This movie revolutionized horror. Plain and simple. From the haunting theme music to the unstoppable killer, Carpenter is a mad genius that launched a sub-genre of horror that is still going strong . Perhaps my favorite thing about this movie is that he managed to create a genre known for gratuitous violence and gore without the use of gratuitous violence and gore. It’s definitely violent and there’s some blood but it’s muted. It all works together and it seems like an appropriate amount. One of my biggest pet peeves is using a shit load of blood and weird ways to kill people and expecting that to be shocking. To me that’s a huge turn off, that’s not scary. Those things have their place as long as they work within the story and the realm of believability. Carpenter nailed this combination and paved the way for all of the slashers and killers we know and love today.

Something about older horror really speaks to me. I love the simplicity of it, I think there’s a lot that can be done without the overuse of CGI and just basic prosthetics. House of Wax really set the tone for my love of movies that are horrifying in their implications. Sometimes the scariest things are what you don’t see and what you’re left to think about when the screen goes black. The idea of being incased in wax, alive is frightening. Combine that with Vincent Price’s haunting presence and demeanor and it truly is a classic in my opinion.

To say that I love this book would be an absolute understatement. I was always a little bit confused as to why the character of Pinhead was chosen to represent the Cenobites in the movies and pop culture because he has like 2 lines in the entire book. HOWEVER, this book fleshes out the Hell Priest into someone that is absolutely a favorite of mine in all of literature. I love everything Barker brings to this book. The Hell he has created, his portrayal of Lucifer, the idea of this cursed pilgrimage, it’s all fantastic. Barker has a way of taking things that would be gratuitous in anyone else’s hands and making them flow smoothly and taking off the rough edges that would normally push them over into being “too much”. I can’t think of another time when a book was able to elicit the kind of response this one did from me and for that reason, 10/10 would recommend.

This one seems pretty obvious. It’s such a classic, how could I not include it. Again, this movie plays up the fear of the things you don’t see. When Ash is being chased through the woods by whatever was released from the book you never actually see it. You see after it has infested someone and made them a Deadite, but the actual spirit or entity is never shown and I just really love that. It’s a shame that an entire generation only knows Sam Raimi for Spider-Man because he’s a true genius.

I’m not typically someone that likes playing horror video games. I’m not good enough and dying all the damn time really draws you out of the story. To compensate for that, I love watching playthroughs or hanging out with people and watching them play games. I was 9 when the original Silent Hill came out and it absolutely terrified me when my dad would play it. I really like stories that involve totally normal, average people being thrown into supernatural situations. Harry isn’t some great fighter and imo that really adds to the creep factor. The idea that evil isn’t something you can always fight really appeals to me. Maybe it really does stand the test of time, or maybe it’s just nostalgia but this one is a must play/watch.

The movie and novelization are sharing a spot because they’re 2 sides of the same story, rather than a true remake. A lot of movies have scared me and made me jumpy even after they’re over but Ju-On has had a profound, long lasting effect on me. If you have never read the book, I highly recommend it because it fleshes out the entire back story and a huge part of the horror, for me personally, is the entire story of Kayako. The movie touches on it with her journal but it is explored significantly more in-depth in the book so you’re really only getting half of the story without it. Kayako didn’t just have a crush on Kobayashi, it was a full on obsession. Sneaking into his room and hiding under his bed are only part of the absolutely bananas things she did to be close to him. To fully understand the depth of her fixation and perceived rejection you absolutely must watch/read both parts of this storyline.