Oh my, I haven't thought of the Haunting of Hill House in years! Talk about scary, you are SO right. I don't even remember what it was about - just that I was really scared.

I don't have any current examples, since that's not the type of fun "junk" I read or watch.

For me, and I bet for a lot of people, the scariest movie ever was The Exorcist. Whenever I watch it at home I have to put my favorite afghan over my head and watch through the stitches.

As a young child, I went to see a movie called The House on Haunted Hill (similar title to yours) and it scared the bejabbers out of me.I went with my father, who could not stop laughing at how scared I was. Vincent Price was in it.

I don't read scary books. The scariest semi-recent movie I've seen was The Sixth Sense. I don't go to scary movies now either.

i've never read or seen 'the haunting' of hill house'... will have to get it from the library to read this summer!...
movies like 'silence of the lambs' i find scary--- movies that could really be true bother me as opposed to sci-fi or more fantasy type of movies... 'halloween' really scared me as a teenager... i don't like to go to horror type of movies anymore...

steven king movies/books are unnerving--- like 'the stand', 'the green mile', 'pet cemetary', 'the shining' and 'carrie'....

and, of course, 'jaws' kept me wary while in the ocean for a long time after that came out, tho it wasn't scary enough to keep me out!!!! lol

" I have to put my favorite afghan over my head and watch through the stitches."

lol, people really do this? That's so funny.

I don't go to scary movies anymore either. I guess I see stuff on tv but don't really enjoy being scared like when I was a kid! No roller coasters either, lol.

I did see Sixth Sense. That was an interesting movie! I don't remember if I was "scared".

I remember being scared by the house on the haunted hill with vincent price as a child, but then I started watching it once as an adult and I couldn't believe how fake and silly it was. They've made a remake of it which I never plan on seeing.

It was definitely The Exorcist. I didn't see the movie at the theater, and couln't watch it on TV until about 20 years later. It still scares me! Silence of the Lambs would be a close second.

I don't read scary books! ;o)

I don't watch scary movies. The books that I've found most frightening weren't 'other worldly', but those whose plots were believable, and involved children. I read both Where Are the Children, by Mary Higgins Clark, and Soul Catcher, by Frank Herbert, before my children were born. After I had children, those books came back to haunt me.

Oh, I did watch Silence of the Lambs too. That was a creepy scary movie! It was interesting but I won't watch it again though, lol. I would prefer to hide under the covers, lol.

As a kid it was a tie between The Mummy (no matter how fast they ran, he was only a few feet behind), and House on Haunted Hill, which I now find dorky.

As an adult, nothing beats the first time I watched The Exorcist. After walking home at night through campus (dark and scary), I refused to close the bathroom door when I had to potty. And I'm a very private person!

The books that scared me to death in my early 20's was The Other and The Amityville Horror. The Stand was good, but it didn't scare me like the previous two.

I thought Rosemary's Baby was a pretty scary book. I don't think I saw the movie.

I agree about the Exorcist being very scary. And I thought the movie Zodiac was chilling. Also The Shining, especially those twin girls in the hallway.

I try to avoid most scary movies at all costs. Of the ones I have seen, though, Psycho, Alien and Jaws were three of the scariest for me. I've always been a good swimmer and a strong one, but after watching Jaws I would only go out into the ocean about 25 feet or so and swim parallel to the beach.
The scariest movie that I absolutely hated and have regretted seeing ever since is "Seven".
While I truly don't enjoy being scared, I did love both The Sixth Sense and Signs. I own them both and will watch either whenever I can talk my DH into it (LOL!).
Lynn

All those dead people in Sixth Sense scared me! Remember when the dead bicyclist looked into the car window? I jumped out of my skin.

You should try watching through the afghan sometime. The bad guys can't get you that way.

Rosemary's Baby. Not only scary but one of my favorite movies. Book by Ira Levin, movie directed by Roman Polanski. How could you go wrong with that?

It's kind of weird that's one of my favorite movies because, on the whole, I really dislike scary movies. I can't watch horror AT ALL. Those SAW movies or Friday 13th - all that gore is disgusting and not entertaining in the least.

Not really movies, but there are two episodes from the old Alfred Hitchcock Hour that got to me, The Jar and An Unlocked Window.

One of the scariest books I've ever read is Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Red Dragon is where we meet Hannibal the Cannibal for the first time.

Annie, I love The Uninvited! Isn't that house great?

