kungfuwaynewho | For me, it's evil little girls.

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For me, it's evil little girls.

Today I shall commence the beginning of the first part of my second draft of my vampire screenplay. Well, that's a lie; I've finished the first part, which is going over the first draft with a fine toothed comb, as well as collating everyone's notes. So I guess I have commenced the beginning, and shall now begin the commencement of the rest of the first part of the second draft - the revision manifesto, and a new outline. ("Revision manifesto" sounds all fancy, but it's basically just a brief document to help me keep in mind the larger goals I have when writing, the things it came be easy to lose when you're in the middle of some individual scene and are worrying about the difference between two synonyms.)

Anyway, one thing I want to work on, as per my manifesto, is really nailing all the little scary moments early on. I am not doing blood and gore, but more psychological horror. This is where you guys come in.

Question: What scares you? I don't mean things that are real and could actually harm you - like sharks, or heights - and I don't mean existential things - like what happens after death. I mean, what little creepy things happen, in real life or in the movies, that freaks you out? That even if you rationally and objectively think about it and know it isn't real or isn't scary, still gets to you?

You don't have to pick just one!

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Machines doing things on their own. Doesn't even have to be anything bad or sinister - the worst I ever had it in real life was back when I worked as a projectionist/AV operator at my university, and this old 16mm kept playing after I shut it off. The reason turned out to be something stupid (I forget what), but it freaked me the hell out. TV glowing after you turn it off? Creepy. Elevator showing up and opening for you with nobody in it, before you've hit the button? Freaking terrifying.

I'm sure the X-Files is somehow to blame for all this, but I can't remember how.

Interesting. I don't have any machines or tech, but I'm thinking if she blew out all the candles, then turned around after a beat and they were all lit again might be a nice little moment.

That kind of thing is always creepy, yeah. Anything that just shouldn't be the way it is.

Hmm...das unheimliche, I think. Just in general. Which would work, since I'm using German Expressionism as a genre study. And I should have thought of that before, but sometimes you have to talk things out in a way before you can crystallize the thought.

YAY FOR FLIST!

(some of these may be out of the scope you're looking for, but here's what I could think of)

-Being awake / aware during an operation. AHHH.
-Being buried alive.
-Being cremated while still alive. Double AHHHH. (damn you, Scrooged!)
-Something crawling *under* someone's skin (I'm glaring at you, X-Files).

I've got someone being cremated while still alive! Well, more burned alive, but it's in the same neighborhood.

What scares me? besides the real world fears of losing everyting in a fire and whatnots like that...hmm. Okay.

*Antique porcelin dolls, the kind my grandmother had. The kind that can close thier eyes when you tilt them. The porcelin of the face starting to crack with age. If you look at them the right way it's like thier eyes open and close on thier own. The irrational fear is that they are possessed mother-effers come alive. *shivers*

*Any electronics or mechanical things running on thier own. I blame watching a movie with the Lawrence brothers called Pulse when I was younger for this. Squiggly lines on the tele still creep me out for that. The X-Files just made this fear worse. haha!

*Bugs, specifically ones burrowing under your skin or inside you. The kind of thing that has you doing the heebie-jeebie dance for the rest of the day just at the thought. Again, the X-Files comes into play on this one (I can 'hear' the Mark Snow music for the crawly moment) and perhaps the scarabs from the Mummy movies, yup that will get me wigged out. Oh, and I don't like waking up to bugs on or near me. Usually it's a spider on the ceiling but the other day it was a stinkbug on my bedside lamp, freaked me the hell out!

*Noises in the hedges when walking home in the dark. You know rationally it's probably a squirrel or some critter but still your pace quickens, your heart rate goes up, you ready the house key to unlock the door as quickly as possible. Once inside you get a shiver like something really was chasing you, always at your back the whole way. You lock the door and, because you can't help it, you look out the window just to make sure. (One of these days someone or something will be there and I will be dead of a heart attack, lol)

*Cannibalism. Yeah, we know how that goes, still squicks me everytime in movies, in shows. Firefly, Bones, Sweeney Todd just squick. blech. Not vampirism, blood sucking doesn't really bother me too much it's the thought of human flesh being...yech. Okay, nuff on that.

I'm sure I could think of more if you wanted me to, haha! ;)

*Antique porcelin dolls

OHMYGOD seconding this. Don't know how I neglected that the first time. EEeeeegh.

OHMYGOD seconding this.

