What Scares You?

[MacAl Stone]

Let's get this partly rolling!

So what's really, really scary to you--both in terms of reading it and writing it?

I'm inclined toward that horrible, creepy sense that things are not as they seem--the psychological wrongnesses that can either be really subtle, or hit you over the head. That's why "haunted house" stories are usually a good spook for me, The Shining, The Haunting at Hill House, Fall of the House of Usher...all of 'em...

That sense that you can't see what's wrong on the surface, but you just know it's gonna be really bad.

[macalicious731]

Clowns. Anything with clowns. I hate clowns.

Don't even get me started on mimes.

[HConn]

Before this thread devolves into Heelarious joke answers like: Brittany Spears, let me chime in.

I'm terrified of being eaten. Wild carnivores, cannibals, it all freaks me out.

[MacAl Stone]

HConn--did you read the King short story about the stranded surgeon who starts carving off pieces of himself and eating them, in order to survive a bit longer? *shudder* Ick...

I've forgotten which collection it's in--I'll look for it and cite it tomorrow if I can find it :)

I've long had a theory that the real power of horror fiction lies in the direct or indirect confrontation of social/cultural taboos.

The story is "Survivor Type" from Skeleton Crew

[TerriLynn]

I'd have to say anything with bugs!! I outwardly shudder when I see a movie with them and had nightmares when I read John Saul's The Homing. His descriptive narrative was too precise! :eek

[spooknov]

The bump in the dark. The boogieman in the closet. The ghost in the attic. They build suspense.

I'll take a good old-fashioned ghost story over gore any day.

Oh, and I really enjoy the protag. feeling they are at the brink of a mental breakdown. The protag is slipping and you wonder if they will make it out okay. Suspense is key for me.

[HConn]

MacAl, if I read that King story, I'd fall over dead.

You know what else is scary? Blimps. (http://www.teemings.com/extras/truelife/scylla6.html)

Check out that link. I haven't laughed so hard in weeks.

[spooknov]

:ha
:rofl

That was great!

[MacAl Stone]

:ha OMG--that's soooo funny...partly because it sounds SO much like something that might happen to me. :ack

[Greenwolf103]

Psychological horror scares the crapola out of me. Oh, and anything with ghosts and haunted houses (I can never read The Amityville Horror again -- that book gave me nightmares!!). I once lived in a haunted house and I've had experiences with ghosts, so that's why I get so creeped out by stories like that.

Another thing that can be a valuable component to a horror story: Dragging suspense. I once read a short story in Dark Animus of these kids faced with a maniac holding a gun in his hands and the dragging suspense sent chills down my spine.

Spiders, snakes, deranged psychos with a God-complex...

[macalicious731]

A friend told me a plot of a crime show one night - Cold Case, CSI, I have no idea what it was.

Anyway, this girl had tried PCP and started hallucinating, and she tripped out so much she ate her friend alive.

Bleeeeeeeeegh! Creepy, creepy, creepy!

[MacAl Stone]

ugh--animated corpses are scary. The whole zombie-thing, or Pet Semetary--even the Lazarus story in the Bible is a little creepy, to my way of thinking...

[Greenwolf103]

macalic: Sometimes real life is scarier than fiction.

[LiamJackson]

Real life scares me most of all. The serial killer that preys on children, the sociopath who kills for no other reason than "its fun." This includes the Jeffery Dahmers and Wayne Gaceys of the world.
Fanaticism scares me; the kind that motivates a group of people to "kill by committee" or enter into mass suicide pacts.

[arrowqueen]

Madness, evil and some aspects of the supernatural.

:gone

aq

(and I don't like clowns either. John Wayne Gacey dressed up as one - shudder!)

[littlecupofjoe]

Clowns...definitely clowns. There is a clown art exhibit in town...all things clown in both acrylic and oil. The art gallery is a scarier place right now than any haunted house!!!!

There is this huge painting of a mime outside the front entrance, I mean it is humongous...and it stares at me as I drive to work everyday. Can't wait for the exhibit to be over.

Littlecupofjoe :coffee

[MacAl Stone]

Okay--I'm seeing a consensus happening :-/

So what IS it that's so creepy about clowns?

[Cary]

Hey Macster !!! Clowns, oh yeah, scarey..Just watch 'Killer Klowns from outer space', more funny than scarey, but still made ya go,oohhhhh !! What scares me ?? Real life, serial killers ala Dahmer, normal appearin guys than are really quite something else. Anything dead cavorting as If alive....I like that.Monsters, I likes monsters, normal critters gone out of control, like Cujo, Jumbo, stuff like that.Cannibals too !! Ewwwhhh !!!!:teeth
Love an bodyparts, Carybelle

[spooknov]

There was that clown that came to life in Poltergist. Scared the crap out of me when I was young. My little sis collected clowns and she had one that looked exactly like it.

The one thing that scares the snot out of me in real life is wasps. I'm over my fear of roaches and spiders, but wasps... :ack

Oh, and how did we not mention crazed fanaticals yet? You know, the Unibomber, the abortion clinic bombers, or the employee that got laid off and shoots co-workers. That's scary!

(Cary, I love Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Hillariously scary!)

[littlecupofjoe]

I am not quite sure why clowns are so scary. There is a term for clown phobia : coulraphobia

Wasn't there a serial killer that dressed like a clown?

