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Anything involving possession freaks me out. Maybe it's the idea of an outside entity being in control of my body, I don't know. I can handle anything else, gore, ghosts, serial killers, whatever--and spiders, terrified of spiders, lol.
You and me both, PriPri! Thanks for your input!
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Loss of control, an evil that cannot be overcome, being followed by something I can't see, only hear
The loss of one's dearly loved child by foul means. It would be something which would stay with you until the end. Or, treading water, miles from nowhere, in a calm sea, and then you notice that big dorsal fin...
Demon possession is my #1 horror scare too. Stay away from obvious movie cliche scares. Subtle but creepy things in movies scare me. Not sure if I can come up with an example, but it's something small and unexpected and doesn't go "boo!" Well, this may be an example: in Paranormal Activity when you discover in the video that the the woman (view spoiler). Or at least that freaked me out.
YES!!! That part in Paranormal Activity freaked me out so completely that it took me a long time to get that image out of my head. Even now thinking about it gives me the chills. Another similar instance is at the end of The Blair Witch Project when one of the guys was standing in the corner - that scene done it for me. It was just a brief glimpse of him, but it terrified me.
Yeah, especially because the tale of the Blair Witch said she would take her victims and make one face the corner while she killed the other. That TOTALLY freaked me out!
Yes, agree about that scene in Blair Witch. A lot of people hate that movie, but I find it quite scary. Another spooky part in a movie is in The Exorcist when Regan offhandedly tells her mother she was taking to Captain Howdy, like it's no big deal.
That background scene in Let the Right One In when (view spoiler)
Oh, I forgot that part, Charlene! I remembered there was some significance to him being in the corner, but it's been so long I couldn't remember anything but the fear it instilled. No wonder I was creeped out!
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Like the things in my nightmares.
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yes!!! that was the best part of the blair witch movie!
Possession in every/any form has always been the best scares in movies and books.
Jon Recluse wrote: "What scares me is the thing that can't be identified....the unknown creature or force lurking in the shadows, that defies logic and labels.Like the things in my nightmares."
I totally agree Jon!
Thank you, THANK YOU for your comments thus far! I agree with everyone's suggestions because there's a common theme - an unseen entity as predator (creating vulnerability in the victim). Whether that's a ghost, a shadow person, demon, or just the hint of something off screen - there is real terror there. The key is keeping the entity unseen, I believe (that's my argument with this screenplay). The moment the audience sees the entity, the fear is over because (as Alfred Hitchcock brilliantly demonstrates) the audience has a darker view of the spectre than anything that can be created on the screen. This is why books are so phenomenal!!! Do you agree?
Kathy wrote: "Possession in every/any form has always been the best scares in movies and books."YES! Like the possession of Emily Rose or Amityville Horror.
John wrote: "The loss of one's dearly loved child by foul means. It would be something which would stay with you until the end. Or, treading water, miles from nowhere, in a calm sea, and then you notice that ..."I think the Omen is a perfect example of children possessed or demonic. The most innocent that twist into the most vile. Scary!!
Latasha wrote: "spiders. shadow people, black eyed kids. as for movies & tv, I love when we see something un-natural in the background that the actor/actress is unaware of."I heard a broadcast by George Noory about black-eyed children and shadow people (of course it was at night) and it scared the you-know-what out of me!
What do you know about these entities, Latasha?
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I heard a broadcast by..."
only that the B.E.K. show up and act weird and try every way possible to get into your house or car or wherever you are. they keep asking to come in over & over. almost like you have to invite them in or give them permission to enter. I have no idea what either of these entities are but I pray I never see them. and I think they are up to no good. scary, scary!
Things that scare me are Ventriloquist dummies, children who kill, the unknown and people with plastic surgery gone awfully wrong.
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Latasha wrote: "Marti wrote: "Latasha wrote: "spiders. shadow people, black eyed kids. as for movies & tv, I love when we see something un-natural in the background that the actor/actress is unaware of."I heard ..."
That's what Noory's broadcast said too. Super scary!!
Jon Recluse wrote: "What scares me is the thing that can't be identified....the unknown creature or force lurking in the shadows, that defies logic and labels.Like the things in my nightmares."
I agree... I'm the same way... things that can be seen as something very real in our lives not just on the screen. I still have to look under the bed at night and sleep with the covers pulled up and i'm in my 40s. The only movie that frightened me most was 'The Rite' with Anthony Hopkins. Nothing else has that I've watched. I've seen the movie four times and I still get frightened by it. The other thing that scares me most, is the moment when you realize your kids are missing, until you find them again (if ever) that's what is really scary other than possession or demons.
I think what scares me and probably so many others about demon possession is that there is nothing much that the victim can do to prevent it. The movie Emily Rose scares the hell out of me. Why her? Why any of the victims in the stories? And in a world where not many people believe in God anymore, you are not going to find many people to exorcise a demon out of you because without God there is no demon. So it's a pretty hopeless situation. More about the small moments in a horror story: Ania Alhorn's Seed has so many moments of small terror that it would take a while to list them.
I also am scared of confined places, but I didn't touch upon slasher stuff like being kidnapped/confined/tortured. Anybody can write that stuff.
Stories where you don't know whom to trust and where it seems like it's YOU who is losing your mind and all around you are sane people, when it's not the case at all. An example would be in Rosemary's Baby and the chilling Castavet's. If Rosemary wasn't married to such a selfish shithead, her baby wouldn't have those eyes.
My personal phobic issue is spiders. General creep me out things are, demonic situations, possession of objects, Damien in "The Omen", and an old movie called "The Enity". True story of a woman being terrorized. She eventually moved to Texas. The attacks were less frequent, but still took place. Amazing story/movie.
Do you all think the same about books? I think a writer can get away with putting a bit more detail in a book about the "entity" that's lurking but not much.One of the scariest movies ever (according to Hollywood polls) is the 1963 Haunting (with Julie Harris). It's based on the book by Shirley Jackson. That is my all-time favorite horror film. It's creepy and unsettling because the house is evil. You never see a ghost but you know they are there and my mind goes crazy imagining them. When I read the book, it wasn't so terrifying but I think that's likely because I'd already seen the film which stayed pretty true to the book (the later remake did not, starring Liam Neeson).
Supernatural incidents that violate laws of physics (I guess this w ould include elements of possession, ghostly hauntings, etc.). I also love "creepy kid" stories - those can send real chills...
I'm writing a horror screenplay with my writing partner (who is credited with films like The Ring, The Haunting, What Lies Beneath, etc.). We've had a great deal of discussion about what is truly horrifying to viewers/readers.
I'd love your opinion (and maybe we'll put it in our script).
Thank you in advance ~