Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with scary

Lesser-known spooky and/or mysterious legends?

amyms — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:11:46 -0800

Tell me some scary and/or mysterious things that are local to your area, but not necessarily well-known to the rest of the world. The Himalayas have the Yeti. Marfa, Texas, has ghost lights. Eastern Kansas has Stull Cemetery (one of the supposed Seven Gates of Hell). Latin America has the chupacabra. But I'm interested in lesser-known spooky legends. What are some of your local or regional mysterious and/or scary things that the rest of the world should know about?

My reason for asking: My son is homeschooled, and I thought this would be an interesting way to incorporate some quirky things into our geography and social studies lessons since Halloween is coming up.

What is this scary statue?

grieserm — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:39:03 -0800

[Creepy statue filter] I moved into a new place a couple of months ago, and there was a creepy statue left outside. Does anyone know what the hell this thing is?

Space-Age Bachleor Pa-aaaah Oh God No!

The Whelk — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:50:46 -0800

Music Mix Filter: Long story short, next week the model at my event is coming dressed as the Alien Queen from the ALIEN movies. I have no idea what kind of music to play for the background. The film scores seem obvious but who wants to listen to clanking and increasing strings for 3 hours? I can either go scary-horror-sci-fi or campy-alien-novelty songs. Ideally I could do both. What kind of weird space music recommendations do you have? Gotta have songs about alien invaders?

pretty lady v. mime

moxiedoll — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:56:53 -0800

Childhood Trauma Filter: Please ID this frightening memory... Long ago, I saw a scene so terrifying that I have never forgotten it. Maybe you'll remember the name? Here are the clues:
1. I saw it on television in the early eighties.
2. I saw it before we had cable, so it was almost certainly on Boston's WLVI - which was the sort of station that played really cheap syndicated movies and shows. It was the kind of station that played Creature Double Feature on Saturday afternoons, dig? This was not a Creature Feature, but I'm guessing that it was widely syndicated, and that's what gives me hope that someone else remembers it.
3. So - probably a movie from the mid or late 70s.
4. There was a big, empty building at night with long corridors. The corridors might have been lined with offices, or with storage units, but the building was blank and desolate with flickering florescent lights.
5. Our heroine was a beautiful young lady with dark hair.
6. AND SHE WAS BEING CHASED!!!
7. And the person chasing her was A SCARY MIME!!!

I would give anything to see this movie again.

unsettling ambient music?

MaddyRex — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:01:10 -0800

Looking for something along the lines of the theme to the movie Halloween, the Dark Knight Soundtrack or the background music to this amazing commercial Nothing with words, no thrasher metal, nothing atonal or screechy. Just soft, creepy ambient music. A clear, heavy beat might be nice but isn't necessary. Thanks!

Please scare me.

Addlepated — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:35:23 -0800

I want a book that I have to put into the freezer. I've read this question, which was looking for thrillers, and this post looking for short stories, but I can't seem to find a thread looking for scary, engrossing novels where supernatural is okay. I read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova a few months ago and was positively enchanted with it. Not only was it creepy as hell, the descriptions were so well-drawn that I felt like I was there and ended up buying Bulgarian folk music on iTunes and looking up pictures of the locations for days after. Similarly, Scott Smith's The Ruins also really stuck with me and put me in a pensive mood for a couple of days after reading - it was just so, so awful, what happened. I want more books like these.

Things I've read (most of it recently): everything by Stephen King, Matheson's I Am Legend and Hell House, Straub's Floating Dragon and Julia, everything by Ellis except for Lunar Park, House of Leaves, Relic, Joe Hill's short stories and Heart Shaped Box, Sebastian Fitzek's Therapy, all Thomas Harris, Barker's Sacrament, all Shirley Jackson, and The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons.

Honestly, I liked The Historian and The Ruins so very much that I've been avoiding reading anything since then because I feel it will be hard to find anything to measure up! Heart-Shaped Box was close, but not dark enough; Therapy was dark, but went by too fast; The House Next Door was great but I thought it was more sad than scary. Help?

