It’s been a long time coming, horror fans - but we’re finally doing it, and I for
one - am incredibly happy.
We’re covering the King of Horror himself - Stephen King, the most prolific writer of
the 20th and 21st century, and an awe-inspiring colossus of literature.
The man has been pumping out some of the greatest works in horror fiction since he penned his
first novel Carrie way back when in 1974.
Since then, we’ve had the likes of ‘Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Dark Tower, The Stand,
Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary, The Green Mile - the list goes on, and on, because if you
can’t tell, Stephen King churns out novels like a sixteenth century yeoman churned out
butter.
Hello horror fans - and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube, Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch, as we happily dive into the terrifying
fictional world of the King of Horror, and curiously take a look at the Top 5 Scariest
Stephen King Characters.
Roll the clip.
Now, I know that I’m not going to please everyone with this list - purely for the simple
fact that King’s body of work spans across so many terrifyingly twisted characters and
horrifying monsters that it’s pretty impossible to condense them into a five point list.
But who knows, maybe we’ll be doing a part 2 and we’ll all be happy.
Kicking off at Number 5 - Mrs. Carmody, The Mist
Who falls within the realm of some of King’s most terrifying non-supernatural characters,
although she didn’t quite nip the top spot in that.
Although, you could argue that Mrs. Carmody has a slight supernatural slant to her - in
the novella she is alluded to be practicing witchcraft, and thus having enacted a pact
with the big bad baddy himself, Randall Flagg - He Who Walks Behind The Rows - whatever
you want to call him.
Nevertheless though, the thing that makes Mrs. Carmody so damned terrifying is her religious
fanaticism - which is squashed down, condensed and trapped inside a pressure boiler throughout
the plot of The Mist.
She’s terrifying simply because of what she represents - and the lengths that she’s
willing to go to brainwash people into thinking that she’s a prophet of God.
All while there’s a terrifying tentacle mist threatening the lives of the poor people
of Bridgton, Maine.
Yeah, talk about opportunity knocks, right?
Much like Margaret White, the mother of Carrie, Mrs. Carmody embodies the zealotry that King
is so critical of throughout his work - and the result is one of the most terrifying human
characters in his fiction.
You know why?
Because you can’t reason with her.
Coming in next at Number 4 - Blaine the Mono, The Dark Tower: The Wastelands
Who - really, when you look at it - is perhaps one of the most unique monsters in the whole
of horror fiction.
A train.
And how did King manage to make a train scary?
He decided to give it an intelligent artificial mind that was on the constant brink of a mental
breakdown.
For those of you that haven’t read Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, you really,
really should - because it’s exactly the stuff like this that makes it one of the most
unique blends of fantasy and horror I’ve ever read, all while being genuinely fear
inducing throughout - and King’s crowning glory in fiction.
Roland Deschain is one of my favourite characters in literature, and we’re going to talk about
him a lot in this list.
But first we have to talk about Blaine the Mono, a sentient monorail train that went
- insane.
In The Dark Tower - for the ka-tet, a group of individuals bound together by cosmic destiny,
Blaine was the only way for them to get out of the Wastelands from Lud to Topeka, but
the insane train was hellbent on wrapping them up in his own personal suicide.
The only solution was to humour Blaine in a game of riddles, which makes for some of
the most intense, nerve-wracking scenes in horror fiction.
Being trapped on a runaway train is scary enough, but when that train is a highly powerful,
fragmented, mentally unstable machine-child - the stakes are a little bit higher, to say
the least.
Next up at Number 3 - Annie Wilkes, Misery
Perhaps the most terrifying non-supernatural Stephen King villain going.
Actually, scratch that - she definitely is.
What makes Annie Wilkes so terrifying is her element of humanity - or, the lack of thereof.
She’s made up of flesh and bones, no magic seal that binds her lifeforce for infinity
- yet she’s equally as unstoppable and horrifyingly relentless as King’s greatest horror villains.
As the seminal villain of King’s 1987 novel, Misery - she finds herself miraculously caring
for her all-time favourite novelist Paul Sheldon, after he suffers a near-fatal car accident
during a snowstorm.
