Board 8 > Snake Ranks Anything Horror Related Vol. 3 *RANKINGS*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Six noms and I'm down to just Frankenstein's Monster, darn.
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Ive met Bram Stokers great granddaughter. Maybe great great. Either way. Ive met one of his descendants because she went to university with one of my best mates and Ive seen the original transcript of Dracula. That was pretty cool.
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Damn that is really cool!
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Frankenstein's Monster > Dracula, yes good
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If the write up doesnt include a statement regarding the fact that hes never called Frankensteins monster in the book then Ill be disheartened
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27. Surreal dreams (24 points)
Nominated by: Shonen_Bat (0/5 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va5RJw0de-U" data-time="

Importance: 10
Fear: 5
Snake: 9

We've had that amazing pleasant dream that make our awakenings pleasant and positive. We've had that intense, horrific dream that left us waking in a cold sweat, breathing heavily, silently telling ourselves it's all over, it wasn't real. Then, there's the other type of dream. The unexplainable. The nonsensical. The fleeting. Welcome to the world of the surreal dream. Dreams by nature are not rule-bound and even the most light of dreams can contain elements of surrealism. Maybe you're having dinner with your dad, you're having a conversation, and then the furniture in the room suddenly floats up to the ceiling, leaving you both upside down, and that's before the scene suddenly transitions to the local supermarket with nary an explanation of how it occurred. Dreams are entirely made up our collective subconscious; every image, every thought, every desire, every sound, every sensation, if it's in your brain it can appear in your dream. One of my most intense brushes with surrealism came in a nightmare I still remember to this day, wherein I woke up from my bed and walked to the bathroom, looked into the mirror, and slowly noticed my skin tearing apart from my fingers all the way up my arm until nothing but bone was left on them. Then, I walked out into my living room like normal and my parents didn't even think anything was wrong. That's still a dream that gives me the chills to this day. I can't really recall any other totally surreal thing I experienced, besides the typical stuff associated with dreams. Everyone will have different experiences with the surreal dream, and I'd love to hear if anybody reading this had a particularly memorable one.
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I don't remember the details but there's one where all my teeth fell off one by one.

handsomeboy2012 posted...

I don't remember the details but there's one where all my teeth fell off one by one.

literally everybody has this dream
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NFUN posted...

handsomeboy2012 posted...

I don't remember the details but there's one where all my teeth fell off one by one.

literally everybody has this dream

Well I don't usually talk to people about dreams, so I don't know what is common

I actually almost never remember my dreams. I write them down when I do because I only remember a few per year
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Writing them down generally helps with dream retention in the future. I used to do it all the time.
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26. Skeletons (24 points)
Nominated by: NFUN (0/6 remaining)


Importance: 10
Fear: 4
Snake: 10

It's no secret amongst my friends how much I love skeletons. I just think there's something really cool looking about them! Though commonplace at Halloween and in horror films, rarely are they used in a truly scary way. They have been used for the more kid-friendly side of Halloween since Disney's 1929 short The Skeleton Dance, leading to modern-day skeletons like Jack Skellington and Papyrus. Low-budget films like the Screaming Skull or The House on Haunting Hill used cheap skeleton props ensuring that the only screams heard were the uproarious sounds of laughter. This was even parodied in the B-movie throwback The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra which is an amazing film if you haven't seen it yet. If not being used in a comedic way (intentionally or not), then they're utilized in "cool" ways, such as with Ghost Rider, an emblem of death that spreads over the Punisher's battle gear, or on the back of Paul Phoenix's biker jacket. So, are there any actually scary skeletons you may ask? Though not a horror film, they're use in 1963's Jason and the Argonauts gave a brief moment of danger for Jason and his crew, whilst the janky stop-motion of Ray Harryhausen gave the skeleton crew a movement that blurred the line between realism and fantasy. A skeleton visage graced the figure of the Terminator, and the endoskeletons of the Freddy Fazbear animatronics made being stuffed into a Freddy Fazbear an unappetizing fate. Even the skeleton zombies in the horror-comedy Return of the Living Dead managed to be scary with terrific make-up and artistic design. Poltergeist also used skeletons to great effect, aided greatly by the fact that they filmed on a real burial ground and used real skeletons for the swimming pool scene.

