Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween Hop Blogfest

Scariest Movie of All

It has no CGI, massive blood loss, or chainsaws.

What it has is sound. A crash in the night, loud knocking, that trapped sensation, and human reactions. Of terror, horror, and madness.

It is The Haunting, the 1963 version of the novel by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House.

The most chilling line comes after something begins banging on the bedroom door that Nell, the protagonist, shares with another woman. She reaches out to take the other woman’s hand as the crashing at the door continues, seeming to ebb, and then returning with an echoing boom.

Nell complains that the woman is crushing her hand. When the room falls silent, Nell sees the other woman isn’t close enough to have been the one holding her hand in the dark.

“God! God! Whose hand was I holding?”

Ms. Jackson wrote outstanding literature including The Lottery and The Daemon Lover. To mix it up, she also wrote Life Among the Savages, about raising kids in a old house, one of the most humorous books I’ve ever read.

What is your scariest movie?

20 comments:

  1. You know, I've never seen The Haunting. Might have to remedy that soon -- it sounds scarily fun.

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  2. Hi, Popping over from the Halloween Hop. A lot of people seem to like that one. I gotta check it out. =) Thanks and I'm following.

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  3. I was already following you...LOL. It's too early, haven't had my coffee yet.

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  4. The Haunting - 1963

    TCM is showing it Nov 1st at 2 am EST.
    Just saying, a person would be nuts to watch this movie at that time of day.

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  5. I actually go for funny scary. Army of Darkness is the ultimate classic, followed by House and House 2. Now I'm itching for a Halloween movie fest.

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  6. scariest book: the original Dracula. It probably didn't help that I was like 14 when I read it (I went to bed with my cross clutched in my hand and the light on for weeks after). But i will also say that when I first read Interview with the vampire it was pretty damn scary, too, probably because she mad evil sooo seductive.

    Oh, and The Lottery was horrifying.

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  7. The version was certainly better than the latest one.
    Nightmare on Elm Street is still one of the creepiest movies. So is the Exorcist, even though it's been ripped off and redone a thousand times.

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  8. @Crystal
    Shawn of the Dead would be my choice in that category.

    @Free Book Reviews
    Ho, boy, don’t we all want to promote our blogs. And a big thanks to Jeremy Bates also. (seriously,dude, change the last name if you write horror) :)

    @LynnH
    OMGosh, I forgot about It, the made for TV movie. Now I hate,hate,hate clowns.

    @Marcy
    When I was a kid, I read a short story called The Willows (I think). Terrified me then and terrifies me now.

    @ Alex
    Believe it or not, I haven’t seen either of those movies. The version of the original called, House on Haunted Hill with Geoffrey Rush was, ahem crap.

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  9. Greetings from the Halloween Hop!

    I saw the latest version of this movie, but not the original. Thanks to Huntress I can now Tivo it and watch it finally!

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  10. Ooops! Sorry, I see now that you are Huntress! Duh! Anyway, I still appreciate the heads up on when the movie is playing :)

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  11. Here from the Halloween Hop! Oh man, that story is so freaky! I love haunted houses. They're so cool.
    My favorite Halloween movie is Watcher in the Woods. (I know... old school.)

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  12. Definitely sounds scary! Love the pic, btw. My favorite Halloween movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas! It's about as scary as I can handle :-p although I love Halloween.

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  13. Yes, that is another great movie. My favorite thing about Halloween (besides the candy) is having a scary movie marathon!

    Great blog you have here!

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  14. Happy Halloween Hop, Huntress (say that 5 times fast, right?) It's good to *meet* you ;) "The Lottery" is one of my all-time (hmm, maybe #1) favorite stories, but I'm sad to say I haven't read Jackson's other works you listed. I haven't seen a great, memorable scary movie in, well, longer than I can remember ;) I will say that "Scream" gave me nightmares for weeks - not because of the murders, but because of that silent nod right before them!

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  15. Huntress, hello! I am here on the Halloween Hop. My favorite horror novel is The Haunting of Hill House and liked the original movie, too. I think Jackson did for spiral staircases what Hitchcock did for the shower curtain. I put a spiral staircase in my first novel, in homage to Jackson. Hopping right along... My favorite scary movie for Halloween is Pumpkinhead. I enjoy your writing style and will be back to read more!

    -aniko

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  16. This film has cropped up a lot...don't think i'll give it a try though!

    Dropping by for the Halloween hop :-)

    My favourite scary movie or book...erm well i'm not really a fan of anything scary as well to be honest lol! A total wimp!
    This year i won't be dressing up until next month when i go and visit my sister in Scotland. Not a clue what i'm going to wear yet...lol.

    New follower here :-)

    TToria
    xo
    http://ttoria.blogspot.com ( A book blog)

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  17. The book was excellent. I haven't seen the older film. Thanks for the suggestion.

    I don't have a favorite scary movie, but I did get scared by Critters and Ghoulies when I was really young.

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  18. I found your blog with the Halloween Blog Hop and I’m sure glad I did. I’ve taken a look around and I really like what you’re doing, what you’re writing about, and your design.

    I hope you’ll come check out my blog http://updownin-n-out.blogspot.com/

    I blog reviews, commentary and share my opinions about books, authors, movies, TV, fanfiction and other media.

    This Halloween I’m traipsing around as Medusa, homage to my fascination with mythology, and entertaining myself with Thea Harrison’s novels of The Elder Races (series).

    Happy Halloween!
    Lacey
    http://updownin-n-out.blogspot.com/

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  19. didnt realize you were doing the hop too!
    been enjoying your spooky stories!

    HaPpY HaLLoWeeN!

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  20. id say the shining is up there as one of the scariest... i got freaked out when i was younger just by the opening music when they were driving up the mountain! lol

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