MOST MEMMORABLE HORROR NEMESIS
I was trying to think of what some of the more memorable creatures/characters were from either horror short stories or novels. They could be memorable due to their eeriness, appearance, dialog, horrific-ness, whatever. Here are a few I thought of:
- Minheer Vanderhausen from Schalken The Painter (short story) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu He is discribed as a man wearing Flemish clothing and:
"A quantity of grizzled hair descended in long tresses from his head, and rested upon the plaits of a stiff ruff, which effectually concealed his neck. So far all was well; but the face!--all the flesh of the face was coloured with the bluish leaden hue, which is sometimes produced by metallic medicines, administered in excessive quantities; the eyes showed an undue proportion of muddy white, and had a certain indefinable character of insanity; the hue of the lips bearing the usual relation to that of the face, was, consequently, nearly black; and the entire character of the face was sensual, malignant, and even satanic. "
I think it is his appearance that stuck him in my memory so much. This short trollish man, with a ton of wealth who dressed richly, but who is most likely some sort of demon.
- Smilemimme from The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell Although unseen, this vicous preditor of a messageboard always seems to be one step ahead of the main character. Trying to figure out who it is becomes a very interesting part of the story. It's this faceless internet entity that is snide, unruly and spiteful, but one who obviously knows more than they should.
I'm going to try and think of some more but those two came to mind first.
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Hmmm. This will take some
Hmmm. This will take some thinking. The two that pop into mind are pretty obvious ones, but I think they work:
Wilbur Whateley, in The Dunwich Horror, by Lovecraft. We know there's something...different about him, but a lot of it is left to our imagination, which makes it worse than any description.
The nameless entity in Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. No one knows what it looks like, or even what it really is, since it can be anyone or anything. I read this when I was nine, and the paranoia of not knowing if your mother/father/best friend is now your enemy freaked me out, then, and still does today.
I'll give it some more thought.
I'll have to check into that one.
Wilbur Whateley is a great choice. He is definitely a very memorable character.
Who Goes There? sounds interesting. I haven't read that one, but I'm going to keep an eye out for it. I'm intrigued.
Good choices!
Who Goes There? was the
Who Goes There? was the original source material made into the movies The Thing From Another World and John Carpenter's The Thing. It was written in 1939, but I think it holds up well.
Still thinking on some other characters.
The Thing was a great one!
I never saw the original version but I always loved John Carpenter's The Thing. It was one of the all time great films.
Matt
the Thing
You know, I was just thinking about the Thing the other day and put it on my Netflix list, though I have seen it several times. I love the way Carpenter shot the scenes, they are so grimy and dark, well, like a lot of the grittier horror movies were in the 70s/early 80s. I am curious if you like Dario Argento's films? I just watched Susperia the other day and really found it fascinating, hard to watch, but beautiful, too.
So it's not a horror story but...
My vote for the most memorable, scary as hell, and downright disturbing character? The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. From the face and nose, to that sinister dancing and voice, this dude had me double checking the shadows as a kid. The actor who played him was a ballet dancer, and there is something about that dancing that freaks me out...
Good one!
I'd forgotten all about that guy, and that movie altogether. I seem to recall being a little creeped out by him as well. Man, I haven't seen that show or heard anyone mention it in forever. It must have really stuck with you.