Eeek

Littlecupofjoe :coffee

[LiamJackson]

I was fine with clowns until King's It

[spooknov]

Holy Macaronni with Meatballs on top! I can't believe I forgot about SK's It. That is one of my all-time favorite horror movies. The laugh just freaks me out... *shudder*

[Greenwolf103]

I don't like clowns, either. Dunno, just something 'bout those creeps that sends me screaming. My daughter actually WATCHED Killer Klowns from Outer Space -- and she's 3!! Of course, she got scared. But at least she now knows that clowns are to be feared. Better she had Mommy around to comfort her than no one at all.

But I LOVED that scene in Problem Child where Junior torched the clown room. YEAH!!

[LiamJackson]

Spook, when you get a chance, read the novel, (It) It's enough to make you go vigilante/medieval on alien killer-clowns types.
http://www.geocities.com/popcop157/god.gif

[spooknov]

For you, LJ, I'll give a go. (I usually can't make it past the half-way mark with SK's books. From what I hear, they usually get pretty interesting right after my stopping point.)

[nolabohemian]

I can't watch movies/ read books where there is the potentiality of people getting sent out of an airlock into the vaccum of space. For that reason, Event Horizon was the scariest movie ever. I had nightmares as an adult, simply because there were demons and people in space without suits. Titan AE and Total Recall also scared me for that reason. It's really an inexplicable phobia.

[macalicious731]

MacAl, I really couln't tell you what my problem is with clowns. It's a recent development - I even saw It and was okay with Pennywise.

I never had an unfortunate circus experience, or a birthday party-gone-wrong...

I think it's because they're so happy. And when they see that you don't like being around them, they force themselves upon you even more and won't go away!!

[HConn]

It's the gin-soaked breath that gets me.

[Cary]

Liam...now you have 'clownaphobia' ??? Ha !!! The clown in 'It' was awesome !!! I went as a deranged clown one year for Halloween !! That was some fun !!!!:teeth I ran around with white face paint an big fake choppers, nippin unsuspecting neighbors when they werent lookin....they didnt seem to mind. Ha!! Great fun !!! Hummm...maybe next year I should do a revival !!!??
Love an bitemarks, Carybella

[macalicious731]

Cary, if I had seen you, I would have died from pure fright.

[MacAl Stone]

So the ultimate scary thing is a dead, reanimated clown, crawling with bugs, and the clown eats people...

No WONDER Pennywise was so friggin' scary...

[LiamJackson]

Cary, it all goes back to the story, IT. When old Pennywise started pulling arms off of little kids, I instantly developed a long and enduring dislike of alien clown dudes.

It was a helluva story, though.

[Cary]

The best part for me was when they showed him in the early 1800's, playin, laughin, and looking through the TV set, then he would grow teeth, turn to his victim an....MUNCH ..:teeth Oh yeah, that was the scarey part for me !!!! Carybelle

[Cary]

...You wouldnt have died from pure fright...Id have nibbled ya ta death !!!!!! Piece....by piece....:teeth
Carybella

[macalicious731]

Very comforting, Cary. Thanks. I'll have to keep my night-light on for the rest of my life.

[MrAngelwithnowings]

wife read this post and told me delete it before something horrible happens

:rofl

[Greenwolf103]

Ohh! That dude from Phantasm is REALLY scary!!

[Cary]

Angel !! One of my very favorite horror cult classics !!!!
My fav part was where dude was walking down the long hall in slow motion towards the teenagers, footsteps loud and echoing with 'that look' on his face !!!
EEEiiaaahhhhh !!!!!! The other when the little flyin sphere swacks onto his forehead an cominces to drill a lil hole in his noodle !!! Yeah Baby !!! Whatz the hype on the new exorcist yall ?? Thoughts anyone ?? :teeth
Carybelle

[batyler65]

I think the real reason that clowns scare so many people is they represent something hidden. Hidden identity, disguised intent (painted on smiles mask who-know-what expression). And if you stop to think about it, the expressions painted on those pasty white faces are quite unnatural and unnerving.

[maestrowork]

Clowns are scary. Ewww...

Other things: zombies (ala Dawn of the Dead), sadistic creatures (ala Jeepers Creepers), hopeless situations (ala Open Water).

[Greenwolf103]

*scratches head* But, maestro, I'm not of the Dead ...

[batyler65]

LOL@DAWN

[Yeshanu]

even the Lazarus story in the Bible is a little creepy, to my way of thinking...

I didn't think that one was scary until I watched the Gospel of John. Then I realized that if I'd been watching Lazarus come out of that tomb, all wrapped up in bandages, I'd still be running...

As to clowns, I don't think there are really deep, hidden meanings here. What happens is adults dress up in bright, curly, awful looking wigs, paint their faces so they're unrecognizable as people, and then try and make friends with two- and three- year old toddlers, who are just at the age where they make strange to normal-looking people...

Voila! They're scarred for life...

Fortunately, no-one sicced a clown on me when I was little, so I don't find them scary.

The one book I found scary, though, was actually a children's book. The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper. The first time I read the book was during an early January snowstorm... :ack (If you've read the book, you'll understand where I'm coming from here.)

[maestrowork]

Oh! Children books/movies that scar you for life... do I have a few!

Alice In Wonderland (not the Disney carton, which I found amusing. But the British live action movie I saw when I was a kid because my parents accidentally took me to it, thinking it was the Disney cartoon...)

Willy Wonka (the Oompa Loompas scared the heck out of me... but now I liked them)

Lidsville (it still gives me the willies. Charles Nelson Reilly... enuf said)

Thunderbirds (didn't EVERYONE think the puppets were creepy?)

And an assortment of Japanes anime characters... The Japanese people could be cruel, cruel, cruel to young innocent kids...

