What got you hooked on horror 2: Visual Media

[comradebunny]

I've found it very interesting to read about which novels turned people on to the horror genre. So, I thought it would also be interesting to find out what influence the visual media (television and movies) had on your love of horror.

Speaking for myself, I spent a lot of time watching horror movies with my mother. We both loved them. She was very subtle too, when it came to nudity (this was during the 80's). She would start talking so we would look at her. She'd got off on a little tangent on how they needed to get back to the story and this was stupid. It worked for us. There are several movies I remember terrifying me as a child. They include: Romero's Dead trilogy, "C.H.U.D"., "Nightmare on Elm Street", and "Hellraiser". Also, the video for "Thriller" gave me nightmares.

I should also mention my favorite cartoon was Scooby Doo.

What visual media influenced you at a young age?

[vixey]

When I was in elementary school (think late 60's/early 70's), there was a horror soap opera called "Dark Shadows." I know there was an attempt at a re-make several years ago. Anyway, it was about Barnabas Collins who was a vampire who lived among mortals.

I was addicted to this show. No way in H-E-double toothpicks would I let any of my kids watch something like that now considering the fact that I woke up nearly every night screaming with nightmares. But I had to watch it! Loved it!

Guess mom was a pushover...

[Doodlebug]

When I was in elementary school (think late 60's/early 70's), there was a horror soap opera called "Dark Shadows." I know there was an attempt at a re-make several years ago. Anyway, it was about Barnabas Collins who was a vampire who lived among mortals.


I wish my mom had been a pushover! I wanted to watch "Night Gallery", but alas, I wasn't allowed to. I had to wait for the recap from my friends the next morning on the school bus.

I was a teen before I saw much horror. The Shining (despite its many detractors) has always been my favorite. And while Alien is a sci-fi movie, it's always scared the beejeebers out of me.

[jennontheisland]

As a kid Poltergeist. Holy crap that was scary. I started watching the Twilight Zone as a pre-teen (had insomnia). That was fun. Seemed more silly than scary for the most part.

Then I saw Hellraiser. *drool* Loved the Cynobites. Loved the goth.

[Jcomp]

I was actually pretty squeamish as a kid, so I didn't watch a lot of horror movies that my friends were into. The Twilight Zone crept me out though, as well as--of all things--Unsolved Mysteries. Occassionally they'd have shows about hauntings or something, and the music coupled with Robert Stack's voice was an eerie combination.

And then anything on the Discovery Channel regarding ghosts.

As far as movies, Poltergeist and House are the first ones I can remember keeping me awake at night...

[OctoberRain]

The Exorcist, for sure. But I also remember watching a dumb movie called "Witchboard" with a bunch of my friends when I was 13 or so, and it scared the crap out of us then, but in the most fun way. It was fun being scared.

[Pike]

A combination of the Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, and Dark Shadows. I remember watching all of them as a kid and getting totally wigged out! It was such a thrill.

[Doodlebug]

As a kid Poltergeist. Holy crap that was scary.


Lol. I forgot all about that movie. The stupid clown scene freaked me out so bad that I refused to look under my bed for months.

[joyce]

A combination of the Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, and Dark Shadows. I remember watching all of them as a kid and getting totally wigged out! It was such a thrill.

It was the same here. I loved these shows. I still watch the Twilight Zone marathons when they are on T.V. I was hooked on horror even as a kid. I still am hooked on it and seem to catch every decent (and sometimes really bad) movie when it comes out on DVD. My inbox at Netflix must make me look like a psycho.

[donroc]

As a child, I used to laugh at the monster movies, but The Cat People and Spencer Tracy's Mr. Hyde gave me a great fright.

[Woven]

Hands down, "Exorcist". By far the scariest movie I've ever seen. That may have to do with the fact that I watched it for the first time when I was 18 AND my parents had left me alone all night for the first time ever. I spent the night at my brother's house across the street.

Others were:
Nightmare on Elm Street (I still love them!)
Poltergeist
Gremlins
Cujo (I didn't know it was Steven King novel until I just googled it to check spelling)

[HoraceJames]

I grew up on a steady diet of Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and any freaky movie I could find on the late show or at the weekend matinees (double features for 50 cents!)

As a kid, I had a lot of cavities due to massive bubble gum consumption, an occupational hazard of association with these babies:

Outer Limits trading cards (http://datajunkie.blogspot.com/2006/05/outer-limits.html) -- I have about twenty or so of these cards in awesome lurid color (the show was in black & white, also the captions have NO bearing on the actual episode of the show.)

