Nix, but not his teenager-books. Which are probably scary enough for teenagers! But the Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen series are great, if you go for creepy-slow horror, rather than sudden terror.
                      Seshat's self-help guide:
                      1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                      2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                      3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                      4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                      "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Jester View Post
                        This is a bit odd, but the Doctor Who episode entitled "Blink."
                        I saw that episode... one of the greatest Doctor Who episodes I have ever seen. One of the greatest sci-fi SHOWS I have ever seen.
                        "Kamala the Ugandan Giant" 1950-2020 • "Bullet" Bob Armstrong 1939-2020 • "Road Warrior Animal" 1960-2020 • "Zeus" Tiny Lister Jr. 1958-2020 • "Hacksaw" Butch Reed 1954-2021 • "New Jack" Jerome Young 1963-2021 • "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff 1949-2021 • "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton 1958-2021 • Daffney 1975-2021

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                        • #13
                          Quoth KabeRinnaul View Post
                          The Complete Works of H. P. Lovecraft

                          I suggest the following:
                          At the Mountains of Madness
                          The Call of Cthulhu
                          The Colour Out of Space
                          The Haunter of the Dark
                          The Hound
                          The Rats in the Walls
                          The Unnamable

                          ...but not if you enjoy sleep.
                          "The Music of Erich Zann" made me afraid of windows for three nights, and "The Shadow Out of Time" makes me physically ill. It's not scary, but anything attempting to describe the immensity of the universe and time just makes me dizzy and nauseous.
                          Last edited by Gawdzillers; 04-12-2009, 04:47 PM.
                          "We were put on this Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise." -Kurt Vonnegut

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                          • #14
                            Sadly I can't think of any books/movies at the moment, apart from what's already been mentioned.

                            Are you including video games in your list of horror media? If so I'd recommend the Silent Hill series, namely 1, 2, and 4. Not the over-the-top movie though.

                            SH1: The titular town itself seems to be the enemy. A faceless malevolent evil, enshrouded in fog, half-submerged into a blood and rust-encrusted mockery of reality, mainipulating the hapless ordinary-joe main character into going further into its depths. Unlike most survival-horror pretenders, ammo is extremely scarce.

                            SH2: This time the town is purgatory. There is nothing to fear in town, except what you take with you. But unfortunately, over-abundance of ammo kills some of the game's suspense. The real horror comes from the chillingly-unbalanced cast of characters who are drawn in, including the main. There was a scene near the end where one of the secondary characters gave up, and surrendered to her own personal hell. That scene was so heartbreaking I had to put the game down for a time.

                            SH4: Trapped inside a warped twisted world, born out of the mind of a serial killer. The only way out of this nightmare is down, through the depths of the killer's madness, to find the truth behind his insanity. Not as scary as the other two, and somewhat saddled by bad gameplay. But the story made up for it.

                            All of the above games contain genuinely tragic scenes. That's no mean feat, getting people emotionally invested in pixellated characters.

                            I noticed you mentioned Aliens in your list. At the risk of sounding shamelessly self-promotional, and perhaps cheezy, might I recommend my Aliens fanfic Soul of Silicon? One of my reviewers, Ridley's Garden, described it as "Quite possibly one of the most Psycologically [sp] scary stories I have ever read."

                            I'd like to think I incorporated the theme of something growing inside you well, despite the fact that my main characters aren't even human. They are an android, and a ship's computer. Both have something dangerous lurking inside of them. It's not biological. It's not even alien. It is sadly, a purely human construct.
                            Last edited by Talon; 04-12-2009, 05:28 PM.
                            Happiness is the exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording you scope.

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                            • #15
                              Quoth El Pollo Guerrera View Post
                              I saw that episode... one of the greatest Doctor Who episodes I have ever seen. One of the greatest sci-fi SHOWS I have ever seen.
                              Absolutely agreed. Without question my favorite Doctor Who episode ever...and I have only ever seen it once!

                              "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
                              Still A Customer."

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