The first of two spooky October giveaways is here! With special thanks to revgeorge, this first giveaway Where the Deep Ones Are, a parody of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, written by a Lovecraft fan. Here’s the description:
Renowned Mythos aficionado Ken Hite retells H P Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” through this parody of classic children’s literature.
After greedily yelling for more fish, young Bobby is sent to his bedroom without any supper at all. But Bobby escapes when the Manuxet River runs right through his room carrying an old boat that takes him to Innsmouth. When the Deep Ones come for him he flees, but will he eventually join their wild rumpus under the ocean, and be crowned the most Deep One of all?
32 pages, illustrated, full color, side-sewn hardcover
The first giveaway is a simple drawing, and to enter your name, comment on this thread by telling us your favorite scary story (book, short story, or movie), and why that’s your favorite. Be sure to enter for the drawing by Midnight (EDT) on Thursday, October 23.
Travis Prinzi on 
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my favorite scary story is from the saw movies those are sooo scary!!! intersting stories in a way but scary!
For my daughter, she enjoys the Goosebumps series-for me, I love the classic zombie movies, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, you get the picture…lol.
micaela6955 at msn dot com
The Haunting of Hill House: the 1959 book by Shirley Jackson, and the 1963 Robert Wise movie called The Haunting starring Julie Harris. Don’t bother with the 1999 re-make which isn’t in the same league.
The novel by Jackson is disturbingly creepy, as much of her stuff is; it doesn’t scare you, but it makes you deeply uneasy. It’s like the Music of Eric Zann but at a lower volume. Stephen King calls it one of the finest horror stories of the 20th century.
The movie is genuinely terrifying. And here is the funny thing: it’s a ghost story, but never once do we see or hear a ghost. It’s done by the camera work, lighting, and suggestion. There is even a suggestion that there are no ghosts, that the terror resides within the protagonists. There is one scene in which two characters are lying in the dark, listening to the noises around them, clutching each other’s hand tightly. Even thinking about how that scene ends sends shivers down my back.
The most scariest movie I ever saw was E.T. and my kids agree too!
That was tough. I’ve always avoided scary books and movies so much… I remember being about 10 years old and having nightmares about the “Walkers” – wraiths in Terry Brook’s Shanara novels. In hindsight they seem pretty tame.
My favourite scary movie is Val Lewton’s Cat People from about 1942. It’s an atmospheric piece and the pool scene and the scene walking near the park are beautifully done. Scary stuff without having to show too much.
Ignore the 1982 remake which is nothing like or near the original.
One of the tings I found scariest when I was a boy was the starting sequence to a show called Great Mysteries of the World (Also called: In Search Of) hosted by Leonard Nimoy. In the starting sequence there were clips from the movie Nosferatu (The one with Max Shreck as Dracula). This used to really freak me out and I hated seeing it but I couldn’t resist watching. The sillhouette of Dracula cast on the wall as he’s creeping up the stairs still chills me. I think the music had a lot to do with it, as well as Nimoy’s menacing voice.
Here in Australia it had a different start than the one below. But here is the one on Dracula
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ETSZaV_Ul0E
Start sequence:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=zK4PGCQQ4Oc&NR=1
End sequence:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-qtm65AKNw&feature=related
And a funny version of it from Amazon Women on the Moon
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=O2yVZCVLK3E
Black Angus, I love Val Lewton’s Cat People, too! It’s stylish and classy in its spookiness, and it does a great deal with suggestion.
I think my favorite scary story, though, is Mary Shelley’s novel The Last Man, which definitely has Gothic undertones and well as early science fiction elements. It paints a terrifying portrait of a world plague that leaves a dwindling few people haunting a depopulated world – and finally, as you may have guessed from the title, just one man. Bleak, grim, yet beautifully executed.
Korg, I took a look at the sequence from Nosferatu I agree, the silhouette climbing up the stairs is chilling. I think it’s the long fingered hands. Also note the way the silhouette moves up the nightgown of the cowering girl. Very sexually menacing.
