From the Deadline Hellions: What are your favorite scary movies or books?

Ok, I have to admit I don’t much care for scary movies. Gore gives me nightmares, and startle tactics ALWAYS work. For this reason, I do not see scary movies in the theater, especially alone. I want to be in the privacy of my own home when I scream and jump out of my skin, thankyouverymuch. And I didn’t actually start watching scary movies of my own free will until college. Before that, I would avoid them like the plague.

I think the first scary movie I saw was The Boogeyman when my dad was watching it on TV. The only thing I remember is the dad (who had been taken over by the boogeyman) floating down the hall and burping green bubbles. My dad thought it was hilarious, but my 7-year-old self was traumatized and had nightmares for days.

The first scary movie I really enjoyed (in an “oh my god I think my heart is going to explode” sort of way) was The Sixth Sense. Scared the crap out of me. And, no, I didn’t guess the ending. I also liked Signs, but it wasn’t as scary as The Sixth Sense, except for when you see the alien’s reflection in the TV and oh my god he’s got the little boy and RUN RUN RUN SAVE YOURSELF!

The original The Exorcist scared me silly. I know the special effects were horrible and it was over the top, but come on. Demon possession is scary. Of course, that could be a holdover from my younger days of hearing scary pee-your-pants stories from missionaries at my church about demons and voodoo and stuff. Don’t believe in demons? Go talk to a missionary. They’ll scare you into believing in demons.

Fatal Attraction, though not really a horror movie in my mind, is right on up there with best crap-your-pants-scary movies ever. The bathtub scene? Oh. My god.

And I would be remiss not to mention Hitchcock. Psycho is one of my favorite Halloween classics, and I always liked The Birds.

For books? Hm. I think Black Rose by Nora Roberts is the scariest one I’ve read in a while. I generally don’t pick up scary books.

Any recommendations?

Technorati tags: Scary Movies