Regrettably, I had to abandon my post as an editor for The Midnight Diner‘s third edition. Nevertheless, I’ve kept a close eye on the proceedings and am 
happy to inform you that the latest installment is AWESOME. Self described as “a hardboiled genre anthology with a Christian slant,” the Diner specializes in all things weird — horror, paranormal, conspiracy, space aliens, noir, etc. The author lineup is terrific and includes a seminary professor, a screenwriter, a Pushcart nominee, a Navy officer, an actor from The Fringe, and several “horror” fic veterans. Really, it’s a great group of writers. And the cover art rocks!
Anyway, I’ll be giving away a copy of The Midnight Diner volume 3 to two commenters. That’s right — there will be TWO winners! And be forewarned, this is not CBA fare. The Diner does not serve wimps: there is language, gore, and appropriate nastiness. To enter, simply “comment” and leave the name of the film or book that left you most disturbed, unsettled, or frightened. That’s it. Friday morning 12:00 AM is the deadline. I’ll announce winners Friday A.M. and contact them via email for mailing info. Good luck!
I’d totally love to win a copy of the Diner! 😀 The cover art is fabulous!
As for being disturbed/frightened…when I was 14 I saw the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie and literally had Freddie nightmares every night for a month! I know, that’s brainless slasher-horror and I was a kid, but I’ve never been as disturbed by a movie or book since.
Sure, I’d give it a chance for free. 🙂
Movie: The exorcism of Emily Rose (The exorcist before that)
Book: Nothing really; The Taking by Dean Koontz gave me chills on occasion, so did Phantoms. But they didn’t really disturb me. Good books though.
Books generally don’t scare me. The most frightening movie I’ve seen is Paranormal Activity, though.
A Clockwork Orange – VERY disturbing! Also Leaving Las Vegas.
misaacmom at gmail dot com
Oh and I forgot a book – I think “It” by Stephen King was the most frightening book I ever read
Most disturbing film for me was Event Horizon. Those images/sounds from the ship’s video playback….ughhh.
Jay, that film REALLY bothered me. I’ve been so tempted to watch it again just to analyze why…
I can’t be part of this contest – I’m a little biased – but Mike, I had to respond. I’ve always through that 75% of Event Horizon was just brilliant. For most of the movie, I was enthralled, disturbed, on the edge of my seat. They played some scenes so perfectly – only showed you JUST enough to think: “Wait. Did I really see/hear that?”
Then it seemed like they ran out of plot, had Sam Neil go evil/insane/possessed by the devil, and dumped blood everywhere. Still, I’ll never forget the opening sequence and how understated it was as the camera spiraled away UPSIDE down from that space station. I watched that with a college buddy, spent the night at his house – and at two AM – two grown college guys, trying to sleep off a horror movie – my buddy sorta laments from his side of the room: “WHY did we go see that movie??”
You’ll laugh at this–if you even remember it. When I was in grade school, we went to visit family in Montana. My cousins wanted to go see “The Curse of Frankenstein” and “X the Unknown”. Of course they used my jacket to hide their eyes in all the scary parts while my eyes were glued to the screen. I was terrified. Watched the door all night–didn’t sleep at all. Even broke out in a rash on my face. Hilarious when I think of it now. Never been a fan of “horror” films since.
I do read the oxymoron Christian horror. Yeah, if it’s redemptive.
Hmm probably the movie Hard Candy. It was so disturbing and not what I would have expected at all. Gosh there have been so many disturbing books and movies that I’ve come across but I can’t think of any at the moment.
Recently, I’d have to say the movie “Moon”. Scifi doesn’t usually freak me out, but that movie twisted my brain up like a pretzel.
In the past, I used to read John Saul books. I think I had to stop reading around “The Unloved” because they were givng me nightmares. If I remember correctly, the stories were not redemptive so they were leaving me pointlessly disturbed. I remember thinking…”why am I putting myself through this?” and eventually I quit.
I had the same experience with John Saul. I read one or two of his that were decent, but the rest got to be so twisted and grotesquely sexual and repetitive that I gave up on him, also. Of course, now I’m hijacking this thread entirely…
Jessica, I LOVE the movie “Moon.” In fact, I purchased it recently for my collection. Yes, it was very sad. And an interesting twist in the “clone” canon.
The scarcest movie I ever watched was ‘Hellraiser’ which introduced me to Clive Barker. From there, I went out and found his novella the movie was based off of called ‘The Hellbound Heart’. To me, he is an incredible writer.
-Tim
I’m still slightly disturbed by The Serpent and The Rainbow.
One word. IT.
Clowns are seriously the scariest things on Earth. My five year old keeps asking me to take him to the circus. I am running out of excuses. Curse you Stephen King.
Perhaps the movie Pan’s Labyrinth freaked me out the most. A beautiful movie that made me gasp more than once, “Oh my god.” It’s like a nightmare only you’re awake. Those are the worst kind.
And the winners are… Tim Remp and RJB. I’ll be contacting you guys for mailing addies. Thanks all for participating!
The Shining and the Exorcist were the two most horrific movies I’ve seen. Both of them maintained an eerie atmosphere from start to finish.