I know that many of you horror fans out there are budding script writers and fiction aficionados.
Afictionados?
Yeah, whatever - but the point is, we’re all collectively drawn to the bizarre, spine
chilling folk tales and urban legends from across the internet, true crime and historical
deeds of violence and deceit - like children floating through the town of Salem, Massachusetts
on a Halloween night to the haunting tune of the Sanderson sisters.
We can’t get enough of it - and as horror fans, we know all too well that there are
some haunting stories out there that would give most contemporary horror films a run
for their money.
So, let’s take a look shall we?
Hello horror fans - and once again, welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube - Top
5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch - as today, we curiously kick back,
spread open our battered notebooks - and take a look at the Top 5 Scary Stories That Should
Be Turned Into Movies.
Roll the clip.
For those of you that don’t know, that clip was from Season 1 of Nic Pizzolatto’s True
Detective, and it’s one of the finest examples of television ever made.
Season 3 just started - and the awesome Mahershala Ali is leading the show - so make sure you
catch it, because it’s going to be a big one.
Now, throughout this list, we’re going to be presenting a blend of horror fiction with
more modern urban legends - because while there are some incredibly chilling true crime
cases, there are some absolutely terrifying works of fiction that deserve their best representation
on the silver screen.
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Watcher
Whether it’s When A Stranger Calls, or Cape Fear and Robert De Niro’s terrifying depiction
of a deranged stalker - the trope of a shadowy figure terrorising an otherwise unassuming
family is a prolific one throughout horror fiction.
Because being watched from the shadows is a primal fear - hairs standing on end for
no apparent reason - the same fear that made our ancestors tread carefully through the
deep, dark forest.
Well, in 2015 - a family from New Jersey discovered first hand that very same fear.
New homeowners, Derek and Maria Broaddus, as well as their children - were victims to
a campaign of fear after moving into their dream 1.3 million home.
Just three days after moving in, they got a letter from the shadowy, mysterious figure
- known only as the Watcher.
In the letter, the Watcher explained - My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s
and my father watched in the 1960s.
It is now my time.
-- Later, in two more letters dated June 18th and July 18th - it said, Have they found what
is in the walls yet?
In time they will. -- and, I am pleased to know your names now and the name of the young
blood you have brought to me.
Will the youngbloods play in the basement?
-- I mean, yeah, of course the family moved out and the house has been taken off the market
- but what the hell?
This movie would write itself - Mike Flannagan to pen the script and direct, in a moody,
atmospheric generational thriller.
Thank me later.
Coming in next at Number 4 - Haunted, Chuck Palahniuk
Alright, now some of you may know that the incredibly complex and disturbing novel Haunted,
by Chuck Palahniuk - actually had a small green light to be made into a film way back
when in 2008 but hit some difficulties, to say the least.
Again, funding for the film was announced in 2013 - but since then, there hasn’t been
a peep about the Fight Club authors next silver screen adaptation - and it’s seemingly fallen
to the wayside.
Well, whoever manages to ever get a crack at this story has got their work cut out for
them, but if the correct writer and director could pull it off - we’d be treated to one
hell of a haunted horror show.
Haunted, written in 2005 by Chuck Palahniuk, is a novel told from the perspective of 19
different characters - locked away in a writers retreat that increasingly becomes more and
more violently bizarre.
It also features one of the most shocking short stories of all time - Guts, and if you
haven’t read it, I’d recommend that you do.
Chuck actually had several people pass out during a live reading of it, so that’s fair
warning on my part.
Look, the reason this hasn’t been made is definitely down to the complexity of the narrative,
but if they got it right - oh boy.
It could even be along the same lines as Identity with John Cusack.
I’d say someone like David Robert Mitchell could definitely nail this - perhaps even
alongside Nic Pizzolatto, weaving multiple storylines at the same time.
Hell, I’d even take a Jordan Peele adaptation and cut away some of the fat to the narrative.
We can only hope.
Next up at Number 3 - The Dead Animal House
Again, we’re heading back to reality for this one - and another tale that features
a family moving into a home that wasn’t exactly transparent about it’s history.
Back in 2011, the Bretzius family bought themselves a house - it was everything they were looking
for, it had passed building regulations - the whole nine yards.
After a few weeks of moving in though, of course - they noticed that something was up.
There were dead things in the walls.
Dead animals - and they were frequently spilling out.