I like the fact that skeletons have such a wide range of uses, no matter what tone you're aiming for. And hey, we all have one, so skeletons are automatically pretty awesome in my book. Otherwise, we'd just be shapeless blobs of course.
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Spooky scary skeletons
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25. Eraserhead (24.5 points)
Nominated by: Johnbobb (2/6 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoG8V7ydPsE" data-time="


Importance: 7
Fear: 8.5
Snake: 9

David Lynch's first feature-length film is an absolute masterpiece and cornerstone of both the surreal horror and body horror genres. With an oppressive, dark and dreamy atmosphere, Lynch has total control over his audience, dragging us along with him into an industrial hellscape where we follow the story of Henry Spencer, a plain, nondescript man with obvious problems relating and committing to other people. His girlfriend, Mary X, has a baby, a horribly deformed abomination that cries incessantly and is impossible to feed. The baby also forces Mary X to move into Spencer's small, one-room apartment, until the impossible needs of the baby drives her out completely, leaving Spencer alone to fend for it himself. Spencer's baby is one of the most infamous incidents of body horror in history, and it's hard to watch at times as the baby grows increasingly more sick and vile, gaining grotesque sores before eventually splitting open completely. The film also uses sexual imagery throughout, most prominently the image of a sperm which emerges from Spencer's mouth in the film's dreamy opening. Spencer is also surrounded by women, between the Beautiful Girl Across the Hall and the Lady in the Radiator, all serving to illustrate Spencer's sexual frustration, struggling libido, and fears of commitment and taking that next step into adulthood. In addition to the film's sexual themes, Eraserhead also uses the concepts of destiny and fate from the very beginning, as Spencer appears to be controlled by the Man in the Planet, who pulls levers to dictate the former's actions. Spencer notably has little agency over the events in the film: he's forced into moving in with Mary, he's forced into taking care of the baby all by his lonesome. In a dream sequence, his head is decapitated and turned into a tool used by others, indicating a completely loss of control. However, Spencer finally takes action by the film's ending, killing his deformed baby and embracing the Lady in the Radiator, while the puppet master, the Man in the Planet, loses his power over Spencer as his equipment malfunctions and the planet bursts.

Of course, Eraserhead can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. Lynch's visuals, constant humming, and use of dreams repeatedly cast all events of the film into question. Is it all literal, is it all fantasy? Is it all about sex, or is it more a commentary on the post-nuclear age and the desolate world it could lead to? I love that anyone can watch this film and get something new out of it. Even if you want to watch it purely for its body horror merits, or for the darkly humorous stilted acting, that's perfectly fair too, because even though Eraserhead sounds like a depressing drag at times, it can reach surprisingly levels of hilarity at times, but never in a way that detracts and distracts from the themes of the film. It's all part of the wonderful enigma that is, Eraserhead.
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One of my favorite random facts about Eraserhead is that it took years to film because Lynch kept having to scrape together cash, so the actor for Henry had to keep that bizarre haircut the entire time.
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aw I just missed the 10/10 from Snake

actually surprised it didn't do a little better on the Importance rating. I've always considered Eraserhead to be the movie that defined surrealism in film
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You do have a point, but there are some other films you can point to as well, like 8 or even House released the same year as Eraserhead and was a box office smash in Japan.
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I still need to watch 8. I started it years ago but fell asleep early on and never went back to it

but I've heard it's incredible and I loved I Vitelloni
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24. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (short story) (24.5 points)
Nominated by: Johnbobb (1/6 remaining)
http://addsdonna.com/old-website/ADDS_DONNA/Science_Fiction_files/I_have_no_mouth.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl5JNHg4q8A" data-time="

Importance: 7
Fear: 8.5
Snake: 9

It's all in the title here. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. In eight words, there is almost nothing scarier. Of course, it's a literal thing that happens in the story, to Ted, who realizes his only escape is death before the story's main antagonist, the Allied Mastercomputer, takes away all of his power to do anything but sit and ponder his endless existence with literally "no mouth". It also represents something more however. It's about our inability to escape our fates, both as individuals and as a collective species. We are certain to cause our own downfall, which is what happens in this short story. Three warring nations created three separate supercomputers each in an attempt to conquer the others. The computers did their jobs so well they wiped out the entire planet, save for five people. With the three computers combined into one, it takes immeasurable pleasure in endlessly torturing its five victims in methods each more cruel than the last: starvation, disgusting food, monsters, and inversed personalities. Each character is notably trapped in their fate, but it's Ted's realization towards the end that death is their only release when you realize the true irony of the story: AM is the most trapped of them all. He's the most powerful creation ever, yet is relegated to an endless, empty existence himself, especially once there is no one left to torture and amuse himself with. In the end, it's AM who has "no mouth and must scream", no ability to create or even move away from where he is positioned. I Have No Mouth is pure tragedy, a landmark in cyberpunk and post-apocalypse sci-fi that perfectly illustrates how we all trap ourselves one way or another and cause our very downfalls we so desperately try to escape from.
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oh nooooo
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Sorry to do you in like that!
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https://twitter.com/Dugongue/status/1056768815927685120
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There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer-thin layers spread throughout my complex. If the word "hate" were engraved on each nano-angstrom of these hundreds of millions of miles of wires, it would not equal one one-billionth of the hatred I feel at this micro-instant. For you. Hate. Hate.

