So that got me to thinking about all the things over the course of my 34 years of life that scared the hell out of me...or at least creeped me out to no end. Although most of them are related to movies or specific scenes in movies, it doesn't matter to me...they scared the hell out of me at one point in time, and to be honest with you, they probably still do.
Of course, we all know that if you DO get scared, the only thing you have to remember is that if you are in your room and it's time to go to bed, if you can stretch your leg all the way and touch your bed post at the same time you turn your light off on the wall switch...as long as you don't break contact with your bed and you inch your way and jump under the covers, whatever is lurking under your bed can't grab your leg and pull you under..........
Lady Elaine Fairchilde
I don't know about you, but this woman/puppet scared the hell out of me from the very minute I first saw her. If you ever watched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, she was in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and every time that little train went through the tunnel and she showed up on the screen, I got creeped out. I'm 34 years old, and every time I think about her or see some late-night rerun of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, I get the chills...
Outerscope II
Some of you might not remember this, but back in the mid to late 70's, there was a show called Vegetable Soup. The beginning of it had these bowls and spoons dancing around on the screen, singing. Anyway, it had several different recurring segments on each show, but there was one that just never sat well with me. It was called Outerscope II, and it was about these puppet kids (with huge human hands) who built this spaceship out of junk in their backyard. They went on different trips, and learned lessons along the way. But the only lesson I learned was that these puppet-kids were scary as hell. In fact, I just got goose bumps just thinking about it....
Jaws
I can remember when we first got HBO. It was a cream-colored plastic box that sat on our TV. It had two sliding buttons that allowed you to switch it to HBO. I stayed up late one night...or rather...I snuck downstairs and closed the french doors between the den and my parent's part of the house. I sat there and watched Jaws in the middle of the night, and I can honestly say I've never been the same since. At least not when it comes to getting in ANY body of water that's not a swimming pool. If I can't see the bottom, then I'm not exactly having the time of my life. My friends Judy Whitehurst, Melinda Williams, Glenn Krohn, Tayler Archer, and Weston White all had cabins out at Pickwick, and I spent tons of time over the years out there. But I was never really content in the water...I was always, in the back of my mind, waiting for some freshwater shark (that no one knew existed) to come up and chomp one of my legs off. Believe it or not, I still think that to this very day...and always will...thanks to Mr. Spielberg...
Anyway, there were two scenes that just really got me...the one where the lady is slowly, out of nowhere, attacked......and the one where Richard Dreyfuss is scuba diving, finds the sharks tooth, and then the dead guy floats into view....just about made me pee in my pants....
Carrie
For some reason, I remember watching this on television while on my grandfather's houseboat out at Pickwick. I don't remember much about the movie, except when Carrie got the blood poured all over her. That image was burned in my mind, and like I've said many times already, it scared the hell out of me...
Halloween
To be honest with you, I never got past this scene...where Michael Myers is standing there with the sheet over him. I don't even remember how old I was when watching this....which is probably a good thing because I know I wet my pants, and I'd like to think I was in diapers at that time, but I know that's not the case. Anyway, for those of you that saw the first Halloween, if this scene didn't scare the hell out of you, something ain't right with you!
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
I remember watching this with my parents...as a family...back in the late 70's. I think it was a made-for-television movie, too. Regardless, it was a scary-ass movie, that's for sure. The scene (above) where the dog had a human head on it...just about put me over the edge. And then at the end, when Donald Sutherland opens his mouth and makes that scary noise....let's just say I didn't get much sleep that night....
Magic
When I was a very young lad, my parents gave me a Howdy Doody ventriloquist doll. I was way too young to use it, but it was a toy that I couldn't get enough of. In fact, I was so young, I couldn't say "Howdy Doody," so I just called him "Doo-Doo." Needless to say, I'm sure my parents got a big kick out of that. They never knew whether I wanted my toy or if I had some major "issues" going on....
Anyway, in the late 70's when we were getting our fill of HBO, the movie Magic came on, and my father and I stayed up and watched it together. For those of you that never saw it, Anthony Hopkins played a vintriloquist who had a doll that came to life and started killing people. I gotta tell you, it wasn't such a good idea to stay up and watch it. That movie freaked me out so much, I never looked back on my days with "Doo-Doo" in the same way again. It made me realize that "Doo-Doo" was evil and probably tried to kill me many different times. How I stayed alive all those years, I'll never know...