To their horror, they discovered that throughout the entire house, the walls were full of dead
animals, spices and assorted trinkets - wrapped in newspapers from the 1930s and 40s.
After an investigation had taken place, they discovered that the practice was the historical
ritual of pow-wowing, a strange, peculiar form of Amish folk magic that would ward off
demons that made up the Pennsylvania Dutch religion.
Namely the Bokkenrijders - demons that ride flying goats across the woodland.
Now, I don’t know about you - but this is ripe for the picking for the fantastic fledgling
horror director, Robert Eggers.
A period piece, set in a rural, isolated Amish community that are besieged by goat-like,
nightmarish creations from the nearby woods.
Sounds good?
Yeah, it sounds bloody great.
Swinging in at Number 2 - I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
Oh man - we can only dream, right?
One of the most nihilistic, bleak and hopeless pieces of sci-fi horror fiction ever written.
In 1967, American writer Harlan Ellison penned I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - a tale
about a handful of human survivors after an apocalyptic, sentient AI machine has taken
over civilization and uses humanity as its plaything.
Although we’ve been treated to a video game version of the narrative - no one has ever
tried to take a shot at weaving this story into a full length horror feature.
And if I’m being honest - we’re really, really missing out.
Alright - I know what you’re saying, and I hear you.
Some things should be left alone, right?
All short stories aren’t necessarily made to translate onto the big screen - and maybe
they shouldn’t.
Maybe we should call a spade a spade and leave things as they are.
But cinema is a conduit of zeitgeist - it’s a snapshot of the time, all of our fears and
insecurities played out in film.
And right now, the debate surrounding the AI singularity is a conversation that we should
all be having.
And besides that - Ellison’s work is just an incredible piece of horror fiction.
Picture this - Guillermo del Toro attached to the film, in a nightmarish onslaught of
body horror, a machine wasteland - and an almost childlike, dreamlike approach to a
world devastated by the Allied Mastercomputer - and it’s five survivors.
I’m not going to lie.
I want this.
I really, really do.
And finally at our Number 1 spot - The Rats In
The Walls
You know me by now guys, this wasn’t going to be a complete list until Mr. Howard Phillips
Lovecraft popped up, and while many of his creations deserve to be authentically and
justly translated to the silver screen - and fingers crossed, some are in the works - I
think that his most succinct tale would be 1924s The Rats In The Walls.
I can almost see the poster now, black and white - and a single eye peering out of a
hole behind the plasterboard.
In essence, it’s an incredibly straightforward plot - more akin to the likes of Susan Hill’s
classic The Woman In Black - just with, you know - unspeakable cosmic horrors.
And you know what?
Daniel Radcliffe would actually make an awesome Delapore.
The Rats In The Walls tells the tale of a mysterious narrator, who returns to his ancestral
home in England following the events of World War I.
There, in typical Lovecraftian fashion, he discovers the ancient horrors of his ancestors
- but the beauty of this cinematic adaptation would be in its simplicity.
There is a hell of a lot of breathing room to either shake up the time and setting - or
leave it true to Lovecraft’s initial intention.
Because that’s not what really matters - what matters is a young man, isolated and alone
in an ancient house - that hears scratching in the walls that leads him to a strange,
and haunted place.
If John Carpenter ever wants to take another stab at Lovecraft - then he’d be the man
for this.
Damn, I’m excited already.
Well, there we have it horror fans - let us know your picks in the comment section down
below.
Before we depart, as we usually do - let’s read out some of your more creative comments
from over the past few days.
Ashlee Lannert says -- I love this channel!
Been fired 4 times for watching at work (joking) but really do I have a problem?!
-- Woah, Ashlee!
Well, cheers for showing Top 5 some love - but please, don’t get fired on my behalf.
I’m not covered for that kind of litigation.
That goes for all of you.
Jena Filyaw says -- Creepy.
Love listening to you when I’m driving.
I’m a truck driver :) -- and, well, I’ll point you back to my previous point!
Be careful when you Top 5 guys, please!
Nah, nah, I’m just kidding - also, Jena, that’s so awesome that you listen while
driving a truck across country.
I’ve always wanted to be a truck driver - out on the open road - the wind at my face
… Sorry, wandered off a little there.
Well, there we have it horror fans - cheers for sticking around all the way until the
end.
If you were a fan of this video, make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell, and we’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary Videos,
and until next time, you take it easy.