such a great monologue to unleash on somebody when they're not expecting it
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jcgamer107 posted...

https://twitter.com/Dugongue/status/1056768815927685120

Incredible. .
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23. A full moon (24.5 points)
Nominated by: BetrayedTangy (3/5 remaining)

https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/bad-moon-rising-myth-full-moon/story?id=3426758

Importance: 10
Fear: 5.5
Snake: 9

Commonly associated with horror staple the Werewolf, full moons are known for their capacity to foreshadow incoming danger, terror, and the weird. Whilst moons weren't always associated with werewolves, it rose to prominence as an integral part of the legend in the 20th century, first shown on film in 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Real life studies influenced the "werewolf curse", and it is believed that people tend to become more violent or strange as a full moon appears. This goes all the way back to ancient Greek times, where Hippocrates wrote "One who is seized with terror, fright and madness during the night is being visited by the goddess of the moon." The full moon is a large part of many cultures' mythology: in Norse stories, Mani, the personification of the moon, would be eaten by a wolf to signal the coming of Ragnarok; Chinese folklore has Chang'e, the banished goddess of the moon for stealing her husband's immortality potion. Taking fiction and mythology out of it for a moment, there's always been something captivating to me about a full moon. Its light glow actually has the opposite effect on me that it supposedly has on others, I find it quite relaxing and meditating to take in the full glory of a full moon. Still, I won't deny there's also an underlying mystical and ethereal quality about it. And it's in that root that the horror stories start to unfold, making the full moon a very inspirational part of horror history.
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Snake5555555555 posted...

This goes all the way back to ancient Greek times, where Hippocrates wrote "One who is seized with terror, fright and madness during the night is being visited by the goddess of the moon."

Which eventually leads to 'lunatic' from luna, the Latin word for moon, I'd add.

As for skeletons, they also give us this fantastic Onion article.
https://www.theonion.com/archaeological-dig-uncovers-ancient-race-of-skeleton-pe-1819565415
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22. Vlad the Impaler (the real one, not Dracula) (25 points)
Nominated by: handsomeboy2012 (3/5 remaining)


Importance: 10
Fear: 9
Snake: 6

I have a feeling this guy would make the fictional Dracula shit his drawers. Nicknamed the Impaler for his favorite way of dispatching enemies, Vlad Dracula had a reputation for cruelty that was well-known and documented in his time. He gets his name from his father, who had the surname of Dracul, which had two meanings: dragon, and the devil, both very sinister meanings. It is actually speculated the fictional Dracula was inspired by these meanings, specifically the latter, rather than directly from the Vlad the Impaler. Amongst Vlad's more cruel acts include the deaths of 23,884 Turks and Bulgarians at his command, boiling people alive, nailing Turkish messengers' turbans to their heads after they refused to remove them due to custom, and wanton mass murders. The truth of some of these accounts are widely debated and agreed on to be much embellished, however, there also several facts pointing to the truth that Vlad was as cruel as they had written. Despite these despicable acts, morbid curiosity does make Vlad's history an interesting one to look into. Maybe YOU'LL be the one to find out he was a real vampire!
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21. Some psycho stalking you personally just beyond means of capture gazing and breathing heavily at you from behind RIGHT NOW! (25 points)
Nominated by: Pirateking2000 (1/6)


Importance: 10
Fear: 9
Snake: 6

Along with the bump in the night ranked so long ago, the psycho so mentioned here is most likely the one that caused it. Slowly but surely, he creeps around your house, with only one goal in mind: your death. Or maybe they want to kidnap you. I don't know, I'm not the psycho here. Something so simple and visceral as this is often the cornerstone, the hook, of many horror stories. The psycho could be your next door neighbor, or it could be Jason Voorhees, or it could be something not quite so human. Just this nomination title alone is a short self-contained story that raises several questions. What exactly is that noise? Do I dare look behind me? It's probably nothing, right? Just my imagination run wild. Oh I guess I'll have a little peak. See? There was absolutely noth
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RIP snake

Nice of the psycho to hit "Post Message" though!
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Some psycho ranks anything horror related *RANKINGS*

There are two different versions of the Chang'e story. One she is a heroine and drank the potion in order to prevent a villain from stealing it and becoming an immortal warlord. She was sent to the moon as a reward not a punishment apparently. That's the one most Chinese people follow and it's related to Mid-Autumn festival.
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He was a jolly good fellow.
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5tarscream posted...