You know this makes me feel less like a weirdo for that. Feeling kind of vindicated in my irrational fear. They are so creepy though! They sit on the shelf, thier eyes hollow and glassy, and if those eyelids with the fake lashes blink or the head turns in a slow creak, forget it, i'mma be runnin'. lol!

Noises in the hedges when walking home in the dark.

Ooo, that's a good one. I hadn't really thought about scares out in nature, but I could use a beat like that. :)

I actually get really scared in those haunted houses you walk through and people jump out at you dressed as zombies and whatnot. -Caro

Hee! The last time I went to a haunted house was Knott's Scary Farm, and they had people constantly running up like that.

Road rage scares the crap out of me. There was an incident back when I was in grad school where someone started honking at me for no reason. He then proceeded to follow me, and he pulled up next to my car and yelled at me, although I couldn't tell what he was saying. To this day, I have no idea what set him off, and I was scared enough that I turned around and went home. I was living with my parents at the time, and I knew they'd be there and could call the cops if he followed me that far. Since then, I've had a couple of instances where I've pissed someone off and they've responded by tailgating me for a few blocks, honking, or flipping me off, and it always freaks me out.

Second that, I had it just once but that woman was really crazy, she came up to my left and out pulled her car way too close to mine, I was super scared she'd push me off the road!

What is it exactly that scares you about this? Is it the threat to your person? Or is it that the rage seems to come from nowhere? Or is it both?

I was thinking about this driving home yesterday and was curious, because I only ever get angry when people drive like that around me. And I decided I don't get afraid because I'm never really worried that they're going to hurt me.

I think it's the anger. Anger, in general, scares me, particularly when it's uncontrolled. The only time my dad ever got physical with me was when he lost his temper; it was uncontrolled and unexpected. I have no trouble believing that someone might hurt me when their rage is out of control.

Firstly:

Today I shall commence the beginning of the first part of my second draft of my vampire screenplay.

LOL, and then you said it was a lie, and I was pleasantly confused. I'm happy to remain that way. :)

Secondly: What scares me? Here are some things. The first two would imply that my house and its appliances are old and that I haven't quite gotten used to the 'house noises' and that would be a fair conclusion for you to come to.

- the furnace in our house, when it switches on. It's really loud and I'm always afraid it's going to blow up.

- the water heater, when it cycles in the middle of the night. I don't know what it's actually called - it flushes, or something? And it's on a timer to run at 2:30 a.m. If I'm awake for some reason, and it's running, it scares the shit out of me.

- swimming in lakes. I have mentioned this before.

- in movies: people jumping out of nowhere, or bad things that happen with no warning. (This is also true in real life, like if someone sneaks up on me or whatever. I don't DO haunted houses.)

- being alone at night. I am Little Miss Independent during the day, but at night in the dark I'm a wuss and I like people to be around. If my husband is away and I'm sleeping alone, I sleep with the TV on, and my kitty, and a teddy bear (don't tell) and usually with the bathroom light on.

You know, I was thinking that I'm not doing the vampire can't be out in daylight thing, but that I could still hit the "night is scary" note a bit more. Because it is scary.

I've been thinking about this and have been having a hard time coming up with something specific, but maybe just that whole "someone's staring at you in a creepy predatory way and you don't realize it" thing? It's pretty cliche and I don't know how well it would translate to the screen without coming off that way, but for some reason, being stalked is a big thing in my nightmares, or more often, turning to look out a window and realizing something's been staring in at me from the dark that whole time.

I'd also like to reiterate all the votes for being ______ alive, bugs getting inside your body, and things moving when they're not supposed to. Just examples being slightly off, or predatory/malicious in some way. I don't know, it's hard to differentiate between what somehow crops up in my nightmares and what would freak me out on screen, since I'm not sure they're the same thing. Like, just seeing someone stare in a window doesn't have the same freaky quality as some other things people mentioned, and it wouldn't really freak me out in a movie, even though it's what really sends jolts through my body in dreams.

Not a helpful comment. I'll let you know if anything else comes to mind. ;)

The blank-faced manservant could do some more staring. :D

*giggle*

One thought: a prime example of the "things being just slightly off" thing is when people start to be animal-like, or animals like people, in a way that's not just understandable behavior, but sort of viscerally disturbing. (Like, that's part of the creepiness of the stalking in my nightmares, I think -- people start staring at me like they're predators, large cats or something.) With your characters changing back and forth occasionally, that could play into things a bit.

