A few days ago, we posted Part I of this series about the creepy monster villains you’ve seen in movies. Part II classifies entire groups of monsters who are so pernicious, they’ve appeared in movies and other media for decades.

Most of entries 6-10 feature  bad guys who popped up in scary bedtime stories and tales centuries before you were even born. It’s evil on a whole new level.

6. Spiders, Ants, and Bugs, Oh My!

Let’s face it, insects are pretty scary. You know it, I know it, and so do filmmakers. That’s why dozens upon dozens of scary movies have featured armies of killer insects, giant insects, or some kind of human-insect hybrids who munch on humans like candy. The Mist, Arachnophobia, The Fly, Eight-Legged Freaks, Ticks… the list is endless. They keep making these movies for a reason: some of the scariest things out there already exist in nature, which makes them the perfect stars for a horror flick.

7. Vampires

Don’t let recent stories fool you. Vampires are gangsta, even if they appear to have lost some monster cred in the past few years. You see them all sparkly, pretty, and lovey-dovey in those Twilight movies, and they’re super dreamy in Vampire Diaries and True Blood, aren’t they? But watch out. You cross those mofos and they’ll mess you up. Vampires would already be scary because of their superpowers and thirst for your blood (and flesh, depending on the story), but they’re even scarier because they might want to hump you too. I mean, c’mon, what’s more terrifying, a monster, or a monster who’s also your ex? Talk about head games. YIKES!

8. Werewolves

An angry wolf is not to be played with, especially if he or she is as big as you are and possibly as smart too. A werewolf is one of those monsters who’ll kill you pretty painfully, guaranteed. Maybe Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers will stab you or cut your head off or something, which would be relatively quick, but a werewolf will eat you alive, which is a special kind of suffering. You’ll actually like, see it taking you apart, and it won’t be pretty. Those things are hairy too, so it would likely be smelly as well. Ick, and… oh yeah, SCARY!

9. Zombies

Speaking of painful ways to go, zombie deaths are probably right there at the top. Being eaten alive by an army of rabid ghouls pretty much sucks, doesn’t it? Or at least, it sure does seem that way in the movies. It’s hard to say exactly why, but zombies and zombie apocalypses are more popular than other kinds from monsters that are just as dangerous. I mean, zombies turn people into other zombies by scratching and biting them, which is exactly how werewolves do it, but we don’t talk about werewolf apocalypses that often, do we? Zombies are especially frightening because they’re similar to us in appearance, so it’s easy for us to have nightmares about friends and loved ones who are cannibalistic undead, and about what it would be like to join them.

10. Ghosts and Spirits

There have been dozens of movies with spooky spirits that jump into people’s bodies and turn them into crazed killers. The Shining, The Exorcist, and those Paranormal Activity films are a few. Others, like The Entity, feature spirits that wreck lives without possessing anyone at all. But beyond their menacing aspects, ghosts are creepy because they’re probably the most personal of all monsters. We all know at least one person who’s claimed to see one, and maybe you’ve claimed the same yourself. Zombies, werewolves, and vampires? You probably haven’t met many people who’ve said they’ve seen one of those, now have you? Nope, it’s ghosts that are the most relevant to our real lives, which makes them especially creepy.

About Hilton Collins

Loves all things science fiction and fantasy, and if he had to choose between video games, comic books, movies, TV shows and novels, he’d have a brain aneurysm. Check out his blog at www.superheroesareawesome.com. Twitter: @HiltonCollins

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