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[Spoilers for Seasons 1-7]
Picking the top ten scariest episodes of a sci-fi/horror genre TV show is no easy feat, especially when you consider that not everyone is afraid of the same things. For example, if you suffer from Coulrophobia (that is, the fear of clowns) like Sam Winchester, you're probably going to think "Everybody Loves a Clown" and "Plucky Penniwhistle's Magical Menagerie" are the scariest episodes of the series. On the other hand, if you suffer from Aviatophobia (that is, the fear of flying), you're likely to hate "Phantom Traveler." Or perhaps you're Entomophobic (afraid of insects), and have to close your eyes through most "Bugs." And if you're Demonophobic (afraid of demons, devils, witches, evil spirits, and possession),well, I don't even know how you're able to watch the show!
My point being that any one episode of the series could be considered "scary" for one reason or another based on each particular viewer's real-life fears. Thus, I needed some parameters if I was going to wade through 100-plus episodes and pick ten of the scariest.
First, I stuck to my strong conviction that "gory" is not the same as "scary" (my sincerest apologies to the squeamish). I will disclaim this by admitting that I've never seen those Saw movies (and never will). But while gory may sometimes be scary, it is not always so. If gory was always scary, then Saving Private Ryan would be listed as a horror movie. And while watching gratuitous, obviously fake blood, guts, and gore splatter across a scene might make me cringe, it will not keep me up at night with my covers pulled up to my chin.
Second, I stuck to my second strong conviction that "dark" is not the same as "scary." By "dark," I mean violent and noiresque.
Supernatural is great at depicting evil in its many forms, and when it does so well, the results are episodes that are very dark. "Repo Man" is a good example of a dark episode, as well as "Live Free or Twi-hard." These episodes are riveting; they make you shudder, but they don't really scare you. Or maybe they do. Feel free to disagree.
Third, "if Dean Winchester thinks it's scary, it's probably so." That's just logic.
Finally, I developed a quick n' dirty philosophy about why certain things we watch scare us. I believe, phobias aside, that the things that frighten us most are those that we have some real-life connection to. Scary TV is just reality, amplified and out-of-control. It's imagination run wild. In real-life, I sit on my couch at night in a dark apartment, and the tapping on my window sounds odd, but it's just the drizzling rain. On TV, the protagonist in the same situation believes it to be rain, only it turns out to be something else: a monster coming through the window.
,Okay, I just scared the crap out of myself.
Time to get on with the list!!
11. Honorable Mention - No Rest For the Wicked
Picking the top ten scariest episodes of a sci-fi/horror genre TV show is no easy feat, especially when you consider that not everyone is afraid of the same things. For example, if you suffer from Coulrophobia (that is, the fear of clowns) like Sam Winchester, you're probably going to think "Everybody Loves a Clown" and "Plucky Penniwhistle's Magical Menagerie" are the scariest episodes of the series. On the other hand, if you suffer from Aviatophobia (that is, the fear of flying), you're likely to hate "Phantom Traveler." Or perhaps you're Entomophobic (afraid of insects), and have to close your eyes through most "Bugs." And if you're Demonophobic (afraid of demons, devils, witches, evil spirits, and possession),well, I don't even know how you're able to watch the show!
My point being that any one episode of the series could be considered "scary" for one reason or another based on each particular viewer's real-life fears. Thus, I needed some parameters if I was going to wade through 100-plus episodes and pick ten of the scariest.
First, I stuck to my strong conviction that "gory" is not the same as "scary" (my sincerest apologies to the squeamish). I will disclaim this by admitting that I've never seen those Saw movies (and never will). But while gory may sometimes be scary, it is not always so. If gory was always scary, then Saving Private Ryan would be listed as a horror movie. And while watching gratuitous, obviously fake blood, guts, and gore splatter across a scene might make me cringe, it will not keep me up at night with my covers pulled up to my chin.
Second, I stuck to my second strong conviction that "dark" is not the same as "scary." By "dark," I mean violent and noiresque.
Supernatural is great at depicting evil in its many forms, and when it does so well, the results are episodes that are very dark. "Repo Man" is a good example of a dark episode, as well as "Live Free or Twi-hard." These episodes are riveting; they make you shudder, but they don't really scare you. Or maybe they do. Feel free to disagree.
Third, "if Dean Winchester thinks it's scary, it's probably so." That's just logic.
Finally, I developed a quick n' dirty philosophy about why certain things we watch scare us. I believe, phobias aside, that the things that frighten us most are those that we have some real-life connection to. Scary TV is just reality, amplified and out-of-control. It's imagination run wild. In real-life, I sit on my couch at night in a dark apartment, and the tapping on my window sounds odd, but it's just the drizzling rain. On TV, the protagonist in the same situation believes it to be rain, only it turns out to be something else: a monster coming through the window.
,Okay, I just scared the crap out of myself.
Time to get on with the list!!
11. Honorable Mention - No Rest For the Wicked
Dean: "Tell me something, what the hell does a demon do for fun?"
I hate honorable mentions. I feel like having more than ten in a top ten article is cheating "“ what can I say, I'm anal. But I felt compelled to do it just this once, for one reason only "“ Lilith.
"No Rest for the Wicked" is filled with scary concepts "“ Dean can see demons' real faces underneath their human masks, and he suffers from hellish hallucinations and nightmares in which he is being chased by hellhounds. That final stroke of the grandfather clock rings out its ominous knell, and we see the resigned terror in his eyes as he whispers the name of the last sight he will ever see: "hellhound." And then at the very end of it all, we get a glimpse of our valiant protagonist in a place he doesn't belong. Hell looks liked agony, and we watch in horror as stoic Dean Winchester screams out his baby brother's name in terror.