Scare me!

odayoday — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:15:11 -0800

My boyfriend and I watched "Them" or "Ils"(the French title) this weekend and loved it. We're looking for other horror/suspense movies that aren't TOO heavy on gore, but have great atmosphere or are outstanding in some other way. We've also enjoyed Suspiria and The Vanishing (Spoorloos). Any ideas for other movies (foreign or not) that we should check out?

I'm looking for some specific spooky Christmas music, can you help me?

mrzer0 — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:17:44 -0800

Some time ago either on MeFi or BoingBoing there was a link to a bunch of songs that I *swear* were Christmas songs played in the wrong key or one half-tone down or something... Does anyone have any idea what I'm talking about and where I could find this (again)? They sounded frightening, yet eerily awesome! I have been searching like crazy for this, through old chat logs, old bookmarks, through the web (both MeFi and BoingBoing archives) and so far no such luck! At least not anything that is reminding me of it. Is it possible that it was not Christmas songs?

I was just telling some friends about it and wanted to provide a link. Thanks!

I can't even watch the whole thing, but I have to know what is wrong with this guy

yellowbinder — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:50:05 -0800

What the hell is going on in the video linked here? Warning: really fucking disgusting.

BOO!!!

unSane — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:53:27 -0800

What makes a scary film scary? I'm in a funny position of being a screenwriter and not being scared *at all* by films. The last time I was scared by a movie was THE OMEN when I was eleven. Since then... I just don't buy it. Like a lot of MeFites, I imagine, I'm innured to the clichés of horror. So, I'm throwing it out there. What makes a horror film *really* scary? Let's get shock out of the way... the 'boo' moment. What else can I use to scare the bajaysus out of people like you?

Scary Websites for the Halloween Season?

interrobang — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:10:53 -0800

Please recommend some spooky, scary websites for late-night, Halloween Season reading. This question from a couple of years ago has some good stuff in it, especially the "Caver" story, which is no longer there but viewable on archive.org. Please let me know about some spooky websites to look at and read late at night. Thanks!

Help Me Scare My Students!

I_love_the_rain — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:58:35 -0800

Help! I need to find a collection of short, scary stories for my junior high school students! I've been searching Google like crazy, trying to find short (read: longer than a few paragraphs) scary or horror stories for my 8th grade reading class. I need at least 5 stories that I can get on-line, free, and that I can print out tonight in time for class tomorrow morning! Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I've had poor luck so far.

Is driving in Ireland as terrifying as people say?

saraswati — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:29:40 -0800

I'm having a last minute panic attack about the travel arrangements for my trip to Ireland and I leave tonight. Should I have stuck to the bus/train? So I'm going for 12 days, departing tonight, and I decided to rent a car to allow me a bit more freedom. However I started reading horror stories about driving in Ireland, and also more generally about North Americans adapting to driving on the left side of the road. Is there validity to this? Should I be concerned? Should I try and cancel my rental and go the bus/train route again?

Here's my itinerary in case anyone has any specific advice for driving these routes (each point is a stop of at least one full day):

- Dublin to Westport
- Westport to Ennis
- Ennis to Killarney
- Killarney to Kinsale
- Kinsale to Kilkenny
- Kilkenny to Dublin

Help!

Creep me out, literally

nougat — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:31:05 -0800

Recommend some books/collections of short stories or even poetry I would like if I am looking for some disturbing reads. I mean the kind of horror/thriller/sci-fi/fantasy/creepy stories that stick in your head for days after you read them causing you to think about them over and over or leave you too scared to turn off your bedroom lights and go to sleep. I really like stuff by Shirley Jackson, Neil Gaiman, Robert McCammon etc. Lately I have been really enjoying stuff by Joe Hill and Darren Shan. Joe Hill's endings to his short stories leaves a bit to be desired at times but I enjoy his writing style for the most part. Something along the lines of "House of Leaves" type creepy would be good.

