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.
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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.