Pretty scary,but somehow not quite as scary as a demon possessing a little girl and terrorizing her family, just for kicks. There's something downright spooky about a good thing turning into something evil. It's unnatural and unexpected. I know it gives me chills when the old grandpa says, "it's not her anymore,there's something inside her." Eesh. And the scene with Lilith making the mother read that horrible children's tale for the 27th time still gives me the heebie-jeebies. (Does anyone know if that is a real book??) Kudos to the little actress who played the part so convincingly. She's the reason this episode makes #11.
I hate honorable mentions. I feel like having more than ten in a top ten article is cheating "“ what can I say, I'm anal. But I felt compelled to do it just this once, for one reason only "“ Lilith.
"No Rest for the Wicked" is filled with scary concepts "“ Dean can see demons' real faces underneath their human masks, and he suffers from hellish hallucinations and nightmares in which he is being chased by hellhounds. That final stroke of the grandfather clock rings out its ominous knell, and we see the resigned terror in his eyes as he whispers the name of the last sight he will ever see: "hellhound." And then at the very end of it all, we get a glimpse of our valiant protagonist in a place he doesn't belong. Hell looks liked agony, and we watch in horror as stoic Dean Winchester screams out his baby brother's name in terror.
Pretty scary,but somehow not quite as scary as a demon possessing a little girl and terrorizing her family, just for kicks. There's something downright spooky about a good thing turning into something evil. It's unnatural and unexpected. I know it gives me chills when the old grandpa says, "it's not her anymore,there's something inside her." Eesh. And the scene with Lilith making the mother read that horrible children's tale for the 27th time still gives me the heebie-jeebies. (Does anyone know if that is a real book??) Kudos to the little actress who played the part so convincingly. She's the reason this episode makes #11.
Comments
I totally agree with Bloody Mary. When she crawled out of that mirror, the way she moved was just so freaking...unna tural, it creeped me right out. Same with those feral kids in Family Remains. That scene where the girl thinks it's her dog? Yikes!
Honestly, I'm a bit of a horror junkie, and so is my mom so a lot of the stuff doesn't really bother me that much since I've been watching it since I was old enough to not get sent to bed (and a few times I snuck back too). I think what tends to get me, at least on this show is when it turns out to be humans. I think that's why I was so disturbed by Repo Man, too. It was a person who was actually the messed up one. "Demons I get, people are crazy"
Creepy is way scarier than gory. Dean being close to the Scarecrow (which IS moving!) is one of those moments. Sam has a similar moment where he is close to the waxwork of Abraham Lincoln. All the Bloody Mary reflections are scary too.
However my scary moment is from 'The Usual Suspects'. It is the scene where the ghost appears to the police woman in the basement and gets really close to the screen very suddenly. I was watching that episode while falling asleep (wearing earphones) the music gets loud suddenly and I opened my eyes just as she runs at the screen - this is not something I recommend doing unless your heart is good and strong
Last thing - watch the very opening scene of the first episode. There is a branch shadow crawling along the wall of the house in a way that doesn't appear possible - that's pretty spooky!
"No Exit" really creeped me out, because I had read "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larsen, about H.H. Holmes during the Chicago World's fair. Pick it up, it's well worth it. Also "Home" scared the bejesus out of me for the same reason as "Poltergeist" did. My whole childhood I was afraid of whatever was in my closet. To this day, I will not sleep with the closet door open and I will always face it before going to sleep. That way, when something jumps out, I'll see it and run (hopefully). In "Bloody Mary", the girl at the end was like the girl coming out of the tv in "The Ring". Sooo scary! But one of the episodes that scares me a whole lot is "The Benders". There's just something about hillbillies getting their jollies off by catching people and chasing them like animals. There was an episode of the X-Files (season 4 I think) called "Home" (I think) about a family that turn out to be inbreds. It's one of the scariest hours of tv I've ever seen and "The Benders" reminds me of that episode. And if I'm not mistaken, Kim Manners was the director.
Thanks for the creepy walk down memory lane.
Scarecrow gave me the creeps and still does after many many viewings. Scariest scarecrow ever! Dude, you fugly!
indeed.
Provenance is one not mentioned here, but it gets to me every time with that weird creepy painting and that menacing little girl with the straight razor and dolly. Yikes!
The cannibal Benders are frightening because they are human and I remembered a news story about a farmer in the country who had people strung up like cattle carcases in his house and books with human skin covers, so it can happen really! Stomach turning human monster stuff! And that X-Files episode "Home" was an absolute creep-fest!
First time I saw Bloody Mary I was chilled spotting her in the mirrors. After seeing it many many times the fright has faded, but I still enjoy it immensely. When I was a kid I heard an episoe of "The Shadow" (yes I'm that old!) in which a guy gets up in the night to visit the john and sees a floating greenish skull in the bathroom mirror which freaks him out obviously. Turned out he had some kind of disease that made his bones glow in the dark, and it was himself he was seeing. After that, for years, at night I would NEVER look in a mirror I walked by. And in the daytime I was always looking for something in them that shouldn't be there. Maybe part of the blame should be on "Alice Through the Looking Glass" which I loved as a kid.
Great article!
But for me, the scariest episode is "My Bloody Valentine" Famine creeped me out like no other Supernatural monster. I STILL hide behind my hands for him! I've even, on occasion, simply fast forwarded through his parts even though I know what the end is!
I don't find Bugs scary at all though so it wouldn't be on my list, its such a silly episode!
Great list!