Exactly. I could definitely have more foreshadowing of the b-f m's dual nature, which would just be creepy and weird early on. V. good.

What an interesting question!

Unidentified noises at night.
Doors that are open when I'm certain I closed them.
The creaky noise tree branches make when they rub together.
Being trapped in a car that's sinking.
Being unable to catch my breath.

Doors that are open when I'm certain I closed them.

Excellent...

That's a tough one, I know there is a bunch of stuff in movies or shows that freak me out but it's often connected with blood and so on, like cutting or pulling thing from alive people...I shouldn't get started on thatXD

So what scares me in real life...
+ little noises in the house. Not always. Like at my parents place I don't get scared by them, but at my place I do. I'm pretty close to freak out when it sounds like somebody is in the apartment sneaking around cause I had to experience that beginning of the year.
+ when it's late at night and I walk home I'm kinda scared of the people walking the same way cause I think they are following me.
+ gadgets doing stuff on their own or not the way they are supposed to, like when my notebook does nothing and than a bunch of things all at once.
+ dark shapes. You know they must be from something in the room or whereever you are but before you know for sure something scary could be hiding there.

In movies...
+ these scenes when you just know something is about to happen and you're getting tense and than it hits you even harder. Like in Harry Potter 2, I know now that the big snake thing (is it calles basilisk in English as well? I just know it in German) is coming out of the water in the middle of the fight with Harry but I still get scared.
+ Scenes when you don't expect things to happen.
+ Since watching 'Black Swan' ordinary things like cliping nails, I couldn't here it without rolling my toes and fingers to protect my nails.

+ when it's late at night and I walk home I'm kinda scared of the people walking the same way cause I think they are following me.

I do this, too! I'm usually not that weirded out by stuff when I'm not in my own house, but I do get paranoid about this. This and people who are behind me in their cars; once they take one turn the same way I do, I assume they're following me for bad reasons.

(is it called basilisk in English as well? I just know it in German)

Yep! Basilisk in the English editions, too. I think because a basilisk is specifically a type of serpent that can freeze people with its stare, so it would be the same word.

I always try to blame the shows I watch for that stuff but actually I think it doesn't matter if I watch them or not.

Oh yes people in cars, always scary!
And I'm always close to a heart attack as well when I just pass a police car when I'm driving (and that doesn't happen so much, I just rent a car from time to time when needed), always scared that they're looking for me.

Makes sense^^ Now that I think about it, that is really scary too, if somebody can freeze you just with a stare.

Let's see....

Complete silence. You know, those moments in movies when everything stops and then something jumps out at you? Yeah, that goes for real life too. It's like when you hear nothing you suddenly think you hear everything.

That weird mirror thing and turning corners or opening doors. Like someone's getting something out of a medicine cabnet and no one's there then they close it and someone's standing behind them in the mirror. Or thinking you see something out of a half open door or opening a door and something jump out behind it. And when they're running from something then you turn a cornner and run into what you were running from.

I could probably go on... I'm pretty easy to creep out. Lol.

And when they're running from something then you turn a corner and run into what you were running from.

AHHHH THIS IS GREAT.

So, I've been trying to think of things all day, but I'm having trouble. Most of mine are obvious, like unexplained noises at night, heights, bugs, enclosed spaces, and blood. I guess my more random creepy things are the sound of an echoing heartbeat, anything touching my eyes (like, even contact lenses, but also sharp, pointy things), cars that drive themselves (The Love Bug scared the ever-living bejeezus out of me when I was a kid), and the human body being changed inexplicably by an external force (see: District 9, Black Swan) - spines popping out of the skin, fingernails falling off, stuff like that. Ugh.

I have a carriage that drives itself - still creepy?

LOL, every so often I forget whether I'm taking contacts out or putting them in, and I'll end up just kinda rubbing my own eyeball for awhile. I think if you have to wear contacts, you get over that a bit.

Aha, a carriage would be very creepy. I likes.

Ewwwww eye touching. I had an eye exam today, and they tried to use that machine to test the pressure, and my reflexes squeezed my eyes shut and made me recoil from the machine while it was still an inch away from my eye. CANNOT DO.

Aw, Catherine forgot to sign in again.

Maybe blood seeping in in places and at times when/where it makes no sense. That would creep me the hell out.

OOOOOOOOO.

Right? Seeping *up* the wall maybe...

FFFFUUUU.

And then she turns around again and it disappears!

I'm done now.

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For me, it's evil little girls.

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