There are two different versions of the Chang'e story. One she is a heroine and drank the potion in order to prevent a villain from stealing it and becoming an immortal warlord. She was sent to the moon as a reward not a punishment apparently. That's the one most Chinese people follow and it's related to Mid-Autumn festival.

Oh that's interesting to know, I only came across the other in my research.
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20. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Novel) (25 points)
Nominated by: handsomeboy2012 (2/5 remaining)
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43/43-h/43-h.htm

Importance: 10
Fear: 8
Snake: 7

A horror novel just as important as Frankenstein or Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an interesting story that mainly explores the inner duality of man, as the split-personality of the titular characters represent the "good" and "evil" sides of the human personality. The novel focuses on lawyer Gabriel John Utterson, an everyman-type protagonist and friend of Dr. Jekyll who serves as a grounder for the reader whilst the extraordinary surrounds both him and us. The story here is set-up like a mystery; it's not supposed to be known from the onset that Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same. As Utterson gathers clues and evidence, things start to become a little more clear however, which is where the horror and the truth proceeds to take a hold: Jekyll had invented a serum to deliberately bring out his inner urges without fear of sacrificing his upstanding reputation. The transformation was controllable at first, but Hyde was starting to become the dominate side of his personality and Jekyll was involuntarily transforming into Hyde while he slept. Eventually, it became so bad that Jekyll realized he was going to be eternally stuck as Hyde, and so he decided to end his life rather than live as a monster. There's obviously a lot to unpack about human nature here. Hyde represents our base desires, to indulge and participate in excess and instant gratification with little repercussion, whilst being as cruel and uncaring towards others as possible. The ending even implies that Jekyll may have even be happier in that state; as mentioned, the original reason he creates the potion is so he wouldn't have to repress that side of him anymore. It's also a larger commentary on how the upper-class rulers hide dark intentions behind deceptive smiles. In the end though, Jekyll does reject the uncivilized form, choosing the good over the evil. Utterson himself also stands in stark contrast to Hyde; Utterson may have his flaws, but he remains a trustworthy, loyal, and honest friend to Jekyll right to the very end. The novel presents the inner evilness in all of us, but also shines a light on the ultimately more prominent altruistic side of our personalities, making note of the codependency between the two as well. In the end, It's entirely up to our choice if we decide to be a Jekyll, or decide to be a Hyde, and while both are valid, what we finally decide could mean the difference between success and downfall.
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19. Slender Man (character) (25 points)
Nominated by: BetrayedTangy (2/5 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWecHFWbnus" data-time="

Importance: 9
Fear: 7
Snake: 9

The 30s had the Universal Monsters. The 80s had the slasher generation. The 2000s had Creepypasta. Slender Man is the spearhead of a new wave of iconic horror monsters for the internet generation, a group that includes such characters such as Jeff the Killer, Laughing Jack, Mr. Widemouth, and most recently, Momo. Slender Man was created as part of a paranormal photo contest on the Something Awful message boards in 2009, by one Eric Knudsen. He was inspired particularly by the works of Lovecraft and the real-life folklore of shadow people and the Mothman. The original Slender Man photos were simple but effective: there was a sense of evil that lurked in the background, the Slender Man himself was blurred and shadowed, and the playground one in particular, with the Slender Man amongst children, created an anxious feeling as the unordinary infected the ordinary. These two simple images were enough to spin the Slender Man into a bonafide franchise; it seemed like everybody and their mother had a different interpreation and story to tell. Only a short time after the original creation, one of these particular stories, Marble Hornets, gripped the internet's attention and was one of the first huge world-builders for the character. The series ran for 5 years, and what started out as a simple horror tale ended up being an interwoven, sprawling cult hit that set the benchmark for fan-films and web video series. Besides Marble Hornets, the Slender Man video game, simple titled Slender, was a megahit on Youtube, scaring influential let's players like PewDiePie and Markiplier silly, and launching the character truly into the stratosphere as a worldwide hit. Slender definitely helped popularize Slender Man as a creature lurking the woods, as well at the note-collecting lore that's a carryover from the survival horror genre in general.