[spooknov]

Watcher in the Woods. A Disney movie about a girl that is posessed by a girl that has been missing for thirty years...

Scared the snot out of me, that one did.

[Yeshanu]

My ex has issues with The Wizard of Oz (movie version).

I should clarify here -- I read The Dark is Rising for the first time as an adult. And it still scared me. (Doesn't do that in the August summer sun, though.)

[Greenwolf103]

Spook: I agree!! That movie scared me, too. Especially that scene where you can hear the girl's voice echoing through the woods. (I was able to hear when I saw it.)

[Greenwolf103]

Sounds can be scary, too.

I guess I'd be more scared by horror movies if I could hear the sounds.

My older sister's skin still crawls whenever someone whispers "David" behind her back (from The Changeling.)

[spikey edjog]

Read and saw IT, but didn't find Pennywise all that scary.

Am I the only one?

Which other clowns do you guys think are scary?
:party

[MrAngelwithnowings]

The clown that scared me was the one in Poltergeist...

When the boy was alone in his room with no electricity.

SCAREYYYYY

:gone

[spooknov]

Yep. That Poltergeist clown scared the daylights out of me, too. My sister had a clown that looked just like it. I used to imagine it coming to get me in my sleep.

[maestrowork]

Don't forget dolls - those hard plastic, generic looking dolls. When I was little, there was this Japanese horror film that featured a killer doll... SCARY! Good thing I wasn't a little girl and I didn't play with dolls.

But to these days, I still haven't watched a single Chucky movie. Nope, not for me.

[LiamJackson]

What's the name of that movie in which this little gnome-dude tryies to suck the breath/life out of a sleeping child and her cat saves her? Is it Catseye?

[Greenwolf103]

That was Cat's Eye.

[MrAngelwithnowings]

I just remembered another one...

Killer clowns from outer space.

The clowns rode in an ice cream truck and kidnapped people.

They would put them in cocoons of cotton candy that would melt the body.

That was their food.

If you ever see a clown in an ice cream truck...run

:rofl

[HConn]

I loved the monster popcorn gun.

"Big bad Jojo, riding into town!"

:ha

[Cary]

Yall remember The movie in which Karen Black was given a little doll , a pigmy warrior, who comes to life when his chain falls off ???? THAT scared me !!! Especially the scene when she gets him into the suitcase, and he starts to try to cut his way out, and shes trin to grab to knife blade as he saws away, cutting her fingers !!! That absolutly gives me the SHIVERS.....eccckkkss!!!!!!:teeth
....Amityville horror, any of the scenes with the gathering ...FLIES......aiiiieeeee !!!!! Carybelle

[maestrowork]

help me... help me... pleaseeee.... help me...

[HConn]

Cary, that was the third part of Trilogy of Terror. The first two parts, as I remember, were quite forgettable. :)

One was an evil twin story, and I can't recall the other. |I

But that third story with the killer doll... :eek

[Cary]

Good memory there hconn !!!...The other two must have been forgetable....I cant remember them either !!!! :smack
(or maybe thats just my Alheimers kickin in.)
...:shrug
Carybelle

[LiamJackson]

What happened to little demon doll-dude that chased Karen Black? Didn't it end up in a blender or something?

[HConn]

Spoilers!

I'm pretty sure she destroyed it in the oven. That's how I remember it, anyway.

Until she started to turn into one, of course.

[Cary]

Liam, Yeah, she torched him in the oven......then picked up the chain....an....became possessed with the the lil pigmy warriors spirit...and invited Mom over to visit....Heh, heh, heh...:teeth :
Carybelle

[batyler65]

Steven King's short story -- "The Boogeyman" from Night Shift.
Spent the better part of my youth reading that story aloud to anyone who would listen. (In the dark, of course).

To this day can not EVER sleep with the closet door open.

B

[Vanessa99]

I find horror that uses people very scary. Murderers etc.. Because Im a scientific person who doesn't believe in ghosts or anything so the creepiness of the unknown is easily antidoted by good old scientific fact. People however are creepy. They are around you everyday and in everything you do. Thats what was creepy about the shining. The idea of someone so close to you coming after you like that. What Im not creeped out by is monster thrillers, Anaconda, tremors... The characters in those movies are usually too stupid to know when to get the heck out of there....

[spooknov]

I enjoyed Anaconda. The thrill factor was high and the plot line was well written. Anaconda are real snakes found in Africa, which makes the story line even more believable. I haven't seen the movie recently, so I'm going off memory here (Ahh! The smoke's pouring from my head!). But, as I recall, there was nowhere for the group to go. They were unaware they were with a snake hunter that purposely sabatoged the boat in order to use them as bait. IMHO, that's a great set-up.

And, there's a certain amount of stupidity to all horror. The characters must make a few bad choices to get stuck in their current situation. Even in The Shining, he knew he was an alcoholic, yet he chose to take his family into isolated surroundings. In Texas Chainsaw Masacre (bloody, but still an excellent horror) the group of teens made a bad decision in picking up a hitchhiker which dragged them into the midst of a serial killer. It's not that the characters don't know when to get out of a bad situation, but the obsticles that are placed in their paths that makes a good horror.

[Greenwolf103]

Bwaa, snakes!! AAH!! They creep me out! I CANNOT watch a scene with snakes without curling up, biting my nails off. Even one episode of The X-Files gave me nightmares because of the snakes! I may live in the desert but fortunately I haven't seen too many snakes. A few, but not too many. Mostly bats, scorpions, solpugids, wolf spiders....

