Happy Halloween, everyone!
I make no secret of the fact that Halloween is my favorite time of year. I watch every scary movie available, and I pick up a few scary reads as well -- more on them later.
For now, though, you might enjoy this list that came to me via the Texas Pages book blog: a list of the 10 scariest characters in literature.
I posted the list below, but you can follow the above link to read the article in full.
1. Big Brother from "1984" by George Orwell
2. Hannibal Lecter from the novels by Thomas Harris
3. Pennywise the clown from It by Stephen King
4. Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey
5. Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel
6. Annie Wilkes from "Misery" by Stephen King
7. The demon from "The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty
8. Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis
9. Bill Sykes from "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens
10. Voldemort from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
I'm not sure I agree with all of the list -- No Poe? No Lovecraft? Also, I have beef with the number 1 slot. Big Brother is scary in that world domination is scary, but I'm not going to have a nightmare about it. Pennywise, on the other hand? Who isn't afraid of a freaky clown? Irrational fear should override intellectual fear. But that's just me.
I make no secret of the fact that Halloween is my favorite time of year. I watch every scary movie available, and I pick up a few scary reads as well -- more on them later.
For now, though, you might enjoy this list that came to me via the Texas Pages book blog: a list of the 10 scariest characters in literature.
I posted the list below, but you can follow the above link to read the article in full.
1. Big Brother from "1984" by George Orwell
2. Hannibal Lecter from the novels by Thomas Harris
3. Pennywise the clown from It by Stephen King
4. Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey
5. Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel
6. Annie Wilkes from "Misery" by Stephen King
7. The demon from "The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty
8. Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis
9. Bill Sykes from "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens
10. Voldemort from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
I'm not sure I agree with all of the list -- No Poe? No Lovecraft? Also, I have beef with the number 1 slot. Big Brother is scary in that world domination is scary, but I'm not going to have a nightmare about it. Pennywise, on the other hand? Who isn't afraid of a freaky clown? Irrational fear should override intellectual fear. But that's just me.
scarier than totalitarianism? I don't think so.
So what are your picks for scariest characters, and scariest books in general? I can always use a few good recommendations.
2 comments:
I absolutely love horror movies/books so I do have a few suggestions for you:
Books -
Swan Song by Robert McCammon (Gneral Falkirk is one a the few bad guys who ever really stuck in my head. EVIL!)
Summer of Night by Dan Simmons (I love the evil road kill truck. Can't you just smell it?)
Movies -
Dario Argento's Suspiria (a good, artsy horror movie)
John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (my all time fave)
Once you get over the mildly boring beginning of Graham Masterton's The Chosen Child, I promise you there are many chilling, chilling scenes to await you.
THere was this older eighties book by a relatively unknown, and now defunct author, Ronald Kelly called FEAR. It was sort of like an adult type fairy tale and clever with its strange forest, witch world.
As for just eeerie characters, of course Satan in several books, especially those by Whitney Johnstone. Several of the villains in the Anita Blake series have proved eerily disturbing and powerful in sadistic twisted way. Who's worse that Rena and Gabriel? *Shivers* The ghost Indian in Graham Masterton's Manitou series is also up there on someone you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night.
Post a Comment