I have almost a full set of Spook Stories (http://cgi.ebay.com/SPOOK-STORIES-circa-1961-vintage-trading-cards-9-cards_W0QQitemZ180278122494QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20 080817?IMSfp=TL0808171047r18357#ebayphotohosting) cards. These featured a picture from an old monster movie with a funny caption, and a joke on the other side.

This site has a good overview of all the different monster-related cards of the sixties: http://www.monsterwax.com/terrortour.html

Also have Munsters and Weird-Ohs cards of the same era, along with Beatles and James Bond. The other kids collected baseball cards. I was... different.

[Captain Howdy]

Watching Dark Shadows in the late 60s, my Dad taking me to see a double feature of Dracula and Frankenstein (that would be the 1931 versions), seeing The Pit and the Pendulum in the garage of someone in the neighborhood who was doing a fund raiser for their Baptist church. I have 70% of the Dark Shadows run on VHS or DVD and the Universal Monsters DVDs are in heavy rotation for my viewing pleasure. Yep, I'm pretty Old School when it comes to horror, maybe more with a Gothic leaning.

[Doodlebug]

... seeing The Pit and the Pendulum in the garage of someone in the neighborhood who was doing a fund raiser for their Baptist church.

I would have never guessed that a church would use a horror movie to raise money. Shocking!! ;)

[Captain Howdy]

I would have never guessed that a church would use a horror movie to raise money. Shocking!! ;)

well it was the 1960s...and it wasn't "in" the church it was in someone's garage...and they were Baptists. but I see your point. My parents wouldn't let me watch Dark Shadows after they found out what that was all about.

[HoraceJames]

I watched Dark Shadows but thought it was a little too much like my mom's soap operas, too much talk, not enough blood and heartstaking.

[Cranky]

Halloween, Poltergeist, and The Exorcist. *shudders* Those movies still scare the pants off me.

[triceretops]

Mostly monster flicks: Godzilla, Roadan, The Blob, Them, Creature from the Black Lagoon. Man against nature horror has always facinated me.

Tri

[Doodlebug]

well it was the 1960s...and it wasn't "in" the church it was in someone's garage...and they were Baptists. but I see your point. My parents wouldn't let me watch Dark Shadows after they found out what that was all about.

And here I always thought that Baptists were the anti-drinking, anti-card playing, anti-horror denomination (and I mean no offense to any Baptist folks reading this thread, but in my day, Baptists were against a lot of things including the movies. I'm sure that times have changed.)

Really, though, I like horror because it does - at times - address spiritual issues. For example, "Desperation" talks a lot about God and the devil.

And speaking of "Desperation", Ron Perlman really rocks out loud as the cop in the made for TV movie. That guy really scared me.

[MRevelle83]

I'm noticing a trend. Chalk one up for me, as I also say Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Tales from the Darkside (show and movie), Creepshow, and... a lot of others. I was even exposed to Stephen King through the movies before I got to read the books.

But my favorite is Jacob's Ladder, though it is not an entirely horror movie. It is actually the inspiration for my current WIP to an extent.

[ManyAk]

I'm noticing a trend. Chalk one up for me, as I also say Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Tales from the Darkside (show and movie), Creepshow, and... a lot of others. I was even exposed to Stephen King through the movies before I got to read the books.

But my favorite is Jacob's Ladder, though it is not an entirely horror movie. It is actually the inspiration for my current WIP to an extent.

Now that surprised me. Jacob's Ladder is my all-time favorite movie, and such an underrated one!

[Kerr]

ManyAK, cool sig but I think you hypnotized me while I was trying to read your post.

[Aschenbach]

The Exorcist, for sure. But I also remember watching a dumb movie called "Witchboard" with a bunch of my friends when I was 13 or so, and it scared the crap out of us then, but in the most fun way. It was fun being scared.

I think I saw Witchboard. Wasn't there a party, and someone got the ouija board out? (Now that's just asking for trouble!) I seem to remember a priest got called in to exorcise all the spookiness that happened after the party, but wasn't succesful (much like the priest in Amityville, or The Omen. Or any priest in a horror movie!)

One morning the heroine looks out of the window and sees the priest in a tree in her garden. His face is covered in boils, a side effect of the botched exorcism. He has a noose around his neck, attached to the tree. He says something ominous, then leaps out of the tree, hanging himself. Heroine freaks out, and I did too. I was only young.

[ManyAk]

ManyAK, cool sig but I think you hypnotized me while I was trying to read your post.