And, spook, I fail to grasp how running off with an alkyholic spells trouble. Unless you take away their poison. Then heads will DEFINITELY roll! :rollin

[HConn]

The characters in TREMORS were not stupid.

A lot of what people think are stupid decisions are only stupid if the characters know they're in a horror movie. If you, in real life, have a car accident in the pouring rain, of course you'll go to that house over there to use the phone. But if you're a character in a horror movie, people will yell "Don't do that, stupid!"

[LiamJackson]

I'm also a "credentialed, science-oriented" professional. And if there's any one thing I've come to know over the years, it's that hard science simply cannot explain all supernatural mysteries.....yet. (I'm not sure I really like the term, "supernatural" but it'll do in the context of this thread.)

I've had this same conversation with Physicists from MIT and you may be surprised to learn what some of those guys believe about "things that go bump in the night."

Edited for gross and blatant disregard for the Typo Gawds.

[MacAl Stone]

Huh--I dunno about "surprised" Liam--but I'd certainly be curious as all get-out...

Care to elaborate?

[Chaoc Kazdul]

Ailments of the mind;

Schizophrenia, MSD, dementia. Nothing is scarier than seeing someone lose their grip on reality, because it makes you question yours.

[CindyBidar]

Spooknov--IIRC, in The Shining, there wasn't supposed to be any alcohol left on the premises. Seems like they talked about it in the beginning.

HConn--very interesting take on it. I have to say that I never looked at a horror movie quite like that. I'm always thinking, "You moron!" But, I think it was in Wrong Turn that the characters are being chased by a couple of torch wielding psychos, and they choose to climb to the top of a wooden watchtower. That was stupid, if you ask me. Of course it also wasn't a very good movie, so that might have a bit to do with it.

[MacAl Stone]

I loved the way Wes Craven played with the whole "scary movie maxims" in Scream (although the sequels weren't nearly as funny or self-parodying)

[Dhewco]

Bees have always scared me. Mainly because I'm allergic. Even now, I lock up with fright at the sight of the smallest one. I've been scared silly that the killer bees would arrive.

[sugarmuffin]

Anything I hear at night that I can't immediately identify scares me. I get up and check everything out, even if the sound was of no concern to the dog.

[Greenwolf103]

Dhewco, do not read this!

I was once outside, admiring some flowers. I turned around to see this GIANT bumble bee swaying back and forth right behind me! :eek Guess I was in his way, but that scared me!!

Oh, yeah. And the time I passed out and went up into the stars when I had an asthma attack scared me, too. Er, after I woke up, that is...

[absolutewrite]

I felt so guilty-- my dad's also allergic to bees, and he was gardening in my backyard and got stung three times because he stepped on a hive. He came in to tell us that he was going to CVS to get Benadryl. I, of course, told him I'd drive. On the way, he tells me, "In case I pass out, just take me to the hospital and tell them I need a (whatever you call that needle-stick adrenaline thing is)." I say, "And you were planning to drive alone??"

He did wind up having to go to the doctor and get that shot-- then he couldn't breathe, got all disoriented, they had to put him on oxygen... scary as heck.

I, on the other hand, am scared to death of vomiting. This has had a major influence on my life. For one thing, I've never been drunk. For another, I went through a canned food era because I feared false expiration dates and food poisoning. The scariest horror scene I've ever seen is the group vomit scene in Stand By Me (pie-eating contest). Egads!

[MrAngelwithnowings]

spiders....yuk

or mosquitoes....that west nile virus has me wearing a jacket even on hot nights lol

[spooknov]

Deadly contagions. There's a movie, Outbreak (with Dustin Hoffman) about a deadly outbreak in the US. Now, I know it was intended to be a suspense, but just the thought of it freaked me out. The fact that you could be gravely ill from sitting on a plane with someone and not even know it? Ack!

[sugarmuffin]

Sharks.

I saw Jaws when I was much too young. I am a good swimmer, and swim moderate distances in fresh water, like the perimeter of Walden Pond, or a 1.5 mi. open stretch of water on Lake Champlain with my cousin beside me in a boat. But when I go in the ocean it's usually just a little dip. If I have a face mask on I might stay for a bit longer because I can see more, but I'm always so afraid of what's down there.

[spooknov]

Any water I can't see in clearly, I don't go in deep. In the fresh water rivers here (FL), we've got gators, gar-fish, and stingrays. (Okay, so the stingrays will only go into brackish water, but still...) I'm more afraid of what's in the fresh water than I am of salt water. Sharks don't usually attack people. When they do, they usually just let go. They realize the person isn't prey and release them. Gators, on the other hand, just don't care. They do a death role causing the victim to drown. Thanks, but no thanks...

[aka eraser]

Ventriloquist's dummies.

I saw an old 40's or 50's movie when I was kid called (I think) Devil Doll that scared the pants off me.

Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret starred in another that was kind of creepy but it was more of a psychological thriller. Can't recall the title right now.

A theme I find frightening is normal, predictable, everyday sameness; whether in a long-term relationship or a setting, that suddenly, with a look, or a word or a gesture is...just...wrong. And like veering off a cliff, the wrongness becomes all-encompassing and out of control.

That might relate to fears of losing one's mind, or being involved with someone who does. Or maybe it's related to my experimentation with those funny little pills in the 60s.

And yeah, clowns are definitely creepy.

[Cary]

Hey Eraser !! Oh yeah, Im with ya there. I saw that movie you mentioned, with Anthony Hopkins about the dummy....very creepy!!!!!!! That as well has to be to one of my fav themes too, perfectly normal peeps.....gone psycho !!!
Im workin on a short right now, about a murderer whose about to commit another...an the tables are turned.Hummm ?
Whatcha think ???:nerd Carybelle

[spooknov]

Cary, that sounds interesting. Definately something I'd read.

