Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Scare Me!!! (A Blogfest)


So the boys over at Sci-Fi Media are having a scary blogfest today and here is what they have to say about it: The purpose of the Scare Me Blogfest is to write about the scariest book that you have read, Movie you have watched, Ghosts you have encountered, and/or to share your own scary story.

I really love to be a little scared... my tolerance for being REALLY scared is lower than when I was younger, but I still like a fright. So being me... I thought I'd throw together a little hodgepodge of my favorite scares in a couple categories:

*shivers*  This is the sandman
Scariest SONG (who woulda thunk?)

Enter Sandman by Metallica—I was a metal head teen, but honestly, Metallica is a little after my time (I was onto alternative by their time and went to grunge next), but seriously... this song is the stuff of nightmares... and I LOVE IT!

Here is just a bit of it... (Or if you'd prefer to listen) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-E-LDc384

Hush little baby don't say a word
And never mind that noise you heard
It's just the beast under your bed
In your closet in your head

Exit light
Enter night
Grain of sand

Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
We're off to never never-land


Scariest CD
 
Definitely has to be Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting.

The whole thing is about loss and sadness, but much of it is about vampires, death or (scariest to me) losing someone to someTHING (addiction or personal demons) instead of a person or something you did.


Scariest TV Show

I think Twin Peaks gets my vote here, but it only edges out American Horror Story because I don't really feel like 6 episodes was quite enough to really entrench me as a viewer in the 'holy crap, what was that?' thing. There are also a couple episodes of Buffy that get nods—most notably, Hush. Where those creepy dead looking things steal all the voices because they can only be killed by a scream.


Scariest Movie(s)

Okay, now here I am going to cheat a little... Instead of the scariest movie I've ever seen, I am going to give you favorite scare movie. Because some of that crap is too realistic and scares me, but I don't enjoy it. And I really LOVE a good scare... so I am going with a few scary movies I love here...

The Thing (original)
Alien
Blair Witch Project

All of these the 'monster' is mostly (or completely) off screen. I LOVE scary tension. I usually think monsters on screen are cheesy and monsters who are people (meaning criminals) are too realistic. I can live with possessed, the sight, shapeshifty stuff... But it isn't quite as scary to me.


Scariest Experience: There is a haunted coffin factory in Niagara Falls (Canadian side) that almost made me pee myself. Seriously. TERRIFYING.


And best for last... Books and authors...

I was a serious spooky book reader from about junior high to college and I still love to dive in every once in a while. I have a few favorites on books and then a serious case of author love...

Amityville Horror (1st scary book I read and it hooked me)
The Shining (pulled me into Stephen King)
The Talisman, Steven King WITH... (warning: segue here) Peter Straub

But my real and true scary book love is for Peter Straub. I fell in love with him with Ghost Story, but my favorite is probably Mr. X. He admits to heavy influence from HP Lovecraft

TANGENT: I love HP Lovecraft for short stories, but haven't been thrilled with the full books because of writing style--he is sort of clinical. Okay... really clinical. He writes as if he is an academic studying these findings, and for a short story (or 10) it totally works, but it is too detached for novels.

Back to Peter Straub: He is at his best when he is being a generation time jumper—person influenced by evil ancestors and fighting it, or having ooky powers that run in the family.

So there you have it!  How I like to scare myself!  Don't forget to check out the other entries, too (link up at the top)

20 comments:

mooderino said...

The original The Thing is an awesome movie. I made the mistake of watching the remake... not good.

mood
Moody Writing

CA Heaven said...

Enter Sandman used to be little boy's favorite song when he was a toddler. The Black Album was played more or less constantly in the car.

The Halloween thing is becoming big over here now. Not sure if I like it. It's not part of our traditions, and 10 years ago no one had heard of it. Just another opportunity to sell crap and make money for the stores.

Cold As Heaven

Old Kitty said...

Such thoroughly NAKEDly scary choices!! Yay! Happy Halloween!! Take care
x

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Enter Sandman launched them into mainstream, although I'd been a fan for years before that.
The Thing! Not the original, original, right? Not the 1950's one? With the giant carrot or whatever it was? The one with Kurt Russell is still one of my favorite movies.

Hart Johnson said...

HA! Alex, I didn't even know there WAS a 50s version. Yes, the 1982 Kurt Russell one...

vic caswell said...

*nods at HUSH as well... and SHIVERS!*

Budd said...

Hush was awesome. If you haven't seen it you will probably like Dr. Who's Blink episode as it has about the same creepiness factor.

Amityville gets a nod in book form. love it. The talisman was great! Thanks for joinging the fun.

Shallee said...

I love the Alien movies. Definitely some of the scariest ever! Thanks for sharing.

Tina said...

I'm really not that into Halloween or scary...but Aliens had me on the edge of my seat from the time the craft touched down. I also enjoyed Signs because you didn't see the monsters until the end...
Tina @ Life is Good
http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/

msmariah said...

I like your list. 'The Thing' is on my list as well.

Hush on 'Buffy' was a great episode. Although I don't know if 'American Horror Story' ever really scared me. It's more like the 'Evil Dead'-- horror comedy.

Steven said...

Great list! The Shining was the first book I ever read that made me jump.

Hart Johnson said...

Oh, good call on Blink! Most of Doctor Who I chuckle through, but those angels scare the hell out of me!!!

Johanna Garth said...

I still remember being totally terrified by that Hush episode of Buffy. It sort of makes me want to watch it again tonight :)

Talli Roland said...

Oh yes, that sandman song freaked me out - the video was a bit mental, if I remember correctly. It really doesn't take much to scare me!

JJ said...

I've never really listened to the actual lyrics of Enter Sandman, but they are really creepy!

Tamara said...

Great books!! I never read anything by Peter Straub but The Talisman and The Black House. (I'm a big King fan) I'll have to check him out though. I actually though The Talisman was WAY better than Black House. The omniscient narration during black house made me feel really removed from the story. I still liked it though, but the Talisman will always remain one of my faves!

Ellie Garratt said...

I could watch The Thing over and over again - it never ages. As for Bloodletting, the title alone is scary enough!

Talking about your scariest experience has reminded me of when I did the Alien Experience in 1994 in London. I would give anything to go back and experience it for the first time again. Talk about scary.

Yolanda Renée said...

All great choices!

Happy Halloween!

jack welling said...

Is it safe ?

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I saw the movie and read the book of The Amityville Horror. Between the two, I saw Jodie the pig eyes out my window for months.