Hehe. ;)

I've been watching movies for a long time now, so it's kinda hard to pin-point which one was my first. But I remember that when I first watched The Evil Dead, I couldn't stop talking/thinking about it. Now, I know the movie by heart. :)

[Kerr]

Hehe. ;)

I've been watching movies for a long time now, so it's kinda hard to pin-point which one was my first. But I remember that when I first watched The Evil Dead, I couldn't stop talking/thinking about it. Now, I know the movie by heart. :)

Evil Dead was great, one of the few movies that had me laughing and peeing my pants at the same time. That's hard to pull off in horror. For the most part, I like horror to be believable or it loses the fear-factor. But as laughable as that possessed hand was, you couldn't help but get into the "What if?" spirit of the thing. And they kept it going and growing increasingly more horrifying. It's a perfect movie for study, my opinion.

[MRevelle83]

Evil Dead was great, one of the few movies that had me laughing and peeing my pants at the same time. That's hard to pull off in horror. For the most part, I like horror to be believable or it loses the fear-factor. But as laughable as that possessed hand was, you couldn't help but get into the "What if?" spirit of the thing. And they kept it going and growing increasingly more horrifying. It's a perfect movie for study, my opinion.

The possessed hand was part 2, wasn't it? The first was not trying to be a comedy, though it come off as one in the cheesiness. I like all of those films, though Army of Darkness is not horror.

Now that surprised me. Jacob's Ladder is my all-time favorite movie, and such an underrated one!

VASTLY underrated. Though it does get some recognition for now being known as a key inspiration for those Silent Hill video games and the movie which resulted. My WIP is inspired (to an extent) by it too. Maybe some day more people will see this movie and appreciate it for what it is. It is one of Tim Robbins' best films, even as good (or better) than The Shawshank Redemption.

[vixey]

My brother reminded me recently about what he called our favorite horror film - The Screaming Skull (early 1970's). He's found it on the internet so now I have to find it and watch it. I don't remember much about the movie other than screaming at the top of my lungs.

I scared easily back then.

[Haggis]

My brother reminded me recently about what he called our favorite horror film - The Screaming Skull (early 1970's). He's found it on the internet so now I have to find it and watch it. I don't remember much about the movie other than screaming at the top of my lungs.

I scared easily back then.

You ain't seen nothin' yet. Now that you've found your way to the horror forum, we know who you are and how to find you. And we'll be right outside your bedroom window tonight. Watching. Waiting. :e2teeth:

[Shadow_Ferret]

When I was a child, there was a local horror show host called Dr. Cadaverino. He came on late every Friday night with Shock Theater and would show schlocky horror movies and then do little skits or read letters from viewers or do all sorts of schtick. Kind of like Elvira but years before she ever put on a pushup bra.

I'd have to say he had the most influence on me as far as horror goes. And who knows what else?

[vixey]

I must admit to being drawn to the macabre. Not the high school pics where prom queens and football studs get ice-picked, but the more demonic kind. I really love anything apocolyptic. Can't say I've seen a great horror flick recently, though.

Haggis and Ferret, you'll have to point me in the right direction.

*holds breath as she hits post as her post number changes to 667*

[Haggis]

I must admit to being drawn to the macabre. Not the high school pics where prom queens and football studs get ice-picked, but the more demonic kind. I really love anything apocolyptic. Can't say I've seen a great horror flick recently, though.

Haggis and Ferret, you'll have to point me in the right direction.

*holds breath as she hits post as her post number changes to 667*

You still here?

*checks switches and dials*

Anyhow, you'll have to check with others for good movies. I'm not too thrilled with most of them. If it's books you want, that's a different story. We've got whole threads about 'em here. I'll point you in the right direction if you're interested.

[vixey]

You still here?

*checks switches and dials*

Anyhow, you'll have to check with others for good movies. I'm not too thrilled with most of them. If it's books you want, that's a different story. We've got whole threads about 'em here. I'll point you in the right direction if you're interested.

Name your favorite! I'm currently reading The Club Dumas, which I would put on the horror side of things.

Wait! This thread is about movies. Nevermind.

[StacyB]

Lair of the White Worm is a good one :) Grew up with The Ray Bradbury Theater and Tales from the Darkside, they were great! Salem's Lot was a fav also.

[HorrorWriter]

When I was a kid, I got to see old reruns of the Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Ray Bradbury Theater.

As far as movies, THE EXORCIST, POLTERGEIST, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, SILVER BULLET, and any other Stephen King book that was translated into a movie. I was hooked with the books and movies. :D