For me it began as a kid watching Hammer horrors on a B&W tv. One I'll never forget that I saw when I was about 10 but haven't rewatched since is The Reptile: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060893/?ref_=sr_1. The scene where the snake woman is finally revealed almost gave me a heart attack.

As a kid I loved the gothic genre - Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte; Whatever Happened to Baby Jane; Rebecca; the original The Haunting (still one of the most terrifying movies ever made). Even the comedy-horrors, e.g. The Ghost and Mr Chicken, the Bob Hope and Abbott and Costello horrors. If it had a gothic mansion with secret passages I was there. Oh, how I wish I lived in a gothic mansion with secret passages.

This lead to me reading Wuthering Heights and Matthew Lewis' The Monk (one of the most atmospheric and scary novels you'll ever read) as a teenager.

I can't recall specifically when I first saw Night of the Living Dead but it would have been when I was a teenager.

I'll tell you a story, kids, gather round. Imagine a world where there's no vhs or dvd players because they haven't been invented yet, there's no internet - that's waaaaaay into the future. Your only entertainment resources are a tv, a transistor radio and a record player. Imagine it's 12.00 am on a Saturday night. Everyone else is in bed. You flick the channels and see a movie "Peeping Tom"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

so you decide to watch it to see if it's any good. And it's one of the most amazing movies you have ever watched.

I'm actually glad I grew up in the era when this sort of classic horror movie was routinely shown on late night tv. I don't know why there's not a current channel dedicated to this stuff.

So Lewk00t - do you remember Deadly Ernest or are you too young?

 

This was one of the first horror movies I saw. You can't beat Vincent Price. Unless you've got Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing too.

 

Cable tv in Melbourne today had a Vincent Price special and I watched The House of Wax (classic), The Fly (classic, I wish I could get the same brand of radioactive lipstick that the wife wore) and the Haunting of Hill House (a bit of a mess, but then it was done by William Castle).

 

Three good ones of his were The Pit and the Pendulum and The Witchfinder General and Scream and Sream again.

 

One of my faves is The Fall of the House of Usher. I watched ANYTHING that had Vincent Price in it and I was so happy when he turned up in Edward Scissorhands.

 

I think one of the scariest horror movies I've seen is The Amityville Horror the original with James Brolin and Margot Kidder. Still gives me chills.
And also The Omen with Gregory Peck that's an awesome movie.

 

The Exorcist!!! And The Shining...

 

I'm kind of a pansy when it comes to horror films admittedly. Aside from TWD I've watched like 5 minutes of some Saw film and that's it. Hahah

Wait... I saw Child's Play as well.

 

Can't say why I like horror. I just do.

 

No, Deadly Ernest was a presenter of horror/sci-fi movies on a Friday night in Melbourne in the 60's. He had grotesque make-up and used to put shit on the films (some were good, some were woeful). It used to be fun to have slumber parties and sit up and watch Deadly Ernest in the dark and scare each other during the suspenseful bits.

 

"if horror is done right it's amazing"
absolutely

 

I don't like horror I obsessively love horror and have done since a very early age, I guess in the beginning what attracted me was the fact some of the films could scare the sh!t out of me and all the fun kills that you find in slashers along with the nudity! Now though as a grown man and still a horror addict what I love is the history and diversity of the genre and I love it all from silent horror all the way up to present day and horror from all round the globe (especially fond of Asian horror)

 

I love horror movies for many reasons. My mom watched scary movies, and I grew up watching them. I enjoy being scared. Movies that make me jump are great!

I prefer horror movies that could happen in real life although I watch fantasy, too.

I love to turn off every light in the house and watch a scary movie.

 

Frankly, most horror movies exasperate my irritable bowel syndrome.

 

I think it's because I am an adrenaline junkie. Scary movies, haunted houses (real and fake ones), ghost stories, and roller coasters all elicit the same reaction: elevated heartbeat, queasy stomach, tightened bowels, absolute suspense filled can't breathe or move feeling. I love the ride!

 

For me, horror movies function either as roller coasters or memento mori. When I am in a movie house full of folks screaming and laughing and laughing and screaming, it is an awesome way to spend a couple hours. I love seeing a good horror movie with other people, not because it makes me feel safer, but because it is just more fun. When I am at home and everyone is busy doing something else and I pop a good old horror show in the DVD player, it's often a bit heavier sort of film. More the type that puts a mirror up to the horror of existence. Still an electric charge. Just in another way.