IT!
Stephen King’s It
ruined clowns for me forever. Although I don’t have a phobia of them (i.e. I
won’t run screaming and crying in the opposite direction if I were to see one),
I still don’t like them. Even Ronald
McDonald gives me the creeps! Jaws
(based on the book by Peter Benchley) influenced the way I viewed sharks for a
long time… as a child, I honestly believed that sharks hunted people. Thanks to
the books at the library, two extremely enthusiastic siblings, and of course,
the Discovery Channel, I learned that this was not the case.
Then there was The Exorcist… I couldn’t even get
through the first half the first time I watched it. Now, this was all when I
was younger. As I got older, I decided to watch them again, and decided to read
the books. Not so scary the second time around, and in fact, a little funny in
comparison to the graphics of horror flicks in the this day and age. The books were good reads as well, but I felt that the movie’s influenced my take on them
a little too much, but I digress.
My question for you is; is there a movie or book, or
movie based on a book that you either watched or read that terrified you? In
your opinion, what’s scarier: reading the book and letting your imagination
soar, or watching the movie and having someone else bring the character to life
for you?
24 thoughts on “IT!”
To be honest, I am someone that is easily terrified. I would never purposely watch a scary movie or read a scary book. But I think that the movie is usually scarier than the book because of the sound effects creating the environment and that suspense.
I though that the movies “Mama” and “The Sinister” were really freaky but the most creepy and horrifying was “The Grudge” series, i couldn’t keep my eyes open for like half the movie in fear!!! Hats off to the make up artists who make these monsters seem so real!
Stephen King is so wonderfully evil. I watched The Shining on a sleepover and didn’t sleep for the entire night, then I read The Tommyknockers and couldn’t sleep for a week. I would say movies are usually more scary than books because it’s easier for your five senses to betray you than your head. Some Supernatural episodes are also extremely creepy, especially when you first start watching. I’m sure all the Whovians out there will agree that the weeping angels give people a reason to be afraid of closing their eyes at night.
I would have to agree with Jane. I also don’t watch them but the few I have watched find that the movie is a lot worse than the book. I watched dolls and couldn’t go anywhere near these things, they still creep me out in the dark. Hats off to anyone who can stand the scary stuff.
I find that there is usually more creative freedom with literature as compared to movies, where horror is synonymous with slasher-flick.
Yes! oh YES! Stephen King’s IT was incredible. On a side note, when I was younger, the darker half of the Harry Potter films creeped the life out of me. I’ve seen adn read some of Stephen King’s novels and they were jsut as scary.
I was literally traumatized by the Adam Sandler film Click. I watched it when I was somewhere between 8 and 10, and it was just the saddest, scariest film I’d ever watched, and I still think the concept of it is worse than any horror movie. To this day, I have an irrational fear of waking up one day when I’m in my 40s and saying to myself “You know what, I haven’t done anything my entire life.”
Oh boy. When I was younger, I was very rebellious and adventurous. I would watch scary movies like its not big deal. But as a result I have fears because of it. I watched “Nightmares on Elm Street” when I was 6 (yes I know that’s young) but ever since I remember the nightmare I had after it. I think if I see the movie, it feels more real and the character remains in my mind for longer. After seeing a show on Oprah about a clown murderer, I will not go to the circus!
I agree with you Jane. The movie is almost always more terrifying than the book. I think it’s smart that you don’t watch them… I haven’t seen a scary movie in years, and yet, when I’m home alone, I find that my imagination gets away from me at every little noise that I hear… :/
Hi Adhiba,
I have not seen either Mama or The Sinister, but the first Grudge definitely was scary!
The makeup artists definitely do some incredible work, and it has evolved so much in the past few decades. It truly is amazing!
The Shining was definitely one of those movies… good title, Joanna!
I still remember those twins and the writing on the wall (‘redrum’).
Stephen King is definitely evil in a wonderful way!
Hi Matthew,
I have not seen Dolls (I try not to watch too many horror flicks as well), but I just googled it and that’s creepy!!! I remember Child’s Play doing that to me as a kid… hated some of the dolls I had after watching it, lol.
Hi William,
I found that as the Harry Potter series got darker, it did get scarier (especially the books… I’m thinking back to reading them, late at night when everyone was asleep… definitely enough to give yourself a scare).
‘IT’ is definitely the one that stays in my head though… not even the newer horror flicks can compare to that for me, personally.
Wow, Mik, that is truly scary! I think it’s even scarier than any horror flick, since it’s so realistic. It would be terrifying to wake up one day and have the realization dawn on you that your entire life has been a waste. Great suggestion, I truly admire that you thought outside of the box when replying to this post.
Hey Masha!
Isn’t it weird that we are able to keep certain things in our memory for so long, despite wanting to forget, and yet things that we actually want to remember, we can’t?
Clown Murderer on Oprah? I need to look that up! Although, it probably won’t help in lessening my dislike for clowns :/
Hi Affaan,
I agree with you. I think a lot of the horror flicks out there bank on the gruesome, in-your-face kind of theatrics, while the written word can create an entire world for you in your head. For me, personally, it is that type of scary that sticks with you, rather than a slasher flick (sure, movies like Scream made me jump while watching them, but they didn’t ‘scare me’ scare me, like ‘It’ did).
Don’t watch MAMA! I couldn’t say the word Mama, go in my wardrobe or sleep right for 4 months
Both are equally scary but then again I’m not the kind of person that can read or watch or even listen to scary things and sleep easily the same night. Though when I was younger Ursula from the Little Mermaid, permanently ruined the whole allure of being a mermaid and octopis for the rest of my life. Now I still can’t watch the movie with my little sister without looking away. Plus JAWS and Anaconda (I watched them really young), also scared me and I was always worried that they would track me down and the JAWS shark was hiding in my toilet bowl, waiting to eat me whenever I lifted the seat and I became afraid of porta potties too. As far as reading scary books, it’s the same especially becuase I read before going to bed and my mind has the time to play so many tricks, on me. Overall, I’ve been scarred pretty badly. Also
I’m really bad with scary movies, I watched the movie Mama and screamed so loud everytime that I scared everyone else in the theatre. Also once my friend tried to scare me during an intense scene and I punched her in the face!
Thanks for the advice, Sam!
I just read a summary of it, and it sounds interesting. However, I can picture the scenes in my head, and definitely don’t want to see the movie versions… I’m sure they did a great (read: terrifying) job with the cinematography!
Hi Angeliqua,
I can definitely relate! The worst definitely is when you read before going to bed. Not only do the events of the book stay in your mind, but everything else plays into it as well, such as the darkness, a quiet house, and most importantly, the fact that you’re alone!
Wow, looks like everyone has seen ‘Mama’ except me… it’s funny that I don’t even recall seeing the trailers, as it is fairly new.
Did you watch it in theatres, Michelle?
It was the creepiest show ever. I mean afterwards, I couldn’t fall asleep.
That’s scary!!!