Salem's Lot
Ok. This has got to be one of the scariest things I've ever seen on television. Back in 1979, they made a television movie based on Stephen King's book, Salem's Lot. I can remember watching it and thinking it was semi-scary until the scene where his buddy, after being bitten by a vampire, floats up to his bedroom window and starts scratching on the glass. I swear...I just about had a nervous breakdown when that happened....probably one of the scariest parts of a movie I've ever seen....wow...
The Shining
Before I get to the pictures, I just have to tell you that The Shining has got to be one of the most disturbing, horrifying movies of all time. I can't even narrow it down to one or two scenes...there were so many scary parts to that movie....it's unbelieveable. Anyway, I'll post a few pictures that relate to some of the scariest scenes...at least as far as I'm concerned...
Like I said, almost every freakin' scene was scary. I can remember exactly when and where I saw this movie. My parents were having a dinner party, so my sister and I were next door at Tom Miller's house. Davis fell asleep, and Tom and I switched it to HBO, just in time to watch The Shining. We sat there and watched that movie with our mouths wide open...and when my parents came over to get us, they were pretty mad that we'd watched it...because even they thought it was scary. Wow. Definitely one of the most horrifying movies ever....
The Omen
I don't remember exactly when I saw this movie...all I know is that little Damien scared the hell out of me. How they were able to get such a young actor to be so evil...just his eyes were enough to cause sleepless nights. In the beginning of the movie, when the nanny hung herself, I didn't think I would ever sleep again. The way Damien reacted, and that spooky older lady...I don't remember her role...I just remember she gave me the creeps. This is definitely another scary-ass movie. Man, I'm starting to get a little scared now...are you?
Phantasm
I never saw this movie. I just remember seeing the previews for the movie when it was in theaters. It was something about two kids getting locked in a morgue...and weird things start happening. There was this floating orb that would stab people in the head....and I remember someone laying in bed, and these giant arms come out from under the bed and pull him through the bed. Anyway, like I said, I never saw the movie...because the freakin' previews were too scary....
Motel Hell
Again, I never saw this movie. All I remember is I was over at Jeff Williams' grandparents' house one night, and there was a group of us that were spending the night with him. We all went to the movies to see Every Which Way But Loose, and they played the trailer to Motel Hell. All I remember is that there was this man with a chainsaw and he had a hog's head on HIS head, and he was cutting people up with his chainsaw. Pretty freaky. I can also remember going to Sunflower with my mom and hanging out at the magazine rack the whole time, and I saw a Fangora magazine and the guy with the hog's head was on the cover...
Scanners
This was probably the most bizarre movie I've ever seen. It wasn't so much scary, as it was just plain weird. I remember watching it and just getting this weird feeling in my stomach...because these people could make other people's heads explode. Definitely an early 80's flick that just screwed with your head....
Alien
So I'm in the 4th grade, and I'm spending the night at Bobby Burns' house. Whereas we usually went to the movies on Friday nights, this time we stayed in...to watch Alien. We sat there for almost 2 hours and were completely blown away...we'd never seen anything like it before, and it was definitely a scary movie. Not only was the alien itself scary, but the scene where the alien comes out of the guy's chest....man, that completely blew our minds. I think Bobby and I stayed up all night, thinking there were little aliens all over his house. Now that was a great movie...and scary, too!
The Exorcist
Need I even say anything? This movie...to this day...will keep me up at night. And it's not just the visuals...it's the sounds that Linda Blair makes when she's possessed. I'm not sure how they created those evil sounds, but when combined with the rest of the film, it makes for probably the scariest movie I've ever seen. It literally scares me now to watch it...absolutely scares me to death!!!!