Unfortunately, Slender Man's success wasn't all positive. In 2014, at the height of his popularity, an incident known as the "Slender Man stabbing" occurred in Wisconsin, where two 12-year old girls took their friend to the woods and stabbed her repeatedly, in attempt to garner the good graces of Slender Man. This repulsive act brought Slender Man, Creepypasta, and the internet to a national stage, as news outlets discussed the psychological effect of these stories on youth. The incident inspired its own load of films and TV episodes, but if you're interested in discovering more about this, I highly recommend the documentary Beware the Slenderman which delves in-depth about every aspect of the event.

Since then, Slender Man's popularity has softened a bit. A feature film released this year was a notable flop, maybe for lack of interest in the character, or maybe for being a shoddily made film in general. I still think Slender Man has a chance with the mainstream, because I think back to those original, chilling pictures and realize the true depths of horror Slender Man can inspire. I honestly believe Slender Man is one of the best horror creations of the past decade, a perfect reflection of the culture that inspired him like how the classic monsters of yore were each a reflection of their times. Despite nearly every avenue being explored and fleshed out with ol' Slendy, I think there's always room for another subtle, nightmarish story to emerge and give Slender Man the cerebral, in-depth tale he deserves. I can hope anyway.
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if Creepypasta is the wave of the 2000s, what's the wave of the 2010s?

I wanna argue indie horror is the modern wave

as for Slenderman, I never really got behind him. I mean he's a cool, creepy-looking design that was overblown to all hell.
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Indie horror is a good choice for the modern wave for sure. I think it also goes hand-in-hand with supernatural characters like Annabelle, Bagul, Lipstick Demon, and the Nun too.
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I really don't think Annabelle and the Nun will end up as modern horror

at least I hope they don't

I know the Conjuring spinoffs sell well but I can't really imagine them being remember a decade from now like I think The Babadook and It Follows will
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You're probably right, but right now they're pretty gigantic icons. It's kinda why I think they'll have some lasting staying power.
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hey snake super fast off the top of your head

top 5 most notable horror icons to come out since 2000
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Jigsaw
Samara Morgan
Patrick Bateman
Pyramid Head
Slender Man
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Horror icons nowadays suck

70s-80s horror icons are far superior
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I think horror video game icons are where it's at nowadays. Jack Baker, Chris Walker, The Psycho, Gatherers, Clickers, The Trapper, the Red Nun.
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Snake have you watched killer clowns from outer space? If yes what did you think of it?
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Yes, it's a pretty fun movie overall, lots of clever bits. I really like the clown designs.
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I studied Jekyll and Hyde at university and while doing research for a paper I was interested to read about reactions and reports of people performing the show on stage and how terrified some audiences had been with the apparent physical transformation of the actors when switching characters.
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Eh, I've never really bought into the Slender Man hype. He's decent, but quite obviously fake and that suit doesn't mesh well with the supernatural IMHO.

If they're in modern attire, I prefer something like the Dolls from Cabin in The Woods (man there were some cool monsters there that deserve their own movies).
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/thecabininthewoods/images/b/b6/DollsFull.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170909023446

Johnbobb posted...

I know the Conjuring spinoffs sell well but I can't really imagine them being remember a decade from now

I think they will be remembered as one amalgamation of the Conjuring universe, not necessarily individual films/monsters. Like it or not, they are very big and the younger generation might just have them as THE horror franchise of today.
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yeah how the hell did the conjuring get two separate spinoff origin stories while nothing from the basement in cabin in the woods got their own

Not that I'd even necessarily want that because it might take away from the original a bit but if I had to choose
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Slenderman deserves a good movie. Everything else about him is great - the lore and photoshopped images, Eight Pages & Arrival, Marblehornets (especially early on) - he even has funny spin-offs like Splendorman and "No wifin' in the club":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MXYC_jX2Wc" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0wPdfArGy4" data-time="

All that's missing is a solid feature film.

The Slenderman craze peaked for me in 2012, when I dressed as him for Halloween, lol. Got a full-body white spandex suit, dressed in a black suit & tie - even had fake arm extensions to effectively make my arms about 6 feet long. Also had a friend film me, as Slenderman, getting scared playing Eight Pages. Good times.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Jigsaw
Samara Morgan
Patrick Bateman
Pyramid Head
Slender Man

I think The Babadook deserves mention.

Anagram posted...

Horror icons nowadays suck

disagree. J-horror ghosts and other monsters that attack you more psychologically, like Slenderman and The Babadook, are much more interesting than silent slashers like Jason and Michael. That said, Norman Bates, possessed Reagan and Leatherface & family are all great. Freddy I'm not crazy about but he's at least got personality.
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