Best Ghost Stories Ever Told

[AntonioDelLago]

MY TEN FAVORITE GHOST STORIES
1. THE SHINING (1980) Stanley Kubrick (A+)
2. THE INNOCENTS (1961) Jack Clayton (A)
3. THE CHANGELING (1980) Peter Medak (A)
4. THE HAUNTING (1963) Robert Wise (A)
5. THE SIXTH SENSE (1999) M. Night Shyamalan (A)
6. THE OTHER (1972) Robert Mulligan (A)
7. THE LADY IN WHITE (1988) Frank LaLoggia (A)
8. STIR OF ECHOES (1999) David Koepp (B+)
9. THE FOG (1980) John Carpenter (B+)
10. POLTERGEIST (1982) Tobe Hooper (B+)

CLASSIEST GHOSTBUSTERS: Deborah Kerr in THE INNOCENTS and Claire Bloom in THE HAUNTING.

SEXIEST GHOSTBUSTER: Adrienne Barbeau in THE FOG.

SCARIEST SPECTERS: The two evil spirits in THE INNOCENTS, appearing in windows, darkened corridors, tower rooftops and murky lake waters; and the murdered twin girls in THE SHINING, who taunt Danny Lloyd into becoming their eternal playmate.

SCARIEST SOUND EFFECTS: The unexplained noises in THE HAUNTING, and the eerie child's voice on the audio tape recorder in THE CHANGELING.

BEST SETTING: The creepy lighthouse-turned radio station in THE FOG.

MOST HAUNTED CHILDREN: Haley Joel Osment in THE SIXTH SENSE; Zachary David Cope in STIR OF ECHOES; Lukas Haas in THE LADY IN WHITE; Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin in THE INNOCENTS; Danny Lloyd in THE SHINING; Heather O'Rourke in POLTERGEIST; and Chris Udvarnoky in THE OTHER.

SCARIEST PROPS: The television set, clown doll and tree branches in POLTERGIEST.

BEST NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS: Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING; Julie Harris in THE HAUNTING; and Kevin Bacon in STIR OF ECHOES.


[This message has been edited by AntonioDelLago (edited 06-28-2001).]

[!MorganOnyx!]

ANTONIO -
There is a novel by SUSAN HILL, called THE WOMAN IN BLACK. In the mid-late 80's they made a straight to tv film based on the novel. If you're not in the UK you'll probably never see it, but it is the scariest film i have EVER SEEN!
THE WOMAN IN BLACK was my greatest fear for 10 years, sometimes making me so hysterical that i couldn't say her name aloud if i was on my own or go home, even in the day, if i knew no-one was home! IF YOU CAN'T GET THE FILM TRY AND GET HOLD OF THE BOOK. THAT IS EXCELLENT AS WELL AND THE ENDING IS DIFFERENT TO THE FILM!

[!MorganOnyx!]

P.S. I still haven't totally shaken the fear. I'm now 19 but in the darkest of dark, i can still picture her standing there, staring. Or when i'm walking home at night, i sometimes think she's behind me. She could be so quiet i would never know she's there until it's too late.

[!MorganOnyx!]

ANTONIO -
OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! After writing the above comments to you i went on the INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE to have another look at THE WOMAN IN BLACK. They now have an image below the title - seriously, as it appeared a chill went down my spine cos i was so not prepared to see her standing in that graveyard!!
Anyway, YOU MUST GO ON IT - READ all the USER COMMENTS, every single person said it was majorly scary shit! It had an average rating of 8.4 (80? votes).
EXCELLENT NEWS - I presume you're in the USA. It was released there on DVD last year after years of being unavailable!
I cannot express the importance of you seeing this movie. GET IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

[AntonioDelLago]

Thanks for the tip, MORGAN. Sounds like a killer flick! By the way, I thought you were much older than 19, since your posts suggest a person of vast knowledge, wisdom and wit.

[!MorganOnyx!]

ANTONIO -
Woah, thanks dude! That's a really nice thing to say!
Well, as i said before i watched FRIDAY THE 13TH when i was about 8 and have been infatuated with horror movies ever since! My love will never die and i make every effort to see every horror film that gets released and obviously the ones that were made when i was a little baby! (I was 3 when FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 4 was released). To be honest i could be considered as a bit of a freak!!
When my mates houses are free and we be smokin weed and drinkin i'm always the one to slam on THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE or personal stoning favourites such as NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 (the whole gay thing - the gay bar, the gym teacher in leather getting whipped, Jesse being naked!!!) for classic entertainment. One time we all had the day off, we watched EVERY SINGLE F13 movie from 1 to JASON GOES TO HELL. We started about 11.00am and they finished round about midnight. We were all so desensitized, we had JASON on the brain. One of my friends even screamed (he was pissed and stoned to shit) cos he thought he saw JASON in the garden! That's the sort of mad shit we do! What do you do? Do you have all day/night horror marathons or what?!