This post was edited by deedee99 on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 17:51

O.K. -- one of my fav topics!

a)Poltergeist: VERY scary at the time -- and very unusual too -- as the setting was a basic suburban house. The terror builds -- and who can forget the swimming pool scene! And the fact that the TV was a portal for evil! :)

b)Amityville Horror -- again -- as a pretty house gone bad. And as a "don't go into the basement" movie! :)

c)Classic Hammer horror films like Dracula (1958) -- the usual fare for the sleepovers on the Friday Night Fright Night!

d)Original "Fright Night" Roddy McDowell as the vampire slayer. And the classic line "You have to BELIEVE for these things to work!" LOL! ((and the disco scene is hot too .... cough, cough))

e)The Legend of Hell House -- another Roddy McDowell film -- and a brilliant slow horror ....

f)Children of the Corn. Yep. Kids can be Evil. But more of a slasher film -- rather than horror.

g)Jaws. BTW -- there was a great white spotted at Cape Cod today. LOL!

h)Trilogy of Terror. Classic little stories.

I)Pet Cemetery. Nice takeoff of the classic horror story "The Monkey's Paw" Be careful what you wish for.

j)It. A brilliant horror story by Stephen King. Nice miniseries. Clown horror.

k)Storm of the Century. Stephen King. Again. Real nice tale!

l)Original "The Fog" -- excellent build-up of tension and terror. And in the original cinema release -- the final scene did not show until the end of the credits. Remember folks just standing in the aisles waiting for the end of the show -- and then a sudden new scene -- and screaming! Very nice! :) The remake was SO bad!

... just to name a mere few .....

As for TV -- my personal fav was the TV series "Friday the 13th" -- set in an antique shop with some interesting artifacts ....plus the Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. Oh! and Tales from the Crypt. Classic!

Teacats, It is my alltime favorite book. I can't even explain why. I read it at least once a year. For fiction, I'm actually a huge Stephen King fan. He's more-or-less moved out of the 'horror' genre lately. One of his latest - 11/22/63 - was a really great book in my opinion. It made me cry, and that takes something. :)

deedee, ah yes...location, location, location

Below a link for your listening and viewing pleasure....frank sinatra sings stellar (sic) by starlight.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stella by starlight

The Exorcist
The Shining
Carrie
Jaws

Anyone remember Kolchak The Night Stalker tv series?

I was not allowed to watch Twilight Zone as a kid because it gave me nightmares. Some of the episodes like Talky Tina are still really creepy!

I don't watch scary movies either, ever, but if I did I imagine something like Snakes on a Plane would give me nightmares!

Thanks, deedee....I just watched The Jar, which wasn't that scary, but a good tale....didn't realize it was written by Ray Bradbury who is such a good writer.

Then I watched Unlocked Window....I couldn't remember the name of that episode...always thought it was Stella. Even though I remembered the ending, it still had me running around the house checking to make sure the doors were locked! Yikes!

The Shining was scary and Rosemary's Baby was creepy, and Alien was that pop out at you kind of scary.

What triggered this is my cousin who does art and photography took a picture he entitled 'Don't Look Now' which I didn't realize was written by Daphne DeMaurier. I've read her novels, but didn't realize she'd written a bunch of short stories. So I started reading them which also included "The Birds". They are really weirding me out, but not in a scary way. So I figured I'd ask what others favored.

I don't read scary stuff or watch scary movies - as a child I saw a movie I should not have seen where a woman named Hilda in a wheelchair at the top of the stairs has been murdered and her head rolls down the stairs when someone starts the lift. I had nightmares for weeks, - when I want to see something sort of scary my go to movie is Arachnophobia!!! EEEEK!

"It" was such a great tale of the magic of friendship -- remember "Lucky Seven" -- and the special magic of Three and then Five -- and Seven.

And the sheer courage to face down the worst of monsters in spite of the overwhelming indifference, neglect and cruelty of the adults of the town .... fascinating to learn the history of the town ....

Oh how I love scary books! I read Legend of Hill House as a kid and it terrified me. LOVELOVELOVE Stephen King-It is probably one of the creepiest books out there-and Tim Curry as the clown---well, lets just say that was the epitome of horror.

The only scary book I've never finished is Pet Sematary. I have read every SK book multiple times, but that one is one I just cannot pick up.

As for movies-The Exorcist, of course. As an adult the scariest movie I've seen is Signs. Some people hated it, but I loved it and I actually screamed out loud while watching it...and that is saying a lot! I dislike slasher/gore films so I won't even go there with them. My H and the kids, when they were teens, loved to watch them and they still do, but not for me.

This thread is giving me nightmares!

