UNK SEZ: Can you name all the Halloween Horrors represented in the image above? If not then just watch the video below! I'm not here! I'm gone!
Author: unkle lancifer
Traumafession:: Reader Tomb on a Chilling Ice Machine!
As a kid in the early 70's I loved scary movies..Horror Of Party Beach on Creature Feature? I was six and loved it! So you'd think I wouldn't scare easy. Not so.. Behind our quaint neighborhood King's Market in Burlingame, California stood an ominous structure: The Ice Machine!
This isn't the little box you pull out a bag of ice cubes, this was a huge structure that could fit ten standing adults. It worked like a regular vending machine, you put quarters in a slot and out comes a big block of ice. People needed ice for their highballs back then. And refrigerators were still pretty basic back in the 70's. Anyway, why did this thing scare me so much?
It was the bumping noises inside; when you're a kid you associate bumping with life, so, "My god something is alive in there making ice!" my young mind concluded. I'd be fine as long as I steer clear of it. Then one early evening my mom stopped by King's to get some staples or what not and we parked relatively close to that scary behemoth. My eye's widened. The front of the Ice Machine's front was open!
Now you'd think this would dispel any fears I would have of this creepy structure; I would be able to see its inner-workings. It just made it worse. Thick frost was billowing out and through it I could barely see the man-thing who toiled day and night to make ice. He was scraping the ice off the floor or some kind of maintenance. I was in Mommy's Cadillac, so I felt pretty safe. Nevertheless my mind mind was made up, that Ice Machine was to be avoided at all cost!
"Born on the Night of the Living Dead" :: (An Excerpt) by David Young
I guess the weird music finally got to me. Or maybe it was all those voices that didn't belong to Peter Falk or Raymond Burr. Heck, maybe I finally got sick of not knowing. All I know is that one night I got out of bed to see what was on TV. And it was the worst mistake I ever made.
It turned out mom and Sue were watching a movie. By then I knew that certain movies and TV shows only came on late at night cause they weren't for kids. I couldn't imagine what was so bad that kids couldn't look at it. Mr. Voight at Voight's Party Store kept magazines behind the counter that had pictures of big booby women on the covers and a sign that said "ADULTS ONLY." Every time I asked what was in the magazines, mom would tell me they weren't for kids. I figured it was the same with movies that came on past bedtime. There were either monsters or big boobies in them. Only this didn't look like a big booby movie. And it didn't look like a monster movie cause it was in color and Uncle Charley from My Three Sons was in it. Hey, what the heck was this?
"This is a crazy movie," said mom. "You'd better not watch or you'll have bad dreams." I trusted mom. She told me there was no such thing as ghosts. She told me that Heaven was for good people and that bad people made their own hell right here on earth. So if she said that the movie on TV would give me bad dreams, I believed her. And then there was my sister, Sue. She was sitting all scrunched up on the sofa with half her face hidden behind her knees. That's when I thought, uh-oh.
The first thing I did was cover my eyes. I wanted to watch, but I was afraid of seeing something that would give me nightmares. So, mom and I worked out a system. She told me when and when not to look. For the moment, everything was all right. I could look. There wasn't much going on. There were some people dressed up for a dinner party. A husband. A wife. Then some whispering and – "Don't look!"
Up went the hands. I heard freaky electronic music and creepy voices. I heard the scariest sounds that ever came out of our television set. Still, I trusted mom. When she told me it was safe to look, I looked. Same people. Same dinner party. Again I asked, what the heck was this movie about?
"Don't look!"
Systems like these never really work, but I was too young to know that. Whether mom came in too late or I uncovered my eyes too early doesn't really matter. The point is that I looked when I wasn't supposed to and saw something I shouldn't have seen.
First I've got to tell you about my grandmother. My grandmother was pretty old but she could do a whole bunch of stuff. She sewed quilts. She baked really good bread. And she made dolls. I didn't mind the quilts or the bread, but grandma's dolls really freaked me out. What she did was take an apple and let it dry in the sun until it got all brown and wrinkly. After that, she pinned these small eyes on it. She added hair, glasses, and sometimes a hat. Then she put the head on a miniature body that was dressed in miniature handmade clothes and placed it in a display case. There were display cases in grandma's kitchen, display cases in the living room, even a display case in the bathroom. Every time we went to grandma's there was a new apple-head doll in one of her display cases. And grandma would say, "That's my farmer," or "That's my princess," or "That's my hobo."
People like mom and Aunt Nora thought they were cute and funny but I'll tell you something; since the day those dolls started to appear, there was no more spending the night at grandma's for me. I hated the things. I hated their wrinkly faces and their fake hands and their beady eyes. Plus, there weren't any locks on the display cases. There was a lid but there weren't any bricks on top. Seriously, how hard would it be for those things to come to life and climb out? Especially when it got dark.
