It takes a lot for me to get the case of the creeps when it comes to horror movies. I think it is a combination of both the lack of creativity in recent horror movies and the fact that I read quite a lot of horror novels proving that my imagination is far more disturbing than what could be put on the silver screen. That doesn’t mean that there are not some scenes that to this day will make me seconds guess turning off all the lights before bed. I don’t know why I subject myself to these movies, knowing full well, any noise after 10pm would certainly be dead souls about to “doorbell ditch” my house. I love it though. Here are some of my most memorable scary moments and the way it changed my childhood sleeping habits.

The first on the list is the dead kid from the movie Salem’s Lot. When I saw this movie I was probably about ten and it was over at a friend’s house on a Sunday evening. It’s funny what you remember because I can’t even recall people’s name in my own family but I remember this. Well anyway, we started the movie around 2pm and by the time it was over it was close to 4. The sun was going down and I made my trek home for dinner with the disturbing realization that soon it would be dark and thoughts like the video above would haunt my imagination. I blame this movie for my dread when the sky turns orange at dusk and Monday hangs over my head. I also, from that day on, refuse to look out the widow at night. Just in case the un dead is flying around outside. I hate seeing that smile through the fog.

Ah, the Freeling’s family from the classic movie, Poltergeist. When I saw this, the one scary part that stuck out the most was how normal the family was. It’s not like they were into the occult or the daughter played with a Ouji board. They were content to be the average family that had inadvertently bought a house that was the vortex to the other side. Every non-special effect really scared me to the core. The fact that furniture moved by itself, laughing voices, that odd mumble conversation between Carolann and the TV all made it seem that normal people would probably react the same way. That is what was so scary to me and when I was younger, hockey masks certainly did not frighten me as much as a kitchen chair sliding across the floor.

As terrifying as it gets. Curiosity killed the cat on this one. I originally saw this scene from the documentary Hollywood Ghosts back in 1992. I was horrified to watch this priest have a casual conversation with that monster strapped to the bed but then to find out that girl was my age and that was based on a true story! It was almost too much to take for a kid that couldn’t sleep from the library scene in Ghostbusters. So a few years later I finally saw the whole thing and to my surprise, it was not the scariest of all the scenes. It is just the one that I still can’t get out of my mind. The Exorcist, what a brilliant film.

The made for TV movie, Stephen King’s IT, really was a campy movie at times but some scenes hit home runs. I love the fact she was in an abandoned house the whole time. I have a fear that one night I will sleepwalk and wake up in a cemetery or some other creepy place. I don’t know if this movie prompted this fear or it validated it. Either way, I got the serious willies. That and the fact Tim Curry is in the movie.

I will add more I am sure, but for now that’s it. So, do what I do. Turn on the Cartoon Network, keep the closet light on and try not to think of dead kids crawling on the bed. It’s hard to think about that stuff when Scrappy Do is pissing you off.

Alright, I have another. I don’t know, I might have some issues with windows and chairs because this clip from the movie The Amityville Horror features both. Maybe I should be in an apartment without windows and full of bean-bag chairs. I doubt floating bean-bag chairs would be too scary. This movie was on HBO back in the day when the intro was really cool. I was not really sure what I was in store for so I sat in front of the TV, slouching and Indian-style. Little did I know that in two hours, the walk from the basement to my room would be the most heart stopping journey I have ever had. You can also be sure no rocking-chairs were looked at on the way.

Zelda the sick sister from Stephen King’s movie, Pet Sematary, tapped into my deepest fears. The fact that there is a crazy monster living just feet away really is the stuff nightmares are made of. I saw this when I was in middle school and nothing from the movie was overly frightening. That is until the wife’s flashback to the dirty secret her jacked up parents kept hidden away. Zelda made me take more vitamins. Thanks Stephen. Bet you didn’t expect that.