Have you ever read a book that gave you nightmares?
If you've been following me for a while, you know that I grew up watching Creature Features. I loved Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein and The Mummy, et. al. Some of my favorite movies are the old black and whites with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Boris Karloff and let's not forget Vincent Price. Did you know Jack Nicholson got his start in a horror movie? Back in the day, The Haunting sent chills up my spine when the door to the room the researchers had locked themselves in began to breathe. Or when Stella Meredith came down the steps in The Uninvited. Those were the "real" scary movies, the ones that flirted with your imagination. Much scarier than the slasher movies, in my opinion (although Halloween ranks up there with me). But scary books?
I read Dracula, but I can't say it frightened me. It was a good read, by the way. And, of course, I've read my share of Stephen King books. The one book that scared me the most? The one I couldn't have in the same room with me after I'd finished it? The Amityville Horror. That one creeped me out. Big Time. The movie, not so much, but the book... It's that imagination thing again.
As Halloween lurks around the corner, are there any scary movies you're planning to watch? A Halloween tradition? Or books that you pull out, maybe Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman? (or the Horseless Headsman, if you're hungry...)
Never liked scary movies. I remember them showing "The Blob" and "The Day of the Triffids" as a 'treat' in school (can't remember if it was jr high or high school) and I avoided going. I did rather enjoy the Disney version of "The Headless Horseman" on TV, but normally Disney was 'safe scary'
ReplyDeleteIt was the "surprise!" that made most of them scary. Like the twist at the end of The Sixth Sense
DeleteHands down for me, it was "Christine" by Stephen King. I was a teen and it got me! lol
ReplyDeleteI was a teen when i read Amityville, too. Maybe it was the being a kid thing.
DeleteStephen King novels were like bedtime stories for me and I never had nightmares. But this reminded me of the "Friends" episode with Rachel and Joey swapping Cujo and Little Women and getting so scared they hid the books in the freezer. I do have trouble rewatching the movie The Shining, though. Happy Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThat's too funny! I never saw that one. Happy Halloween to you, too.
DeleteStephen King novels were like bedtime stories for me and I never had nightmares. But this reminded me of the "Friends" episode with Rachel and Joey swapping Cujo and Little Women and getting so scared they hid the books in the freezer. I do have trouble rewatching the movie The Shining, though. Happy Halloween.
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