With that in mind, I'll give you one guess as to what I saw on TV when I should have had my eyes shut. Yep. It was one of grandma's apple-head people. Only this one wasn't "farmer" or "princess" or "hobo." This one was "monster." It was the same size as one of granny's dolls only it had the body of a hairy black gorilla and facial features that were bigger and scarier than the kind grandma attached. Oh, yeah, and it was alive. Specifically, it was under the dinner table, pulling a napkin off Kim Darby's lap in a movie called Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. I happened to look right when Kim did, and both of us went "Huhh!" when the thing looked up at us. I didn't stick around to see what Kim did next. I bolted for the bedroom and bawled my eyes out. With the light on, of course.
Mom spent the next hour and a half trying to calm me down. There was no calming down. I was hysterical. I didn't know where the thing came from, or what it wanted from poor Kim Darby, but none of that mattered. I was frightened out of my skull. This wasn't the sorta scare Abbot and Costello got when they met Frankenstein. This felt like somebody took a hot poker and burned the image in my brain. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw that freakin' apple-head monster staring back at me.
But there wasn't just one. There was a whole bunch of them and they came out of the chimney at night. Maybe if they lived in some dark castle in a foreign country where people still rode around in horse and carriages and didn't have electricity, I wouldn't have been so scared. Only they didn't. They were in regular peoples' houses, in regular peoples' chimneys (we had a chimney). They could hide behind heater vents (we had a lot of heater vents). Or they could wait inside of closets (ditto). And if I listened hard enough, I swear I could hear them whispering.
Suddenly the rules were different. Before, I could watch something on TV and switch it off and that's where it would stay – off. Only now, seeing something on TV brought that thing out of the TV and into my world. Seeing something gave it existence in reality. On the same note, this meant that I could be sucked into the reality of what I'd seen. I wasn't clear on the physics, I just knew that if I got scared enough, reality was pretty much up for grabs.
The dark would never be the same.
UNK SEZ: For more BORN ON THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD just jump right on over HERE! If you are someone whose life has been strongly affected by movies you are sure to devour it like a zombie would a brain or a shark would a foot or an ape would a banana. I could not get enough of it!
Name That Trauma:: Reader Goorlap on an Electrifying Helicopter Fall
Almost a year ago you guys helped me out with 2 movies. Thanks again for that. Now I've got a new movie I'm looking for. Here's the description:
It's a British 80's horror movie (maybe 70's). Don't remember a lot of it. All I know is there was a scene where a guy hangs from a helicopter and falls off, landing on electrical wires and being electrocuted.
In another scene there was one (or multiple) people getting a tourguide in a factory. If I can remember correctly, an accident happened, someone fell into one of the machines (but I'm not sure about this anymore).
So I hope you guys can help me out with this one.
Thanks in advance and kind regards.
Goorlap
UNK SEZ: I may have this one Goorlap! Could you possibly be thinking of the Australian vampire flick THIRST(1979)? I'm pretty sure that HENRY SILVA falls out of a helicopter in that one and lands on some electrical wires (you can catch a glimpse of that in the trailer below) and I recall some tours through a (blood) factory too! Hope this helps but do let me know if I'm off the mark!
It's a Horror to Know You:: Jay from Hallowaltz Blog!
It's a Horror to Know You: Jay from Hallowaltz blog!
Hey guys. Happy 5th birthday! Keep up the great work.
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
Definitely Cujo. There was a time when I was a kid when I wanted to see every movie based on a Stephen King book. I was too young to read his books and understand what they were about, and honestly I didn't even really understand who Stephen King was.. just that movies that had his name in them were cool. My dad had a bunch taped off tv and as long as he was around I was able to watch them with him. Of course there were some like The Shining or Dead Zone that had to wait til I was older to understand, but for the most part I had sat through almost all the late 70s and 80s King flicks. I actually loved Maximum Overdrive so much that I had my dad paint red spots on the front of my Matchbox trucks. I loved the troll from Cat's Eye, the werewolf in Silver Bullet, everything in Creepshow, Running Man, Firestarter, hell even Mr. Barlow and the Glick boys in Salem's Lot didn't scare me (and they do now).. and then we watched Cujo. I made it about halfway through and then the dog goes apeshit crazy. I had never seen anything so scary in a movie before.. a filthy, drooling, blood covered, rabid, insane, St. Bernard who barks at telephones, slams its head into a car, and attacks a mother and her son. I think it was the scene when Dee Wallace gets bit in the leg when my dad had to turn it off.. at that point I had run out of the room. For a long time.. probably til I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was the scariest movie I had ever seen.
