Southern Fried Chicas

Tomorrow is Halloween, one of my favorite holidays as a little chica (back in the days before tainted candy made trick-or-treat too dangerous for children).

To honor the day, I’m dragging out memories of the top three movies that’ve scared me most in my life. (Yes, there are four here, because the third spot was a tie & I couldn’t choose).

DEAD OF NIGHT

An oldie but black-and-white goodie from waaay back that haunted me whenever I saw it as a child. To today’s audience it would be considered a silly thing, but it was the combination of archetypically unnerving elements, I think, that did it for me; the sense of deja vu, suspicion of reflections in mirrors, ghosts, and the original mad ventriloquist were there. Wrap that up in the framework of a recurring nightmare (which I often had as a kid)—et voila. Hokie or not, it worked for me.


THE HAUNTING

The virtual tie with “Dead of Night” probably means I prefer my horror with suspense, rather than blood and gore, which just grosses me out, or too many special effects, which bore me after a while. And I’m referring to the original movie, rather than that trash that came out a couple of years ago. Julie Harris’ neurotic acting and the SUBTLE play of horror made this film memorable for me. If you can sit quietly and watch this movie, and not be totally spooked by the scene with the door, you’ve got nerves of steel.

THE EXORCIST

To be honest…in some ways, you had to be there. It followed the social/political upheaval of the seventies. It was based on a ‘true’ case from 1949 involving a 14-year old boy. Billy Graham claimed there was ‘evil’ in the celluloid itself. I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen at a theater during the height of the frenzy. I watched an Hispanic woman and her husband run out crying halfway through. You could feel the fear in the house. I hid behind my coat during key scenes, no one seemed to finish their snacks, and when we left I heard several large, burly men swear to God they were going to church the next morning. ‘Nuff said.

ALIEN

Takes first place with me. The One. The Only.
We’d just gotten our first shiny, hi-tech VCR. A friend loaned me a tape. “It’s scary,” she said.
“Oh, pooh,” I replied. “Been watching horror movies my whole life. They don’t bother me, I love ‘em.”
Waited until everyone in the house had gone to sleep and put the dog to bed. Gathered my popcorn, my cold Coke, turned all the lights out, and settled in to enjoy.
An hour later I’d turned every light in the freaking house on, had our German Shepherd retrieved and lying at my feet, and the largest butcher knife I could find by my side on the sofa. And still I watched. Scared the HELL out of me. Wonderful.

Share with us. Tomorrow’s Halloween! What are your favorite scary movies, or books, or even real-life experiences? Do you know why they scare you?