I came across this essay (rather lengthy) about the changes in horror movies and what the older movies taught us. Interesting.
http://www.christianhalloweenfan.com/ChristianHalloweenFan.com/IN-DEPTH/Entries/2007/10/16_How_Monsters_Reveal_What_Matters_Most%3A_From_Pop_Symbols_to_Ancient_Truths.html
The scariest movie is the birds. I guess beacuse it really could happen. And also because I saw it when I was young and most impressionable.
I find all zombie things fascinating and scary at the same time – and so addictive. It’s like a weird obsession where if I watch all the movies and read the novels, etc. it makes me more prepared. I love the Romero movies (someone commented above) and I really enjoyed reading the Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet books (trilogy) by Wellington.
My favorite scary story is “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” by Ursula K. LeGuin. It isn’t a traditional scary story, but at the end, my skin is almost crawling with the horror of it all, partly, of course, because I can’t help feeling as if I would probably be one of those who walk away.
I second Red Rocker on the book, The Haunting of Hill House and the first film version, The Haunting. I’d add the film Wait Until Dark, 1936’s The Spiral Staircase with Dorothy McGuire and the ’50s film, The Crawling Eye, with it’s utterly creepy score (until you see the actual monster).
As for a wonderfully psychologically-spooky novella I adore, and can repeatedly read–The Langoliers by Stephen King.
In all these books and films, the unseen is far more scary than the seen.
Wow, an old thread comes to life. Like a zombie.
In all these books and films, the unseen is far more scary than the seen.
Absolutely. Lovecraft wrote, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
Just want to make sure everyone knows this is a giveaway from last year, and is long over. Stay tuned for one this year.
Was going to post this in 2009, but was seduced by the concept of time-travel into posting in 2008. Plus, it supports what Travis said above.
Just read about a new movie that’s scaring the socks off audienced, despite a very limited release: Paranormal Activity.
It was made by an amateur film-maker using the same hand-held camera technology as Blair Witch. The idea is about a middle-class couple who move into a new house. The wife hears noises at night, and is convinced that the house is haunted. In an effort to show her fears are groundless, the husband sets up a videocamera to film what happens in the house at night when they are asleep.
Here’s the review from AskMen.com:
Peli shows a profound grasp of the fundamentals of suspense, making a 30-second shot of an empty bedroom more terrifying than most of what passes for horror these days. That’s because Paranormal Activity’s most successful scares take place off-screen, when you’re forced to imagine what’s happening outside of the camera’s view — and to anticipate what’s coming next. Once that pattern is set, the anticipation is almost unbearable every time Katie and Micah go to sleep.
What interests me about Paranormal Activity most is not so much the film itself as its marketing strategy. Unusual and smart. It’s going to get a cult following in no time. Will it be worth it? I don’t know – haven’t seen this flick. But oh – it’s interesting how they have used the internet for this. I have not seen one ad for this film in paper or tv. Who ever thought of demanding the audience to ask to show this in venues is smart and if film is brilliant you’ve got a big money payoff in the end.
We’ll see if it’s as good as it’s marketing strat.
Yeah, the terrifying nature of Paranormal Activity is probably why I won’t see it. If the fairly tame antics on Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, & Destination Truth occasionally give me the willies, I’m sure not going to see Paranormal Activity. Just reading the synopsis of it on wikipedia spooked me!
But would agree that the suspense & imagination of what might happen makes for a much better movie than when everything’s laid out there for you & nothing’s left to the imagination.
Sounds like PA is going to do for sleeping what Psycho did for taking showers.
Or Jaws for going swimming in the ocean.
We’ve got Paranormal Activity playing in a theater here. I’m tempted to get right back in my car and go see it. There are some really late showings. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow night.
Don’t plan on sleeping afterward. Although I see the Bills play the Jets on Sunday. Maybe you have enough terror in your life.
Just saw a trailer for it. It looks seriously freaky, and I am never scared by movies. I hated Blair Witch and laughed all the way through, so the hand-held camera thing was not a point of attraction. But seriously, this looks creepy.
So tempted to go to the theater tonight. There are still 11:30 and 12:10 shows.
Go see it and report back to us Travis! I’m interested!