There were two other random scenes of childhood trauma that I thought were worth mentioning. First was the coat room scene in Lady in White where the boy sees the murder of the little girl ghost.. that creeped me out. The second came to me when I was thinking of what to write about.. I remember being really freaked out from a scene in The Funhouse. its when the kid brother is headed to the fair and some random guy in a van pulls up, asks the kid if he wants a ride, and then pulls a gun out on him and starts laughing. I think at the time that tapped into that childhood fear of "strangers" and that there are people out there that are going to kidnap you and kill you.
2. What is the last film that scared you?
Inland Empire and The Poughkeepsie Tapes definitely disturbed me, but Paranormal Activity 2 left me feeling spooked.. enough that it was still in my head when I went to bed. Open Water was another one in recent years that scared me good.. for whatever reason I was nervous to walk to my local bar after watching it.. and I don't even live anywhere near water.
3. Name three horror movies that you believe are underrated.
Eaten Alive – I love this movie.. everything.. the lighting, the insane characters, the insane music, the hotel set.. and that bleak, strange feeling of madness that I get while watching it. I watch it once a year and it never grows old. I'll never understand why some fans of Texas Chainsaw Massacre don't enjoy this movie.
Deranged – Probably the most accurate in the retelling of the Ed Gein murders. Roberts Blossom is fantastic in this one.
Pigs (AKA Daddy's Deadly Darling) – A strange movie about a woman who escapes a mental institution and begins killing men that remind her of her father who raped her. She takes refuge at a farm where a man feeds her victims to his pigs. The only dvd I've seen is from Troma.. and the print they transferred it from is really rough.. but Grindhouse Releasing is working on giving it a solid release.
Some underrated Halloween flicks..
Lightning Bug – Since its October I wanted to try to include some Halloween themed movies.. this one is a must see. I'm surprised it really doesn't get mentioned much.. and I've never seen it on a Halloween movie list. Buy, rent, or download this movie this October. You will not be disappointed.. Laura Prepon's character "Angevin" is a horror nerd's wet dream.
The Roost – Ti West's killer bat/zombie flick. Sure its no House of the Devil, but if you can manage the slower pace I think this one delivers the goods. Love the grainy film and creepy atmosphere.
Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween 2 – Not necessarily underrated as much as they are both hated. John Carpenter's Halloween is my favorite movie, and Rob's two are right up there with it. Love em both.
Murder Party – A funny, weird, horror/comedy flick about a guy who goes to the wrong party on Halloween.
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
Halloween 5 – It sucks.. it sucks bad, but it always manages to find its way into my dvd player ever October.
Frogs – I'm not ashamed of this one.. always takes me back to being a kid and thinking reptiles and amphibians were the shit.. and they still are.. especially when they're killing people.
Any Herschell Gordon Lewis gore film – Blood, guts, blood and more blood. Story or plot? Who cares?
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
VHS Wasteland – Always fun looking at old worn vhs cover scans.
Countdown to Halloween – Starts every October 1st with links to tons of Halloween related blogs.
Hallowaltz – My blog of Halloween pictures that I've taken
Pumpkinrot – Daily updated blog of all things Halloween. And he makes some amazing creations.
Judith – A short fan film shot at the Myers House In North Carolina.. and you can watch it for free!
Happy October!
Name That Trauma:: Reader Zoey on Square Eyed Aliens and Others
I have a "Name That Trauma" from about five years ago, when I was in high school. I would go to the library during lunch and look at the paranormal/mystery section, and I read pretty much every book. Technically this is 2 different traumas, and I remember they came from different books, but both were "nonfiction", and about aliens. One of them was a thinner book that I think was part of a series, titled something like Mysteries: Alien Encounters (that wasn't the exact title).
Anyway, I remember reading an account of a group of schoolkids who apparently encountered aliens (just like walking around, they didn't abduct the kids or anything), and they were described as being tall, and wearing jumpsuits, and their faces being featureless except for square (this part stuck out to me) black eyes and fleshy beaks. They were also described as walking in a manner reminiscent of a Nazi parade. It was mentioned that the kids encountered another "alien", who looked like a woman but parts of her kept "phasing in and out" (like, appearing and disappearing like a hologram). The aliens apparently walked through walls at one point.
The other book was specifically about abductions, I think (and may have been written from a skeptical viewpoint), and it mentioned a case about a man recalling being abducted and describing his abductors as being like a huge white box with a red triangle on top, a metal coffin/silhouette, and one of them apparently had a robotic arm sticking out of it which performed tests on him. Sorry I can't recall more information, but does anybody know anything about these books or the cases they mention?