[aka eraser]

Love the idea Cary. You go girl!

[Melina]

I don't really get too worked up about monsters, ghosts, etc. I really get freaked out about people and the horrible things they do to each other. As far as I'm concerned, people are the only real monsters. But--I'm a big fan of Steven King, and I loved IT. I hated the ending, though--space-spiders? That image was funny to me, more than scary.

[EggMcGuffin]

im afraid of clowns, neo conservative right wingers and peeps who think its good logic to argue that if gays get married the next step is for peeps to marry their dogs and sheep.

and w.

and losin a loved one to another terrorist attack.

for realz. im more afraid of those than anything. i dun really have any phobias or anythin. i mean i do but not of specific stuff. jes claustrophobia and stuff like that. i used to have hemophobia but i wuz sick for a long time and had to get blood taken so often i actually got over it. not sure if id be ok if i had to go get it taken again tho.

[SpeedRacist]

I'm afraid of 'roaches. Not the smoked up kind, but the crawlin kind.


I'm also afraid of losing one or more limbs.


And, I have to agree with my brutha Eggz, that I'm deathly afraid of W.

[arrowqueen]

I don't know about sheep, but isn't there some bloke who's married his horse?

He must've been really worried, when it came time to say 'Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?' in case she said 'Neigh!'

Cheers,
aq

[SpeedRacist]

There is a dude that married a sheep.



peeps is strange, no lie.

[refriedwhiskey]

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.

[SpeedRacist]

did she know why?

[refriedwhiskey]

She didn't know why she swallowed a fly.

[SpeedRacist]

I think she'll die.

[refriedwhiskey]

and, scene!

[spooknov]

Okay, I'm a blonde and sometimes I just don't "get" it. I've no idea what the heck "W" means. Can somebody elaborate? Please?

[MacAl Stone]

Spooky--our "fearless" leader, George "W-for-WRONG" Bush

oops--that was political, eh? Perhaps I should be moderated...

[maestrowork]

I'd censor you, Mac! Speaking the truth is not allowed here.

:lol

[spooknov]

Ohhh, I get it. Tellin ya, the hair dye seeps right into the cranium. It makes me floopy at times. Thank ya kindly for the clarimufukashin...

[Writing Again]

I don't scare easy. I don't get scared until I'm in actual physical danger. A black widow does not scare me unless I find it crawling upon me. A man with a gun does not scare me until he points it at me.

But one thing does scare me. It is any human being who says "I am going to do it (what ever it may be) for (his, her, their, your) own good."

No sight or sound can strike more terror into my heart than that phrase.

[spooknov]

Lightning. I can't believe I forgot to mention lightning. We've had a few close encounters in my family and I have this wicked fear of being struck but not killed.

[maestrowork]

I'm scared of losing my mind.

[MacAl Stone]

Oh heck, Maestro--from all available evidence, it's been gone for years. It isn't really that bad, now, is it?

[EggMcGuffin]

im scared of the nov outcome. like for real i am.

[maestrowork]

Egg, don't be scare. Get active.

Mac, fortunately I have your mind to play with here.

:grin

[CH1]

Rats, not the ones I can see but the ones I think might be there ready to pounce from their disturbed hiding place.

[Feidb]

Icky bug doesn't scare me a bit. When I was a kid, it sure did, until my grandpa took me to an old movie lot and I saw the light.

Nothing in horror writing scares me, but it is a real thrill when I can scare someone else!

Reality is what scares me.

[Little Earthquake]

Disturbing, otherworldly montrosities make me come a little unhinged. Think H.P. Lovecraft. I love his work, but I can only read one of his stories at a time, and I need a loooooong break (and a sedative) in between.

Related but not: things that cannot be killed, like supernatural beings. I can handle the undead, aliens, monsters, because once you figure out how to kill them, you're golden! But ghosts and demons and beings from alternate universes? You may as well just lay down & die.

[skunkmelon]

This might sound a bit odd, but Humboldt squid. Watched a Discovery channel show about them. I don't get freaked out, but watching the divers go down into the murky water with those things made me turn the channel . . . and then turn back, and then turn it . . . They have giant beaks that can crush bone and they will gang up on their prey and drag them down into the deep, dark, cold water. Ugh.

[FOTSGreg]

Spiders scare the crap out of me, but I'm fascinated by them. Pain scares me. Failure scares me. Success scares the daylights out of me. Being immobilized and imprisoned in my own mind (as in completely paralyzed) scares me. Getting old scares me. Being responsible/having responsibilities scares me. Losing my dog scares me. Being eaten alive (as in by a shark or something) scares me. Being buried alive scares me.

Do I live in fear? Nah. The chances of ny of these things actually happening are so low as to be laughable, right? Right?

[Smish]

Dolls. Especially ones that talk and blink...

[Kmcelhinny]

As weird as it sounds, zombies...Yes, I said it. Zombies scare me. Of course I would be able to outrun them, but still they smell, their body parts are falling off and their flesh is all peel-y. :D BAHHHHH! *shivers* just thinking about it.

I don't read many actual zombie stories, unless you count the Anita Blake series, but it hasn't been about zombies in awhile. But World War Z was great and terrifying all in one. One of the only things that has given me nightmares in awhile.

