With Halloween just ten days away, there’s no better way to get into the holiday spirit than to put on your coziest sweater, grab a mug of hot apple cider, and revisit the character that gave you the ultimate case of the heebie-jeebies!
I was never a big fan of clowns growing up, no matter how many tricks performed or balloon animals offered, and that fear was solidified in me after I read Stephen King’s IT in middle school. Pennywise the Clown was utterly horrifying. The way he would appear out of nowhere to terrify and attack little kids (and adults!) was inconceivable to me! I was positive that everyone in that book was a goner for sure, because Pennywise was so evil!
I wasn’t the only one frightened by Pennywise when I was younger ... check out this list of characters that terrified our OOM staff (and still scare us a little to this day)!
Megan: My favorite scary character is The Teacher from the Black Lagoon; she scares me because she slithers!
Brittany: I was only seven years old when [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone] came out, and I remember being pretty terrified of Voldemort and what he had done to Harry’s family. When I got too scared, I would have my dad read ahead to tell me if there were any more scary parts and exactly how scary they were. Voldemort is the ultimate scary character, in my opinion.
Chris: The topiary in The Shining is terrifying! You never see it moving, but every time you look back at it, it's just a little closer to you...
Kristen: The clown from IT was the first character I found truly terrifying in a book. I never really understood the fear of clowns thing until I read this book – in fact, I never finished it because it gave me nightmares! Mission accomplished, Mr. King.
Nadia: I was scared of the witches in the book The Witches, by Roald Dahl! The description of the witches terrified me, and has stayed with me years and years later: bald heads they hide with wigs, claws for hands, and toeless feet! (I don’t know why, but the toeless feet disturbed me the most.)
Alex: I have to go with Slappy, the ventriloquist doll from the Night of the Living Dummy in the GoosebumpsTM series by R. L. Stine. I can still vividly remember the cover of the book with Slappy and the text, “He walks. He stalks…” What a classic scary character of my youth!
Who is your favorite scary character? Did any of our favorites scare you too? Tell us in the comments!