DH hates scary movies but I enjoy them sometimes, so if I watch them, I have to watch alone.

I'm going to have to try Snookum's technique....as long as you guarantee the evil can't get through the afghan!
;)

Editing to correct the misattribution...dedtired's technique of watching through the afghan....

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Fri, Jun 14, 13 at 7:58

Wait until Dark

with Audrey Hepburn,

is the one I remember.

Because it REALLY COULD HAPPEN....

ML

Oh yes Wait Until Dark was very spine tingling.

Funny though, I can't watch boxing...in the movies or as a sport. There's just something really upsetting about an activity where you are purposely trying to concuss your opponent to the point of unconsciousness or doing the equivalent amount of damage and calling it "sport".

Exorcist was on top my scariest list UNTIL I saw The Ring. I saw both the American version and the the Japanese original(ringu). It is so scary and sad at the same time. I slept with the lights on and with a heavy flashlight for several days after that.

Annie, I watched The Jar when I was a kid but haven't seen it as an adult. I just remember the contents of the jar slooowly spinning.

Another classic is Stephen King's Night Shift. Short stories like the Mangler (you'll never do laundry again!) and Strawberry Spring are horror perfection.

And yes GWlolo, The Ring. The scene where she is crawling across the room still bothers me. My dd found it amusing to crawl down the hallway with her hair hanging in her face for weeks after we saw it.

A movie that freaked me out in a 'this COULD happen and OMG what if it DID' kind of way was one Will Smith was in... I Am Legend. ...The beginning when they were trying to contain the virus in Manhattan.. and evacuate people... you can so easily imagine a mistake like that really happening with today's super-bugs and maybe even chemical weapons in some corners of the world. The movie just disturbed me and gave me chills. I never have been able to finish watching it, and will actually ask hubby to turn it off if it happens to be on TV and he's watching. I guess it's alot like Stephen King's 'The Stand' but the movie gets to me in a way that book never did.

Another in the same vein is Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' (I've never seen the movie). I've read the book and found it to be very haunting. I felt like someone was sitting on my chest the entire time... took me days to get over it. Although I don't deliberately enjoy depressing myself, that to me is a sign of a great book.

And Teacats, yes, you are so right about IT. There's something magical about that group of kids and the bond they share. I'm not sure if you've read 11/22/63, but it involves time travel, and the main character goes back to Derry during the time of IT. That's one of the things I love about SK - - the twisty litte connections between his books.

The other most terrifying movie...esp because it could be real...was a made for TV movie...one of Stephen Spielberg's early works: Duel.

My brother and I were both in the TV room screaming our heads off as we were watching it....soooo frightening.

They made a remake, which I never saw, but the one with Dennis Weaver was just incredible.

Spooky coincidence just now -- Poltergeist is showing on the movie channel on TV .....

Still spooky after all of these years! :)

Blair Witch Project scared me more than any other movie.

Rosemary's Baby was the first scary movie I saw and it totally freaked me out. Still does.

I also found Paranormal Activity really scary!

And most of the movies already mentioned. I do like a good scary movie.

I don't read scary books, and haven't seen a scary movie in years, so these are old.

Dracula (the original)
Racing with the Devil
Duel
The Shining
Halloween (the first one)
Jaws
The Exorcist
Carrie
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Psycho
Poltergeist
The Fly

My daughter saw that movie The Ring at a friend's house when she was a young teen and she CRIED for weeks at bedtime because she was so scared! Glad I didn't see it.

I am a huge Stephen King fan as well (glad to see so many others on here!) and his books used to scare me, but not really anymore. I do still get creeped out when I'm near sewer drains so IT had definitely left its mark.

As far as what scares me now, it's definitely Lovecraft. There is just something so unsettling about his stories and his writing style. But I can't get enough of them!

One of the scariest movies I've ever seen is The Descent. I had nightmares for weeks.

Cape Fear (the original and remake)
Wait until dark
Exorcist

I'm so glad to have Tivo so I can record ahead of time and fast forward thru scary parts. I know it's cheating but otherwise I'd be looking thru blanket stitches too. Not a big fan of scary movies that could really happen either.

Cape Fear was fabulously scary.... I didn't see the remake but the original was fab.

The one and only scariest book I've ever read was HELTER SKELTER, written by the prosecutor (I'm sorry, can't remember his name). To this day I can't and won't watch a scary movie based on a real life story because of that book. The clincher was when my husband talked me into watching THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE a zillion years ago. We had invited a bunch of friends over for dinner and our monthly scary movie night. I didn't last long for that one and even after almost 35 yrs of marriage, have never forgiven him.