The crazy mutant Bat people from the movie the Decent gave me the willies too...had some strange dreams after that movie. But I recommend it to anyone. Very very good. :Clap:

[Kmcelhinny]

Dolls. Especially ones that talk and blink...


Yes, I have to agree with Smish on that one...my daughter loves baby dolls...and every christmas she gets at least 6 of them...needless to say I throw away the ones with the blinking eyes...I know those darn things are haunted. :)

[Shail]

Oh, well, to be honest, theres a lot of things that scare me. I won't go into all of them, but spiders are a big one. Ticks, scorpions, any insect that can bite and inject venom.

Talking dolls? Oh Diety yes! If it talks I take the batteries out. If it moves and talks I smash it with a baseball bat.

People who take any excuse to pick a fight.

And - okay this one borders on phobia. Telephones. Especially the phone calls you get after four in the afternoon that show up as Unknown or Unavailable number. Creepy stalker trauma.

[soapdish]

Dolls. Especially ones that talk and blink...

OK I have a good doll story. We once got (as a gift) a Big Bird talking doll that would say "peek a boo" when you covered its eyes. It had light sensors or something…basically when it sensed something covering the eyes it would say "Peek a Boo". But we hated the darn thing because it had this really horrible imitation Big Bird voice (as if the original Big Bird voice wasn't scary enough…) So we hid it in a trunk in the living room. Well, then the darn thing would get activated by the slightest change of light in the room. Even in the trunk. So every so often, randomly, you would hear this muffled "Peek a Boo" or worse its evil laugh "ha ha ha ha" "ha ha ha ha" "ha ha ha ha". It was totally creepy!! Eventually we just threw it away, but we always feared it would come back for us.

[soapdish]

But seriously...what really scares me is abandoned buildings.
Most recently I discovered this website called Abandoned Midwest.
http://www.abandonedmidwest.net/westvirginia.htm

It isn't overtly scary--just super creepy. And you have to scroll through the pictures, so my heart actually pounds as I move my mouse to the next one. I haven't even made it all the way through the photo galleries--I usually creep myself out too much and have to stop. It's a rush though :D and inspiring for horror stories. ;)

[Maiden]

Speaking of creepy talking toy stories... my daighter had this dog that giggle then said "peekaboo I see you." I guess it was on some kind of sensor I didn't know about and I got up in the middle of the night and headed into the kitchen. The toy was laying in the living room, which I had to walk through to get to the kitchen. Out of the darkness I heard a sinister gigle and a child like voice say "peekaboo I see you."

That toy was tossed into the garage that night. Scared the crap out of me. I am still not sure it even had a sensor because the toy had never done that before then or after. We had it for months previously... just weird and creepy.

[Shail]

Wait until a talking toy gets a short or a corroded battery. That's super spooky. We had this furby type thing, and the battery corroded and leaked all over the innards. The Furby started yacking, chatting, and cooing non-stop in this strange, sing song kind of chant that wasn't normal for the Furby in question. We threw it away.

Then we had this little light up bear that played that french song about Brother John. I can't spell the name. That damned thing scared the bejeezus out of me one night. I walked past it, and I could swear I heard the song playing. I picked it up, but it wasn't making any noise. Talk about nightmare fuel. I thought I was devoloping schizoprenia.

[Kmcelhinny]

Speaking of creepy talking toy stories... my daighter had this dog that giggle then said "peekaboo I see you." I guess it was on some kind of sensor I didn't know about and I got up in the middle of the night and headed into the kitchen. The toy was laying in the living room, which I had to walk through to get to the kitchen. Out of the darkness I heard a sinister gigle and a child like voice say "peekaboo I see you."

That toy was tossed into the garage that night. Scared the crap out of me. I am still not sure it even had a sensor because the toy had never done that before then or after. We had it for months previously... just weird and creepy.


Yechhhh......:e2faint:

[Kmcelhinny]

Wait until a talking toy gets a short or a corroded battery. That's super spooky. We had this furby type thing, and the battery corroded and leaked all over the innards. The Furby started yacking, chatting, and cooing non-stop in this strange, sing song kind of chant that wasn't normal for the Furby in question. We threw it away.

Then we had this little light up bear that played that french song about Brother John. I can't spell the name. That damned thing scared the bejeezus out of me one night. I walked past it, and I could swear I heard the song playing. I picked it up, but it wasn't making any noise. Talk about nightmare fuel. I thought I was devoloping schizoprenia.


Never mind...forget the zombies...Toys...All children's toys are scary. Crap, now I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

I had this doll, my mother MADE me keep in my room. It was about 2 feet tall, and the d*** thing had this victorian dress and parasol thing. I would lie awake at night and I KNOW she would turn to watch me...:scared:stupid, little crappy doll...*grumble grumble...* Tossed that thing in the garbage as soon as I left that house. :e2woo:

[slcboston]

clowns... clowns are @#$^ing creepy... just creepy man. :eek:

[2old2pb]

The thought of burning, drowning or falling to my death scares the 5h!t outta me. I've had nightmares of all three more than a few times.

[ElsaM]

Being eaten by lions, if my dreams are anything to go by. Which is weird because in my waking life I really like lions. Born Free is one of my favourite books and I'd love the chance to meet a lion. Yet in my dreams they're constantly trying to eat me.

[CH1]

Speaking of creepy talking toy stories... my daighter had this dog that giggle then said "peekaboo I see you." I guess it was on some kind of sensor I didn't know about and I got up in the middle of the night and headed into the kitchen. The toy was laying in the living room, which I had to walk through to get to the kitchen. Out of the darkness I heard a sinister gigle and a child like voice say "peekaboo I see you."