Please no Stephen King or Dean Koontz recs. I've read all that stuff.
Looking for more obscure/independant less NYT bestsellers stuff.

I like really, really disturbing, creepy stuff. Especially a good story that leaves you scared to turn out the lights and go to bed. :)
Poetry in this genre is especially appreciated. But I really need more books to read.
I've already looked here and have read most of those books recommended there. Thanks

Please help identify this childhood book.

0.0.0 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:58:27 -0800

Please help identify this childhood book. I'm 90% sure it was english, otherwise it could have been written in spanish. The book was wider than tall, probably 15" by 10", very colourful but dark and weird at the same time. The only page i remember is one where s the main character is walking through a cave or forest and all these very interesting animals/creatures looking at him. (I think there's also page with just eyes surrounding him in the dark). The creatures are oddly drawn and very interesting and it was scary if anything. I believe this was a hand-me-down but eitherway I had it late 80's early 90's. I know the details are vague but i'm just hoping someone out there can bring me to peace. Thankyou

I want to have bad dreams

Holy foxy moxie batman! — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:06:03 -0800

I need some good horror film ideas because I feel like I've seen them all. I love horror films. My favorite movie when I was 8 years old was The Shining and it's been a non stop horror fest ever since. The problem is, I'm running out of things to see.

I love Asian Horror, J Horror especially. I'm ok with movies like SAW or Hostel, but to be honest, I find them a little boring. Ghost movies are great, scary sci-fi is great, zombie movies are great...anything and everything goes.

So, what movies can you recommend to someone that feels like they've seen it all?

Best way to deal fairly with non-spam, malicious comments on a personal blog?

gemmy — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:09:05 -0800

Best way to deal fairly with non-spam, malicious comments on a personal blog? Deleting them straight away, or allowing such comments but following up with an answer/reply? I have a pretty boring personal blog (website in profile), where I post occasionally. One old blog post (with my thoughts on the Obama assassination fears) has seen consistent traffic and a few comments over the last few months - some comments to date have been on the "internet crazy" side, but fairly benign. Then today, someone added a comment stating their intention to commit a murder/suicide, should Obama become president. This comment is currently in my moderation queue.

Now, my first instinct was to just delete it. But if I delete this comment, I should probably go back and delete some of the others too - even though they were not quite as bad. I originally decided to post them since it's always fun to get comments, and because I think some of the crazies out there are interesting. Also, what's the point of allowing comments at all if I'm going to uber-moderate them?

The other option would be to allow this comment, and then make a very strong statement against it. A friend suggested that I should say that I have forwarded the commenter's IP address to the appropriate authorities, then address the inappropriate nature of the comment. I don't know, though, maybe that's overkill.

The only substantive discussions I've seen online on allowing/not allowing negative/malicious blog comments have been about business-related blogs. I am very interested to hear about how others deal fairly with this sort of thing. Thanks!

How do I Scare You?

bobbyone — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:38:58 -0800

So I wanna write a horror novel. God knows where I start. How can I make it scary, as opposed to a soppy middle of the road thriller?

Mummies in the ventilation ducts? Yeah, we're boned

Inspector.Gadget — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:20:28 -0800

Please help me figure out the titles of two movies that freaked me out as a child, one involving a space expedition and one involving a mummy. I'll recite all I remember from these two films in hopes someone can I identify them.

Movie Number One: Archaeologists (or similar) find sarcophagus, which has a hidden container containg emerald-looking stones. One loots the stones and another later ends up having to dip his arm in a surgical tray full of a liquid that looks like urine in an attempt to fix some other mummy-related malaise. Said mummy later chases a woman through what I think was a library, following her into some HVAC ducts and possibly ripping them out of the ceiling.