Turns out, the kindly nurse is actually a rage-filled, blood boiling psychopath responsible
for the murders of nearly seventy people throughout her life.
Also, she’s got a pig - who she named Misery, after her favourite fictional character, Misery
Chastain - who Paul plans to kill off in his latest novel.
And that makes her really, really mad.
You’ll know the scene when you see it, but the 1990 version of Misery features one of
the most bone-crunching, stomach churning scenes in cinematic history - played out by
the showstopping Kathy Bates, who manages to perfectly portray the true insanity of
King’s Annie Wilkes.
Swinging in next at Number 2 - Pennywise the Clown, IT
We all float down here.
Perhaps the reason that when I first accidently caught a glimpse of the 1990 miniseries when
my parents were watching it - that I was terrified to take a shower or stand near a drain for
weeks.
And the reason why I’m still terrified of Clowns.
And the reason why reading the novel years later was still a nightmare inducing experience.
IT - is traumatic, in the truest sense of the word.
Pennywise The Dancing Clown.
Robert Gray.
The Eater of Worlds.
The Deadlights.
Whatever you want to call IT - this creation is undisputedly one of the true nightmares
of Stephen King’s work.
It’s soul motivation is to eat and sleep.
Eat people, specifically, and then sleep for 27 to 30 years.
But for me, it’s in the origin of evil that Pennywise the Clown truly shines.
As the novel loosely touches on, as well as the wider King shared universe - It originated
in an undiscovered void containing and surrounding our Universe - which is often referred to
as the Macroverse, a concept related to Todash Darkness - a dimension of nothingness.
King takes a concept which is Lovecraftian in it’s scope, and then hurls it down to
a human level - makes it slink away into the sewers and take the form of a Clown - who
offers children a red balloon on rainy days in Derry, Maine - and it’s terrifying.
Truly, terrifying.
And finally - at our Number 1 spot - Randall Flagg, The Dark Tower/The Stand
And I hate to put a clip of the 2017 release of The Dark Tower, because it was such a disappointment
that I don’t even want to talk about it - but Matthew McConaughey was actually decent
as The Man In Black - so he stays.
King himself claimed that Randall Flagg was the greatest villain that he’d ever penned
- and serves as the overarching evil in the King mythos, making appearances in a multitude
of novels including The Dark Tower, The Stand, Eyes of the Dragon, Heart of Atlantis, Children
of the Corn, Gwendy’s Button Box - and he has many names, The Man In Black, Walter O’Dim,
Old Creeping Judas.
He’s an immortal sorcerer who has schemed his way across the ages, forcing humanity
to enact vile atrocities in his name, all because essentially, he’s bored - but in
King’s world, there is one man who can stop him - Roland Deschain of Gilead.
For me, one of the greatest lines ever penned in literature is The Man In Black fled across
the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
Because a villain is nothing, without a hero to combat him.
Well, there's my list folks for the Top 5 Scariest Stephen King Characters - why don’t
you let us know your thoughts in the comment box down below.
Before we depart though, let’s read out some of your more creative comments from over
the past few days.
Folly says -- whats the name of the background track its so relaxing and sounds really familiar.
-- Well Folly, in that particular video that you’re referring too, the audio is pulled
from The Day Of Night - which is part of the Silent Hill 2 video game soundtrack.
Myself and my editor Ryan are huge fans, so - yeah.
Glad you enjoyed.
Carlos Carvalho says -- Love this channel, can’t express how much I’ve learned about
so many different topics regarding horror and creepy pastas.
Could you do a video about Ju-On or the original Ring?
By far Ju-On was the scariest movie I ever saw.
Cheers from montreal guys!
-- Well, Hey Montreal!
I’d love to visit that wonderful place some time.
Hey, it means a lot that you’re learning from us - and we’re glad to be of service
Carlos.
I’ll see what I can do, we’ll maybe even do an entire J-Horror video.
Cheers buddy!
You stay spooky.
Well unfortunately folks, that’s all we’ve got time for in today's video.
Cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, be a dear and hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell, and you’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5
Scary Videos - and until next time, you take it easy.