That toy was tossed into the garage that night. Scared the crap out of me. I am still not sure it even had a sensor because the toy had never done that before then or after. We had it for months previously... just weird and creepy.

Sod that, that would scare the .... out of me

[Swampfox]

"I'm Talking Tina, and I'm going to kill you!"

[Kerr]

This is really strange with the doll thing. I bought an Ernie doll from a garage sale tha looked like new. I thought my granddaughter would like the thing. But I wanted to wash it first, so I tried to take out the voice box and discovered it was wired right into the doll. So I never did give it too her and it sat in the closet where I have a stack up washer and dryer for several months until one day when she happened to discover it in there. So I told her to take it home and it stayed on the couch after that for a time. Then, same thing, I'm coming down the stair to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the damn thing starts talking. Scared the crap outta me. So I tell my daughter get this thing outta here before I throw it away, it creeps me out. So she takes it home and one night lays it down in bed with my granddaughter and the crazy thing starts to snore and sing itself a lullaby. So, it got to be the talk of the house over there too.

[Kmcelhinny]

This is really strange with the doll thing. I bought an Ernie doll from a garage sale tha looked like new. I thought my granddaughter would like the thing. But I wanted to wash it first, so I tried to take out the voice box and discovered it was wired right into the doll. So I never did give it too her and it sat in the closet where I have a stack up washer and dryer for several months until one day when she happened to discover it in there. So I told her to take it home and it stayed on the couch after that for a time. Then, same thing, I'm coming down the stair to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the damn thing starts talking. Scared the crap outta me. So I tell my daughter get this thing outta here before I throw it away, it creeps me out. So she takes it home and one night lays it down in bed with my granddaughter and the crazy thing starts to snore and sing itself a lullaby. So, it got to be the talk of the house over there too.

THOSE DOLLS ARE GONNA KILL US All!:)

[Cranky]

There are lots of things that scare me, but most of them can be reduced down to the basic: fear of the unknown.

Fear of what comes after we die.

Fear of what's *really* down there in the dark cellar.

Not knowing, yeah. That's basically it. I'm a simple creature that way, I guess.

[backslashbaby]

I'm afraid of large amounts of water over me - like in tunnels, or a place called the Lost Sea in TN where there are lakes in the caverns (there is a cavern wall holding up a cave filled with water right beside you). Dams scare me, lol. As much as I'd like to, I couldn't scuba dive.

My nightmares are tidal waves. I nearly drowned as a toddler, caught in the riptide and pulled into the ocean.

I love the top of the water, btw; swimming is fine. But nothing down below.

[Kerr]

I love the top of the water, btw; swimming is fine. But nothing down below.

I can well relate to that fear. My other half was swimming in Lake Michigan when something BIG brushed against him as it swam past. He got the hell out fast. When I was three I saw the muskies from the lake my father loved to fish. They were laid out across the dock and both were bigger than me with their mouths full of teeth. I can still see them. And lately I've been watching River Monsters on one of the Disc channels. Eek! They went diving searching for catfish in a river in India big enough to have swallowed a man whole. They pulled out one six foot long, not the one they were searching for. But then they went into a description of how a really large one could just suck you in when they open their mouth. I recalled some twenty years back when several divers were sent into Green Lake in the south-Chicago suburbs to search for a missing boy that was thought to have drowned while swimming with his friends. The divers went down, then came right back up, telling how there were 300 pound carp just sitting at the bottom where a sewage pipe fed into the water. For some reason I find getting swallowed whole much more terrifying than getting bitten in two by a large shark. I guess it's the drowning thing.

[EFCollins]

I'm really only afraid of two things. Heights and the dark. I can't go two steps up a ladder without screaming for help and the dark... well, that's my own fault for having such a vivid imagination.

[bettielee]

Heights.
Airplanes.
Flying in dreams.
Roofs of buildings.
Spiders that might could jump.
Spiders that might be hiding under my desk.
The open ocean.
Paris Hilton (she might could have diseases.)
Sharks (I guess this is why I am afraid of the open ocean.)
Coming across a snake unexpectedly.
Finding notices on my door.
Zombies.
Infectious diseases spread by zombies.
Michael Jackson's nose.
Any bad rhinoplasty.
The porn industry.
Hot Topic.
Confused vampires (I mean, if you're gonna be a vampire, be hard core)
Russia.
Bill O'Reilly.
George Clooney going into the Darfur region and getting killed (that would suck)
Brad Pitt movies that are box office successes.
Oscar parties where I don't know anybody.
Death.
Taxes.
The last two are absoluley guaranteed to happen, so I think my fear of those is totally justified.

[bettielee]

I forgot: creepy dolls that only kinda sorta look like their intended victim.

[CDaniel]

I'm really only afraid of two things. Heights and the dark. I can't go two steps up a ladder without screaming for help and the dark... well, that's my own fault for having such a vivid imagination.


I have to say almost the same.

I can get up a ladder, but very slowly. But once I'm on the top of something, I start to freeze up and I can barely move.

[EFCollins]

I can't even make it up the ladder. It's sad. Very sad. My husband has to do all the climbing.

[jodiodi]

I'm absolutely terrified of spiders. I constantly scan my surroundings for any sign. I always strip beds before going to sleep to make sure there are none under the covers. When I enter a room, I automatically look up to see if there are any on the ceiling, then check the walls and floor.

I'm afraid of fire. I was an adult before I could use a lighter to light candles. I still can't strike a match. I have smoke detectors in every room of my house, including bathrooms, bedrooms, hall, livingroom, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, basement and garage.

