a wax museum would be boss, and fun to put on. i have thought of that a few times and may in the future. never saw the old or the new wax museum pictures. strange because i like the classics. and yes, the old 13 ghosts i would say is a little hoaky, but i saw it real young and loved it then as now.
ask no questions and i will tell you no lies
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During seeing "The Alligator People" (i think that was it's title?) a classmate of mine threw up, he was probably sick but we teased him, saying he was that scared!
Was Alligator People a good old classic or something much less? Opinions?
Hurry and respond, my ten foot long tail is twitching!
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"My Insanity is well-respected, until they wiggle free and become a stringer for a tabloid"
I also prefer the old versionn and yes Vincent Price was the man!
Oldpeanutboy......I recognized your avatar right away as they stood in the dead of the night out in the cold, in the dark....where no one will come, no one will hear you!! In my halloween web site I have a section called "the Monster Tribute", its a section that houses the monsters I grew up with. If ya scroll down to the bottom of the page that is where the section on "the Haunting" is. It was probably the movie that scared me the most as a child. I also wrote a brief essay on that movie in 4th grade and the class was blown away!! I always loved that movie.
i recognized it to. that is a great scary show. i went to that movie with my daughter at the theater. muffy, i bet your paper was worth reading. my daughter in high school wrote a paper comparing santa claus and the devil. ooohhh, the teacher didn't like that. he wrote comments to the side and then gave her a very low grade. it was a good paper and deserved an A+.
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Wow, Muffy, hallorenescene: thanks you guys! I was wondering if anybody recognized the avatar. The Haunting is one of my favorites. My first exposure, however, was not to the movie, but the book. My mom had a copy of the book that we read together chapter by chapter at night when I was about 7 years old. It completely scared the crap out of me. My sister wussed out about half way through; but I stuck it out and have loved it ever since. The 1963 movie is a lot like the book with just a few scenes removed (for length I would guess). Too bad, though, because in the book the house starts writing messages to Eleanor on the walls in blood. That would have been cool to see. Anyway, the movie has become a big Halloween tradition in my family; we watch it at least once every year.
Don't get me wrong, I think the new version of the movie is okay; but the plot of the new one was changed significantly. The old one was much deeper and psychologically scary than just spooky ghosts chasing people. The house itself gets insider Eleanor's head and takes advantage of the fact that she's never had a normal adulthood to convince her she belong inside the house forever. That's way creepier than something overt like being attacked by wood molding.
Oh, and Muffy, nice webpage! I enjoyed reading your comments on The Haunting. I'm glad I'm not the only one that still looks back at that movie as one fo the scariest they've ever seen.
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"No one lives any nearer than town. No one will come any nearer than that...in the night...in the dark."
Deadlypeanutboy.......I really need to find an original copy of the book as I have never read it but simply must own one. I too was pretty young the 1st time I watched that movie and as you it has always stayed with me. Nice to know the background info on you choosing that avatar.
As for my page on this subject I still have lots of info I will be adding to that page, the Monster Tribute section of my web site is still under construction but I thank you for taking the time to check it out! Also its fun to just run onto someone that has similiar feelings about that story.
I recognized the avatar pic right away, too. I also read the book before seeing the movie. Shirley Jackson was a great writer, have you ever read her short stories? The Lottery is my favorite. The Haunting of Hill House scared the bejesus out of me when I was a kid. The opening paragraph:
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.
How about the scene where the girls are in the bedroom, and the knocking is coming closer and closer, and Nell is holding Theo's hand in the dark, and when the lights come back on, Theo is across the room.....
Mhooch....yes over on my web site I have some photos of Shirley Jackson and I openly discuss the fact that I had wondered why we had to watch the movie the Lottery in school. I went to all private schools & saw it both in grade school & in high school. I did come across some info that stated it is manditory reading in our school system>>>>isn' t that interesting? I never could understand & still don't what relevance it had in our religion classes.
Wow, I think its kind of odd that "The Lottery" was mandatory reading in your schools while it is one of the most often banned books in public schools. I remember reading it in school also and found it interesting, but I don't remember much more. There is an interesting entry in Wikipedia about the story that talks about some of the interpretations of the story as well as the backlash from the general public when it was originally published in The New Yorker magazine (see Wikipedia--The Lottery).
Muffy, if you are looking for a copy of The Haunting of Hill House, there are several editions for sale at Amazon.com including both paperback and hardcover. If you're just looking to read it, you can probably find it at your local library. I read the book again once while away in college and was able to check it out.
I think that its really great that this book and movie have had the same impact on you guys as it did on me. To be honest, I've never been a big fan of most horror films because they rely mostly on violence to scare you. And even though these movies are pretty good at making you jump out of you pants, when the credits start rolling its all over. I always found the psychological thriller much creepier, they kind of creepy that sticks with you on the ride home from the movies.
The scariest part for me (and what really freaked me out when I read it as a kid) was toward the end when the whole group is sleeping in the parlor and Eleanor has slipped out and is now somewhere in the house....and the house starts to breath! That's when it is brought home that the house is not only haunted, but it has a will; and a cruel one to boot. And that cruel will has picked poor Eleanor, the weakest and most fragile member of the group, to be its next victim. It won't quit until it wins. That is way scarier than some dude with a knife.
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"No one lives any nearer than town. No one will come any nearer than that...in the night...in the dark."
we read the lottery in school as well. i always thought it weird we read that book. i didn't like the book. i do however really like the haunting. never read the book though. didn't even know there was a book out there.
__________________
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don't laugh, this fear is contagious
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