Happy Halloween everyone! Lots of festivities here on the East Coast were interrupted by Hurricane Sandy, which is a bummer. (Picture above is my cat sitting at my work station during the storm. Creepy!) But there are lots of fun activities happening on-line right now, including the YA Highway pumpkin carving contest and today’s Road Trip Wednesday, which asks:
What’s your favorite scary book or movie?
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Well I know I never shut up about this book, but I have to say The Passage by Justin Cronin comes to mind. It isn’t a horror book, or something maybe more traditionally creepy, but it gave me nightmares for sure. Futuristic, leaping zombie-vampires and a dwindling population desperate to keep the lights on? That was plenty horrifying to me.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwatz
I don’t remember much about this book, but I have the vague impression it was being read aloud in a sleepover scenario, and that I really, really didn’t enjoy it. I think easily the scariest parts of the book are the illustrations by Stephen Gammell. They’re so sparse and haunting. I got the shivers just doing a Google image search for this blog post!
As for movies, I’m most frightened by supernatural or psychological types of horror. The Blair Witch Project was scary, but The Ring kept me awake for a week—and terrified of closets for much longer than that. And at some point I dated someone who thought I could handle watching the original Japanese version of The Grudge… *shudders*
What about you?? What have you read or watched that scared the pants off you? And what will you be doing for Halloween today?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh that is too weird! I actually mentioned another book by Alvin Schwartz in my RTW post (In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories). That one really made in impression on me as a kid, but surprisingly I actually loved that book. I’m a total chicken now, though. I tend to steer clear of horrors in both books and movies. To this day I have never seen The Blair Witch Project, but I have seen The Ring and that was enough to put me off those types of movies for life. Yikes! O.O
Oh man. The Ring was a whole different level. I just don’t have the constitution for it! I definitely became more of a chicken as I got older, ha! Kids do really love books like the Schwartz books and Fear Street and Goosebumps. And that stuff leaves an impression!
Waah, even those images of The Ring, Blair Witch and The Grudge make me shudder! I have seen them all in the days when I loved scary movies! Now I’m just a big wimp! Great list though!
I totally think everyone has that phase of loving scary movies. Mine has also way passed, though! I’d rather watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown or Hocus Pocus :)
I’m glad you pointed out the cat, almost didn’t see him! He is intense :)
Scary Stories freaked me out as a kid – I vaguely remember one where the woman is so terrified during the night that she wakes up with white hair.
LOL He is intense, isn’t he?? Oooh I think I remember that story, too. Spoooooky!
Scary Stories scarred, scared, and entertained me as a kid, and I completely agree about the illustrations! They also helped give me the basis for at least some of the ghosts and beasties encountered on Supernatural, haha.
As for horror movies, oh man, I’m a chicken but I always want to know what happens! I’ve never seen the American version of Ring, but I have seen the original Japanese version. What possessed me to watch? I read the book! On accident! I picked it up at the library thinking it sounded interesting and that it reminded me of the premise for the horror movie that was out. I didn’t know Ring was based on a Japanese book! Anyway, the book was great (scary but more para-psychological thriller as well as horror) and I did let myself get psyched out by it (reading by yourself in the dark in front of a computer screen is probably not advised), but it prepared me for the Japanese film, which followed the plot very closely. So it was less scary because at least I knew what was going to happen.
That and my unflappable sister was there too. She’d seen the American version and wanted to compare.
Dressed up for potluck at work and will probably take pictures of the not-so-puppy pup in his costume for Halloween. Those are my plans. :) Hope things are okay where you are post-Sandy!
I can’t believe you read The Ring by accident! LOL Oh, it’s so much better to watch scary movies with people who aren’t as freaked out! They have a calming effect. Otherwise it turns into a rapidly escalating fearfest!
I LOVED the doggie pics! He was so adorable! <3
Oh, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was my favorite… I used to take it out of the library and renew, renew, renew until I ran out of renewals, lol.
And psychological scary stuff is where I tend to draw the line. Movies like The Ring are a bit too scary for my timid tastes :) I hate the stop motion stuff they do with the girl. Ugh.
The girl was creepy as HELL. For me personally, the scariest bit was the girl’s face in the closet. Ugggggggh I still can’t even think about it. That is the scariest genre, by far!
I was a little braver about scary movies when I was younger…I just know I couldn’t handle some of these newer ones.
Oh, me neither. I did see Cabin in the Woods in theaters though, but that was a whole different kind of scary movie :)
I’m super late on this one but OMG Scary Stories! That artwork was the creepiest! And because I’m now an adult-fraidy-cat, I steer clear away from anything horror-related. Except Cabin in the Woods because that was a bit different!