What got you hooked on horror 2: Visual Media

comradebunny · Sep 23, 2008

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 · Sep 23, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

vixey said:
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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

jennontheisland said:
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 · Sep 24, 2008

Pike said:
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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 · Sep 24, 2008

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 -- 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 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 · Sep 25, 2008

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 · Sep 25, 2008

Captain Howdy said:
... 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 · Sep 25, 2008

Doodlebug said:
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 · Sep 25, 2008

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 · Sep 25, 2008

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

triceretops · Sep 25, 2008

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

Tri

Doodlebug · Sep 26, 2008

Captain Howdy said:
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 · Oct 1, 2008

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 · Oct 3, 2008

MRevelle83 said:
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 · Oct 3, 2008

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

Aschenbach · Oct 3, 2008

OctoberRain said:
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 · Oct 4, 2008

Kerr said:
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 · Oct 6, 2008

ManyAk said:
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.

What got you hooked on horror 2: Visual Media

comradebunny

"It is the rabbitt!"

vixey

C'est la vie!

Doodlebug

jennontheisland

the world is at my command

Jcomp

OctoberRain

I triple dog dare you.

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead

Doodlebug

joyce

I'm really shy...

donroc

Historicals and Horror rule

Woven

HoraceJames

Captain Howdy

closer + prettier than ever

Doodlebug

Captain Howdy

closer + prettier than ever

HoraceJames

Cranky

triceretops

Doodlebug

MRevelle83

Complication

ManyAk

Kerr

I vant to bite you

Aschenbach

Moral Marjorie

ManyAk

Kerr

I vant to bite you

What got you hooked on horror 2: Visual Media

"It *is* the rabbitt!"

C'est la vie!

the world is at my command

I triple dog dare you.

Chivalry ain't dead

I'm really shy...

Historicals and Horror rule

closer + prettier than ever

closer + prettier than ever

Complication

I vant to bite you

Moral Marjorie

I vant to bite you

"It is the rabbitt!"