Movie Number Two: Raggedy bunch of teenagers on some sort of vehicle in space with limited water and/or fuel supplies are riding the razor's edge on making it back to a planet or space station in time. One of them deliberately contaminates the water supply by adding some sort of lubricant or fuel or something else inky black and billowing to a clear container of clear liquid. There was a scene in which several characters were gathered together gazing out into space at something; the scene had a distinctly Hook-like feel to it for some reason.

Disclaimer: At least one of these was watched while I was running a high fever, so some freaky associated dreams may be altering my memory of the movies' events. Thank you very much in advance for the help - I think Ask MeFi is basically the only place I would consider asking a question like the above and expect to get a response.

Identify this monster tale?

wolfsleepy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:11:48 -0800

I'm trying to track down something I remembered watching on television a long time ago. The only thing I can really remember is the climax of the story, which I vaguely recall was about these parents or caretakers (babysitters, perhaps) telling two young children about some kind of bogeyman. At the end, a giant arm reaches through the front door and grabs them while the children watch. I have a feeling it could have been an episode of an Outer Limits type show, or maybe a Trilogy of Terror type thing.

Big Business Unwilling to Change

billtron — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:07:12 -0800

On the way to Henry's Market to buy the avocados for guacamole, I was listening to a story on NPR about the automobile industry's unwillingness to adopt stricter mileage standards at a time when gas is $100 a barrell yadda yadda. There are plenty of examples of companies that are unwilling to adapt their business practices in changing times, like the recording industry's fiasco with peer2peer file sharing and drug companies' ip battles. I imagine three hundred years in the future we will all be driving our garbage-powered plastic flying cars (or working at home) looking back on the time when oil was this hypervalued commodity and people were willing to kill other people over it and we will think how sad a time that was. My question, then: Are there examples from the past of companies or whole industries that used to be in a situation similar to oil, big pharma, RIAA, etc. that are now less causing of worry among the general public than they used to be? My roommate suggested railroads, and that makes sense to me. Any other examples?

Help me find some funny vids!

snsranch — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:57:20 -0800

I need gag vids. The kind that start all sweet and innocent and then the monster jumps out and stuff like that. Another is the kind in which your computer is "taking a picture" of you but the picture is actually of a monkey. Please see... My kid's science teacher has started a war with us. Help my boys and I fill up an arsenal so we can kick his butt!!

(And please no sex. I'd love to hit him with the goatse bomb, but it's just not right in this situation.)

Thanks in advance!

Soon we'll be Living the Dream, but first: How to move an arcade game cabinet up the stairs?

fiercecupcake — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:03:48 -0800

What is the best way to transport a an arcade game cabinet (Ms. Pac-Man, if you must know) across town and then up the stairs? My partner likesuchasand and I are going to look at a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game tonight, and we are pretty sure we want it. One of the things I'm most worried about, though, is how we will get it across town (rent a U-Haul? Then how do you strap it securely?) and up the stairs to our second-floor apartment. Without breaking it.

The stairs are your typical apartment complex stairs: poured concrete in a metal sort of frame, with metal edges. Is this even possible? Am I trying to build the pyramids? Does my solution involve blankets, plywood, rope, what?

Assume several strong people, who will be rewarded with much beer. Thank you!

We've been bugged!

eschatfische — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:01:33 -0800

Yep, it's yet another I found this scary-looking bug in the garage question. What is it?

Sexy and scary?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:35:28 -0800

My girlfriend and I are looking for a sexy, scary movie. My girlfriend and are in a long distance relationship, which sucks, but we are going to see each other again next weekend. One of the things we've enjoyed doing together in the past is watching scary movies - Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, The Exoricist, etc.

Anyways, she asked me the other day about spicing it up a little bit. We want to find a scary movie that also is strongly sexy. You know, the type you can watch with a bottle of wine, be delightfully scared and then have an evening of extracurricular fun. Preferably something I could either pick up at Blockbuster or order on Amazon and have by the end of the week.