5 of the Scariest Things Humans Have Thought Of

I've been superstitious all my life. I've believed in ghosts since I was a little girl (of course, the family stories about me didn't quite help my fears or beliefs any). As I've grown up, though, and watched Ghost Hunters on SciFi, chosen a different religion and discovered more pressing matters in life to worry about and fear, these things don't scare me as much.

But still the nightmares come...

Dolls

I had originally put in my rough draft porcelain dolls, but any doll will do. These things are just downright creepy. When I was little, my aunt had made me a clown doll as big as me. Long goofy arms and legs, body full of lumpy stuffing, and the weirdest face I've still to this day ever seen on a clown doll. (I HIGHLY recommend not giving your child a giant clown doll if you happen to own Poltergeist - be prepared to spend a lot of money on psychiatric treatment.) But it's not just clown dolls that are creepy, it's all of them. Porcelain dolls? Forget it, especially the antique ones, with the insanely shiny eyes, the innocent expression...you just know they're harboring some unspeakable horror...

Psycho Killers

Walk into a coffee shop and start talking about psycho killers, and what's the first thing that comes to anyone's mind? Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, modeled after Ed Guine. Dolls may be just a little superstition like ghosts and goblins, but psycho killers are real, they live in the house next door, they're mild mannered and psychologically fragile. One little thing could set them off, and the next thing we know, the neighborhood has gone to pot. Hello? Jeffrey Dahmer? Makes me not want to leave the house...ever.

Aliens

I wasn't going to put this in until I remembered a continual strain of nightmares I had a few years ago containing none other than H. R. Geiger's/Ridley Scott's Alien. Man, that thing is freaky as all get out. And though it's science fiction, it's not an implausible one. I mean, who knows? Independence Day could come true, maybe not in our time, but it could happen. The aliens in Alien, though, with their "larvae gestating in the chest cavity" is a horror within itself. We all have fears of something hideous growing inside of us, be it cancer, an alien, a tapeworm. The very scene of Kane's chest bursting open gives new meaning to chest pains.

Little Kids

Children are wonders. I love them. But after seeing several horror movies (Village of the Damned, The Exorcist, Omen...), I can't help but wonder, who in Hollywood and beyond ever wanted to taint the image of innocents? I'm not paranoid, but I can't help but get nervous when a child stares at me expressionless, unwavering gaze. What is going on in that child's head? Have they played with a Ouija board? Do they talk to empty spaces? Do they play hide and seek with imaginary friends? Will we ever know?

Demon Possession

Okay, William Peter Blatty scared the hell out of us with this one: The Exorcist. Not only was the book scary enough, but the movie? Downright terrifying, even if you're not religious. Still to this day, I have to watch that movie during the day, and I have to stop the show for a break. I'm superstitious, but I'm not religious (isn't that an oxymoron?). But I firmly believe that all superstitions are based off of the power of suggestion. If I tell you there's a ghost standing behind you enough times, you'll believe me eventually. If there are enough people who insist that The Exorcist was based off of a true story, it will make the movie that much scarier to most of its viewers. Nobody wants to conceive of a spirit entering their body and taking it over. Where's my bible?

Living Dead/Zombies

People laugh at me for this one. This is definitely not plausible...or is it? Resident Evil was based off of a viral outbreak. Night of the Living Dead was based off of nuclear radiation reanimating the recently deceased. What's to say that there are hidden powers in genetics and nuclear physics that we haven't discovered yet? The absolutely most terrifying zombie flick (to me) is the remake of Dawn of the Dead. Go ahead, laugh it up. But I'm telling you, there were no slow moving, incessantly groaning zombies. They were fast, didn't go down with one bullet, they burst through glass, they jumped down holes, broke their ankles and still ran after people. The only slow moving creatures in this movie were the injured victims. And, in this movie, there is no explanation for the zombie outbreak. The viewer is as clueless as the victims, which puts us in this crazy, survival horror world that can at least be shut off with the click of a button. I refuse to watch this movie alone, and I always end up getting nightmares.

Happy Halloween, everyone!