I'm afraid of water I can't see through. Swamps (I grew up near the Okefenokee) are horrible. That black water, the kind in all rivers and streams back home, could be hiding anything.

Oddly enough, I'm not afraid of snakes, lizards, giant cockroaches (palmetto bugs), people breaking into the house, muggers lurking in alleyways, the dark, or the government.

[Shail]

Tornados. Used to have horrid nightmares about tornados. Brrrrr! Hate 'em.

[Haggis]

I'm absolutely terrified of spiders. I constantly scan my surroundings for any sign. I always strip beds before going to sleep to make sure there are none under the covers. When I enter a room, I automatically look up to see if there are any on the ceiling, then check the walls and floor.

I'm afraid of fire. I was an adult before I could use a lighter to light candles. I still can't strike a match. I have smoke detectors in every room of my house, including bathrooms, bedrooms, hall, livingroom, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, basement and garage.

I'm afraid of water I can't see through. Swamps (I grew up near the Okefenokee) are horrible. That black water, the kind in all rivers and streams back home, could be hiding anything.

Oddly enough, I'm not afraid of snakes, lizards, giant cockroaches (palmetto bugs), people breaking into the house, muggers lurking in alleyways, the dark, or the government.

I'm guessing you wouldn't want to see my picture of a little girl munching on a big spider, would you?

[Kmcelhinny]

Tornados. Used to have horrid nightmares about tornados. Brrrrr! Hate 'em.


oh oh me too...it was nuts...! :D

[Kmcelhinny]

I'm guessing you wouldn't want to see my picture of a little girl munching on a big spider, would you?
:roll:

[Maiden]

I live in tornado alley... they just don't scare me.. earthquakes are far scarier to me

[bettielee]

I'm guessing you wouldn't want to see my picture of a little girl munching on a big spider, would you?

Uhm.... I might.

[emc07]

This is really strange with the doll thing. I bought an Ernie doll from a garage sale tha looked like new. I thought my granddaughter would like the thing. But I wanted to wash it first, so I tried to take out the voice box and discovered it was wired right into the doll. So I never did give it too her and it sat in the closet where I have a stack up washer and dryer for several months until one day when she happened to discover it in there. So I told her to take it home and it stayed on the couch after that for a time. Then, same thing, I'm coming down the stair to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the damn thing starts talking. Scared the crap outta me. So I tell my daughter get this thing outta here before I throw it away, it creeps me out. So she takes it home and one night lays it down in bed with my granddaughter and the crazy thing starts to snore and sing itself a lullaby. So, it got to be the talk of the house over there too.

That's seriously disturbing. Make it a clown and it's my nightmare.

A childhood friend of mine had a whole room filled with dolls. They were her mother's. The house was spooky too, the only thing it was missing was a half moon window!!

[AngelRoseDarke]

I'm multi-phobic.

Dark places
Spiders
Snakes
Heights (inluding ladders and going down stairs)
Vehicles (I can drive, but I'm a terrible passenger)
Cemeteries
Basements (even with the lights on)
Dolls that seem to stare at you
Strange noises at night

[Kerr]

Heights.
Airplanes.
Flying in dreams.
Roofs of buildings.
Spiders that might could jump.
Spiders that might be hiding under my desk.
The open ocean.
Paris Hilton (she might could have diseases.)
Sharks (I guess this is why I am afraid of the open ocean.)
Coming across a snake unexpectedly.
Finding notices on my door.
Zombies.
Infectious diseases spread by zombies.
*Michael Jackson's nose.*
Any bad rhinoplasty.
The porn industry.
Hot Topic.
Confused vampires (I mean, if you're gonna be a vampire, be hard core)
Russia.
Bill O'Reilly.
George Clooney going into the Darfur region and getting killed (that would suck)
Brad Pitt movies that are box office successes.
Oscar parties where I don't know anybody.
Death.
Taxes.
The last two are absoluley guaranteed to happen, so I think my fear of those is totally justified.

Yow! What a list! But that particular one is the winner.

[jodiodi]

I've been through hurricanes, driven down dark country roads at night during thunderstorms and seen tornados in the fields next to the road when the lightening flashes, been in the house when tornados come over, been through earthquakes in Alaska--nothing scares me like a spider or the threat of fire.

Speaking of tunnels under water--I hate those. Mobile Bay, one in Virginia Beach/Norfolk--God, I hate those. I have a recurring nightmare, about once or twice every month, where I'm driving down a road and it disappears into a large body of water and I can't tell where the road is anymore. A variation on this theme involves being in a house and going outside and there's a big lake around it and I can't get from one part of the house to the other.

I'm sure there's a meaning.

[som1luvsmi]

Cockroaches and the hand that used to be on the Hamburger HelperTM commercials. *shudders*

[Palmfrond]

I can't relate to fears of things that are supernatural or at least very, very unlikely. My nightmares involve entirely plausible scenarios: eg, a refrigerator falls off the truck in front of me on the freeway.

[backslashbaby]

Speaking of tunnels under water--I hate those. Mobile Bay, one in Virginia Beach/Norfolk--God, I hate those.

That's one of the ones I've been through! And the one under Baltimore harbour. *shudder*

[Cassiopeia]

I was watching a movie the other night. It was not really all that scary until the end. It was called, "The Dark".

The most horrifying feeling was that this mother attempts to venture into the other world to bring her daughter back and instead, just when you think she's saved them both, she's trapped. It ended with her forever stuck in hell.

I've not slept well in four nights. It's too much of a reality for me in many ways. That's what scares me.