UPDATE: I figured out one of the cases in my first email- The Prospect Alien Abduction Case. Now to figure out the one with the beaked aliens…
It's a Horror to Know You:: Jake Banzai of In Defense of Bad Movies
It's a Horror to Know You: Jake Banzai of In Defense of Bad Movies!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
The Exorcist.
2. What is the last film that scared you?
The Marble Hornets series.
3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch .
The Devi's Rain.
Motel Hell.
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
Leatherface – Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
Blood Freak.
Night of the Lepus.
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
It's a Horror to Know You:: David Young Author of Born on the Night of the Living Dead
It's a Horror to Know You: David Young Author of Born on the Night of the Living Dead!
What is the first film that ever scared you?
That would be "Don't be Afraid of the Dark." Those little demons that crawled out of Kim Darby's chimney looked just like the apple-head dolls my grandma used to make and display around her house. Only these weren't farmers, princesses or hoboes – these were monsters that came out at night with the sole purpose of dragging you to hell. Yeah, try being a kid and going to bed after that one. Runners-up include "Horror Express," "Rosemary's Baby" and TV commercials for "It's Alive."
What is the last film that scared you?
I get creeped out just thinking about "Tiptoe through the Tulips" from "Insidious" but I'd say "Grave Encounters" was the last movie that had a near-perfect mix of fun and fright.

Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
1. Geez, I'm probably alone on this one but 1979's "Dracula" hasn't aged a day for me. Frank Langella is cool as all get-out and undead Mina crying "Come papa!" still freaks me out.
2. Lucio Fulci's "Zombie." With every new CGI-driven, semi-competent zombie movie I see, I have to go back and scrub my brain by watching this nasty beauty. While it's often seen as the imbecile cousin to Romero's chef d'oeuvre, it's filled with so many shocking and unbelievable images, I've yet to see a zombie movie that can top it – or figure out how to fit a shark into the plot.
3. Since I currently reside in Thailand, I've got to include at least one Thai horror film. "Shutter" from 2004 is truly suspenseful and frightening and has one of those endings that will burn itself onto your brain no matter how hard you try to get rid of it. Bonus, it's Thai!


Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
1. 
I'm sorta embarrassed at how much I enjoyed "Dance of the Dead." But how can you not love a move where the only thing holding back an army of the undead is a slow rock version of Pat Benatar's "Shadows of the Night?"
2. "1408" Ummm… how can I put this? Kinda great.
3. I'm going with another Thai movie to finish off this list: "Art of the Devil" from 2004 – which is basically a gore flick but tells a story that relies heavily on Thai and Cambodian black magic. I've heard bits and pieces of this stuff over my years here in Thailand so it was fun to see it played out in a movie.

Send us to five places on the Internet!
For the latest in Thai horror – and everything else: Enjoy Thai Movies.
More fun than a barrel of Blood Shacks! Red Letter Media.
The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast.
Never give up on Johnny: Hellblazer Forum.
Get lost in VHS box cover art: CRITICAL CONDITION.
Name That Trauma:: Jay P. on a Head Crushing Robot
Congratulations on hosting such a brilliantly informative and addictive site!
Many films and T.V shows scared the crap out of me growing up in the 90s, but there was one film that truly disturbed me and I believe it was the first gory death I'd ever seen on T.V, I must have been about 6 at the time (I am now 17). This film was a rerun of a late 70s/early 80s film nonetheless, so dates aren't really relevant here. There isn't much information I can give about this film because I vaguely remember shortly after the 'climax' of this one scene I saw, my parents turned off the television and ushered me out of the room.
From what I remember, there were 4 people and a black, hulking, humanoid robot, they were in a rocky, alien landscape and seemed to be standing at the foot of a volcano, surrounded by mist from a warm rock pool nearby.
Anyway, one of the men walked off (or was killed, haha, take your pick) and the three remaining (two women and a man) started to undress, the man and one woman climbed up into a rock pool and sat together, while the other woman decided to climb further up the mountain, the robot, who had previously been quite dormant reached out his claw and tried to stop her but she snapped at him and refused, to which the robot took hold of her jaw, picked her up slightly, then gradually crushed her skull in a Darth Vader-like fashion, the other two watched on and the woman screamed "No! Stop it!", then all of a sudden blood was leaking out of the woman's facial orifices and she was dropped limply to the ground. I saw nothing beyond this point, but I believe that was very near the end of the film.
It would be great if someone could get back to me and tell me what film this was from! I may just want to watch it again and rediscover why this messed up my childhood so much!
THANKS!