Trilogy of Terror
So I'm in the 3rd grade and Jeff Williams is spending the night with me. We out most of the afternoon riding our bikes, and Jeff wipes out coming down a hill in Creekwood. We get back to my house, get him all bandaged up, and settle in for the night. We play with our matchbox cars on a track that I had, and then when my parents go to bed, we stay up to watch more TV. As I'm channel surfing, I come across this weird show about a woman that somehow gets a Zuni doll. It actually comes to life and starts attacking her. Let me tell you....that scared the HELL out of Jeff and me. In fact, to this day, I think about that damn Zuni doll when it's late at night and I'm walking around my bed...with my feet kinda under the bed skirt. I swear I still think about that little doll coming out from under there and attacking me.....
American Werewolf in London
This movie came out when I was in the 5th grade. I can remember Michael Sawyer telling me one day at school that he went to see it in the theater the night before. This was obviously an R-rated movie, but I guess it didn't matter to him. Of course, it didn't matter to me, either, but it DID matter to my parents. Needless to say, I didn't go see it in the theater. I did, however, see it over at Bobby Burns house. Once again, he and I stayed in one Friday night to watch it on HBO. As usual, it scared the hell out us. It had a little comedy to it, but it was mostly a horror flick...and the seen above where this guyhas a dream while in the hospital...just about pushed us over the edge....
Poltergeist
Sixth grade....a group of us get dropped off at the Crossroads Twin Cinema. We all get into the theater and pile in the same row...about 15 of us. Well, that is, aftere playing a few games of Donkey Kong and Pheonix...both of which were up at the front near the bathrooms and concession stand. The movie starts, and when the clown scene happens, Merrell McQueen leaps out of her seat and into my lap for the remainder of the movie. That clown scene is one that I've never been able to shake off....the very idea that a toy or stuffed animal would come alive and try to kill you....definitely a kid's worst nightmare. Anyway, there's another scene where the backyard gets flooded and the mother ends up in the pool...and bodies start floating up around her. That scared us, too. We all screamed for 2 hours straight....no kidding!!!
Gates of Hell
We're in the 8th grade...and our new rally point for spending the night out on the weekends is Taylor Archer's game room...which was a room outside that was attached to their carport. So we could bring our sleeping bags and stay out there and cut-up and be as loud as we wanted...and not wake Taylor's parents up. Well, that is, until we started running around rolling yards, and then we'd usually come running back to the game room and slam the door...which usually woke Mr. Archer up. Anyway, one night we rented a few movies, one of which was Gates of Hell. I doubt many of you have seen it, but if you have, you know exactly what I'm talking about when I say it's probably the grossest movie I've ever seen. Within 10 minutes, Glenn Krohn and a few more of us were out in the carport puking our guts out.....just like the lady (literally) in the scene above. This was probably the most horrid movie I've ever scene...just completely whacked!!!
Friday the 13th
For this one, we were in the 6th grade and were spending the night at Trey Brewster's house. We had pitched a couple of tents in the front yard, but had all gone inside to watch Friday the 13th on HBO. Now this was a pretty scary movie, especially consider the era and given our ages at the time. But the last scene, where the girls is sleeping in boat and Jason comes up out of the water....that cause us all to scream so loud we woke up the entire neighborhood. I have to say that was one hell of a scary scene...seriously. After the movie, we played a game of Truth or Dare, and Jay Green had to run all the way up to Traci Haskett's house buck naked, ring her doorbell, and run all the way back to Trey's. One of the funniest things I've ever seen....
Nightmare on Elm Street
So now we're in the 8th or 9th grade...and we're over at Judy Whitehurst's house on a Sunday afternoon. We'd rented a few movies, one of which was Nightmare on Elm Street. Although it was in the middle of the day, we had all the blinds drawn and it was nice and dark. We put this movie in, and were literally blown away. This was one of the scariest movies we'd scene...and the scene where Freddy's arms are streched out and he's scratching the walls....man, that got us good!!
The Exorcist III
It's the summer of '91 and I was home from college for about a week. Several of us had gotten together over at Trey Brewster's house to watch movies....Jacob's Ladder and The Exorcist III. Both of these movies were scary as hell, but The Exorcist III had some of the scariest scenes...one of which is the one above. A nurse, walking out of a room, is unaware of a ghost with a huge pair of shears coming right behind her. If you've seen this movie, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. There's another where an old lade is crawling on the ceiling. We were all about 20 years old when watching this movie, but you'd never have guessed that by the way we were screaming!!!
Well, that's it! Are you scared now???!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment