The Scariest Things

Art the Clown in Terrifier (2016) If you hear squeaky shoes, run away! The very popular trope of coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, taps into childhood fears and manages to go to almost unthinkable extremes. With the rise of Art and Pennywise, the horrorverse knows there is a vein that taps into real, deep-seated fears. Join Heather, Mike, and Eric in our breakdown of some clown-themed films for yo...

The magnificent Gene Jones is “Father” in Ti West’s mockumentary: Sacrament (2007) Horror Mockumentaries succeed because of the implied truths they pretend to offer. The authenticity, tangibility, and verisimilitude all convey that what you are watching actually happened. And, it could happen to YOU. Because it is a MOCKumentary and not a DOCumentary, this is all fiction, though,...

We have reached a milestone recording episode, and also a good milestone date for horror movies. The first 25 years of the century, nay, the millennium, have passed. It is an opportune time to look back at the first quarter century and show our favorite movies of the past 25 years. We like our lists and rankings here at The Scariest Things! It is a testament to the breadth and depth of modern horr...

Amna Vegha and Betsy Sligh in Dooba Dooba (2020) Intensity : 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Written and Directed by Ehrlend Hollingsworth How is it that babysitting, traditionally the lowest common denominator flexible starter job, is so dangerous? Dooba Dooba is a lo-fi found footage film exploring the perils of a woman babysitting an odd girl full of tricks and dark secrets. If you think you know babysi...

A close-up of Raquel Lebish in It Needs Eyes (2025) Intensity : 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Written and Directed by Zack Ogle and Aaron Pagniano It Needs Eyes  examines the link between the dangers of obsessive and addictive behavior when coping with g rief. “It”, in this case, is the dark web. Brutal social media requires people to watch the dreadful material to have any power. It has...

Ethan Embry and Li Jun Li in Alma and the Wolf (2025) Intensity : 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Michael Patrick Jann Written by Abby Miller Alma and the Wolf spins a strange and surprising story that weaves themes of unfulfilled dreams and dark secrets. Ethan Embry, Li Jun Li, and the rest of the cast provide an emotionally poignant and ultimately tragic fable. Part psychological thriller, pa...

For much of the Scariest Things crew, we are discussing horror movies from our backyard. This is our home turf. The Pacific Northwest is a suitable backdrop for horror, with its often gloomy weather, quirky urban cities, and history of cryptids. Famously, we keep it weird in the PNW, and the movies reflect these tastes. Perhaps it is the reputation of the Pacific Northwest as being a bit quirky an...

Jump Scares are the foundation of so many horror movies. This blast of adrenaline keeps horror fans coming back to the cineplex. Great horror movies, awful horror movies—they all use them. The Scariest Things team discusses our favorite use of the easiest and perhaps most essential trope in the genre. I scream. You scream. We all scream for jump scares! Properly executed, this is the trope that wi...

Overlook, the great New Orleans Horror Film Festival , has delivered its goods. Long-time Patreon supporter of The Scariest Things, Robyn Marcotte, joined us to share her experiences with Eric and Liz on the festival. More than ever, I found that I didn’t have enough time to see nearly enough of the movies. Still, I was able to catch eight feature films and 23 short films. You have to pick a...

Eric Li, Luke Zwanziger, CJ Arellano, Adam Murray, Benedict Chiu, Jordan Pfeifer, James Oxyer, Sam Das, Danny Broussard, and Erin Broussard at Canal Place food court for the Overlook Film Festival horror short filmmaker roundtable. Horror Shorts are often the heartbeat of horror film festivals. They are frequently overlooked by audiences, but not at this year’s Overlook Film Festival. Each s...

Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, and Noah Toth are lost in It Ends (2025) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Written and Directed by Alex Ullom It Ends travels with four college students on a road trip as a last hurrah before sending one of their own into the working world. What was meant to be a simple food run becomes a doomed trip down a dreadful, endless road. As the miles add up, the group strugg...

Indy is on alert for ghostly activity in Good Boy (2025) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Ben Leonberg Written by Alex Cannon and Ben Leonberg Good Boy is a ghost story told from a dog’s perspective. If you have ever wondered why your dog has been barking at shadows or unheard sounds, you will understand the mechanics of this film. Our furry best friends know things that we can&...

We’re Guessing Here! Every year brings great expectations. As we roll into the peak of festival season, we are given a glimpse at what movies are coming to try and scare you. In January, the announced movies are usually known commodities. Your sequels. Your reboots. A couple months in now, and we have a better sense of what offerings are on the table. In Episode 196, The Scariest Things talk...

Gung hey fat choi! It’s the 2025 Lunar Zodiac Year of the Snake! Happy New Year! It’s a little late, but the Lunar New Year celebrations go on for weeks, so we’re still in celebration mode, even as the calendar turns from February to March. 2025 marks the year of the snake, and one of our fans, John Foley, suggested that we do a snake-themed horror movie podcast. We’ll do t...

Wes Craven’s iconic grindhouse film Eaten Alive (1978) Who needs your fancy schmancy elevated horror?!? Turn the page back to when real horror villains had no feelings or emotional depth other than deep blood lust. These are the horror movies your mother feared you might be watching. Get ready! It’s grindhouse time at The Scariest Things Podcast! Grindhouse as a method isn’t gone...

It’s time to reveal our selections for the Worst Horror Movies of 2024. Sigh. Here they are, our Worst Horror Movies of 2024. It’s an annual obligation. You can’t win em all, and it is time to reveal the losers from 2024. The Scariest Things had disagreements about how we felt about the horror offerings from 2024. Some thought it was a strong year; others thought it was weak. We...

Well, that was fun! The Scariest Things presents to you the Best Horror Movies of 2024. Though it started slow, the year managed to pack in quite a few worthy films. The six critics of The Scariest Things debated who deserved a spot in the top 10, and there was a wide spread of picks. There were a few standouts most of us agreed to, but to find out, you’ll have to listen to the podcast! The...

Horror Musicals! Just in time for the holidays: Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) Horror Musicals: When they work they are next-level works of art. It’s some of the worst material ever created when they don’t work. Eric cajoled/dragged Liz and Mike to participate in evaluating one of his favorite sub-genres, the Horror Musical. (Like it or not, Eric WILL break into song!) Horror movies ar...

Karen Black and a Zuni Warrior Doll in Trilogy of Terror (1975) Once upon a time, the major broadcast television networks used to produce feature films for their movies of the week. Many of the great made-for-tv horror movies have found new audiences with restored Blu-Ray issuances and streaming options, giving some long-lost classics a new lease on viewing life. The movie of the week was a staple...

Cinephiles and physical media collectors, this episode is for you! The Criterion Collection has been the premiere distributor of cinematic excellence for decades. Did they find room for horror? Yes, they did! It is a very select group of films, but you might be surprised at some of the inclusions. Here are our picks from their horror library. Criterion’s Mission Statement: Since 1984, the Cr...

Shane Simmons in The Letter (2024) Intensity 🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Vincent Shade The Letter sumptuously recreates the era of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1930’s New England. This languidly paced mystery feels like a Call of Cthulhu adventure, set in an elaborate mansion, and stocked with scheming characters with old grudges. This little indie film has big aspirations and ambitions but c...

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead in The Endless (2017) Aaron Moorhead is one half of the prolific writing/acting/directing duo of Moorhead and Benson. The acclaimed duo produced some of the past decade’s most mind-bending cosmic horror movies. It was only appropriate that he would serve as the keynote speaker at this year’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival , and he took some time out of hi...

Alex Lee Williams goes sleepwalking… ominously… in Dream Eater (2024) Intensity 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, and Alex Lee Williams Cosmic Horror meets found footage in the parasomnia-infused Dream Eater. Documentarian Mallory and her boyfriend Alex retreat to a snowy cabin, celebrating Alex’s 30th birthday. There, they hope to relax and get reli...

The Daemon (2024) Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Matt Devino & David Yohe The Daemon was a perfect vessel to be unleashed at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The debut feature from Devino and Yohe taps into all of the key tropes of Cosmic Horror: coping with inner demons, battling psychoses and grief, dreams from the underworld, and elder gods rising from the deep. Add in som...

Christopher Walken is a headed (for now) Horseman in Sleepy Hollow (1999) Let’s turn back the clock to revisit an underrated year in horror movies: 1999. It’s certainly a good time to put 1999 in perspective for its silver anniversary. In hindsight, this was a hinge year. Many old horror themes were getting swept away as new genre tropes emerged. The nineties were a semi-desert for the...