Up until about 10 years ago I was a huge SK fan, but to me his stories started to be too much alike. Altho I liked his book, THE SHINING, I hated the movie. Mainly because of Shelley Duvall. To me she ruined it. It was kind of the same with Rosemary's Baby, because I never liked Mia Farrow. It's funny how some actors/actresses ruin a story for me, maybe because they've changed my perception of how a character from the book should be/look. To this day my favorite SK book is THE STAND.

JAWS, however,changed my life forever. I used to be a night swimmer, in pools, the lake we vacationed at when young, in the ocean in Hawaii when my dad was posted there, later as an adult. Because of that movie I don't swim at night....ever, even in our pool with all the pool lights on full blast.

I think that one of the scariest movies I ever saw was the original Bela Lagosi DRACULA. I came across it years ago when home sick from work and had nightmares for weeks.

What a fun subject!

Jenna

interesting... i read helter skelter years ago and don't remember it too specifically, but although it was a horrifying real life story, obviously, i don't remember feeling like the book was 'scary'.... (looking at photos of crazy, psychotic CM was scary tho! that mental image is is still clear in my mind!)

I tried a couple of times to post earlier but couldn't somehow. The scariest movie for me was Cape Fear - the original with Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck. The psychological aspect was very intense. The remake with Robert DeNiro spelled everything out, which wasn't nearly as effective. The book was scary too. I seem to recall that the story line was a little bit different.

Skibby

I don't like gore or excessive violence but I don't mind getting creeped out. DH and I both enjoyed The Others.

The Hot Zone is an oldy but goody. It's a terrifying book about the Ebola virus. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT read it on a plane.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Others

Interesting that I didn't see any Hitchcock movies here....no Birds? Rear Window? Vertigo? Psycho? I have to admit I was nervous about taking a shower for awhile after that one.

Or how about Brando in the wild one?

Speaking of scary -- did anyone else read the original old "fairy tales" -- very gruesome morality tales .... sheesh!

Grimm was indeed very very grim! :)

And a couple More Scary "auto" movies:

The Car (1977) -- cheesy now but still some great moments!)
Christine -- but the book was FAR better (especially the ending) than the movie!!

LOVe Rear Window -- for the incredible outfits by Edith Head!

teacats, not just the outfits, but man, Grace Kelly was a looker!

Almost as beautiful as my other favorite looker....Gene Tierney.

Dee, "The Others" was excellent!

When I wrote, "The Other" this was what I was talking about. I read it in the late 70's and it scared the crap out of me! lol

Here is a link that might be useful: The Other

I love spine-tingling scary books and movies, but no gore, serial killer or slasher movies.

True to Leafy form, even when I was a kid I preferred scary movies with beautiful rooms in them--two of my favorites were "The Changeling" starring George C. Scott as a widower living alone in a creepy (but gorgeous) mansion, and "Audrey Rose" which featured the kind of NYC apartment I dreamed of when I was growing up in undistinguished suburbia.

Think about it--nothing is scarier than thinking you might have to give up PRIME REAL ESTATE because of an unfortunate ghost/curse/reincarnation/demon possession.

I loved the book Amityville Horror although it made it so that I was unable to go into Dutch capes, basements or attics for decades. And then to find out it wasn't true?! Heartbreak.

I still remember the rooms from a movie I saw in the late 80's early 90's that was a murder mystery that somehow involved a pair of fancy German scissors, (?) also set in really beautiful rooms in a California mission style home--I want to remember the name so I can watch it again for the decor, but I can't! Anyone know what movie I mean?

leafy02:

That movie was "Dead Again" (1991) with Kenneth Branaugh -- excellent thriller, mystery movie! And yes! another excellent example of the wonderful house becoming a main element and "structure" for the whole storyline! :)

Hey, thanks, Teacats! I am going to watch it on Netflix!

I know what you mean. They used Ettington Park which is now a hotel in UK for the Hill House in the 1963 movie....in the daylight it looks a little less foreboding.

But it was enough that I got weirded out when I went to see Olana:

There was another scene in the movie that involved the acanthus leaf motif that still weirds me out if it is too heavily carved....

I love scary/science fiction/thriller books and movies.

Just finished Lucifer's Hammer on my Kindle. Old book but pretty darn good! Have to agree with the poster above re: The Road. The people in the basement. Oh my.

The movie that freaks me out the most: The Skeleton Key. You have to watch is twice.

Great thread.