[AntonioDelLago]

Oh my God, MORGAN, that's classic! Jason in the garden!!! I've staged a couple of horror movie marathons in my day (complete with the appropriate substance abuse)...but never an entire series from 11am to midnight! WOW! And I thought I was hardcore!

[the night watchman]

Very little causes me real fright anymore, but a well-told ghost story still sends shivers down my spine. Ya'll can say The Sixth Sense wasn't scary all you want, but I slept with the lights on the night I saw it for the first time.

Antonio's list is perfect. I might shuffle it around a bit, but these are the best ghost stories on film.

I totally agree about Adrienne Barbeau being sexiest ghostbuster. I had a mad crush on her in my early teens. My tongue still lolls when I watch The Fog or Swamp Thing.

I've heard of The Woman in Black, Morgan. I'll keep an eye out for it.

[Schilachi]

Morgon, dude!
Thanks for the tip on what sounds like a brilliant movie, as a brit ill try my best to hunt down the movie.
(Never know bravo might show it or something)

[!MorganOnyx!]

Yeah.Try your best cos it's even quite hard to get hold of it in the UK. The only times i've ever known that it's been on tv was the year it was made (1989) and about 5 years ago.I don't know where they have it on video!

[AntonioDelLago]

WITCHBOARD (1987) Directed by Kevin S. Tenney. Tawny Kitean stars as a young woman who attempts to contact the spirit of a young boy via a Ouija Board, and ends up becoming possessed by the evil spirit of an axe-wielding black magician. Todd Allen co-stars as Kitaen's skeptical boyfriend, and they are well-supported by Stephen Nichols as Kitaen's former paramour, and Kathleen Wilhoite, who steals the show as a kooky psychic. Very scary in some spots, this film was a box-office hit, riding the wave of success of the supernatural thriller subgenre, which was popular at the time (ANGEL HEART, THE BELIEVERS and THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK were all released during the same year). Kitaen, a major babe, was featured in a couple of "Whitesnake" rock videos from the same era. My grade for WITCHBOARD: B

[jgjavi]

doesn't the blair witch project belong somewhere on this list?

[AntonioDelLago]

JGJavi, I guess BWP could fit into many horror subgenres: ghost story, Satanic/witchcraft story, lost in the wilderness story, etc.

[Antonio Del Lago]

Would CANDYMAN and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET be considered ghost stories since they feature evil spirits?

Is anyone else looking forward to THE OTHERS with Nicole Kidman?

[Green]

I am looking foward to The Others although their hasn't been any hype about it. Antonio do you know what the plot details are?

[JayWolf]

Speaking of ghost stories, I'm soon to have a site up where people post scary stories based on some of their worst nightmares. Most of my friends that have read mine said they were pretty good and would make a good ghost story in one of those "Scary Stories" type books. Either that, or a neat little short film and combine them together for a feature length ametuer film. Look for it soon. To be continued in another post...

[Antonio Del Lago]

JAW WOLF, sounds like a cool idea. I'm from Louisiana, where ghost stories are part of every day life, as are voodoo rituals and other fun religions which are intertwined with the Catholic Church.

GREEN, from what I've gathered from the previews, THE OTHERS stars Nicole Kidman as a woman who moves into a Gothic estate with her two children, who are either possessed or haunted by the spirits which reside there, in the same vain as THE INNOCENTS.

[Carl Zittrer]

I must admit that most ghost movies don't have much of an effect on me. The "classic" ones (such as THE INNOCENTS (1961), THE HAUNTING (1963), et al) are too quaint and prissy to be scary, and ghosts depicted on film in general are usually too benign and unthreatening to engender even mild unease.

Nevertheless, here are some ghost movies that I like:

-THE CHANGELING (1979)
-LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971)
-THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973)
-JACOB'S LADDER (1990)
-THE SHINING (1980)
-SURVIVOR (1980)
-GHOST WATCH (1992)
-THE OTHER (1972)
-THE ASPHYX (1972)
-SOLARIS (1972) - Only marginally ghost-related, I know, but a fabulous film.

[nightmareman]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004UEEU.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg Is this the women in black

[Antonio Del Lago]

Yeah, NIGHTMAREMAN, that's the poster for THE WOMAN IN BLACK featured on the IMDB. I can't wait to see it, since everyone has raved about how scary it is!

[nightmareman]

You know what Antonio I want to see it to but I hope its not being over hyped becuase I wasnt to impressed with the poster, but im gonna check it out.

[Antonio Del Lago]

MOST ANTICIPATED GHOST STORIES: THE OTHERS and SOUL SURVIVORS.

[Antonio]

We can all add The Others to our respective lists, since it seems to be unanimous that this was the best horror film of 2001.

[The Arrow]

This belong in Horror best, worst and list of all kinds---moving there...help me and my moderators keep this board organised please...

[pedro]

Two asian ghost films worth honorable mention are:

A Chinese Ghost Story

Whispering Corridors

[Andrew Tom]

Not really horror but scared the hell out of me as a kid: Scrooged(come on, the ghost of christmas future was creepy...)

[RoboPredator]

Ghostbusters of course!Who ya gonna call?

[iNCUBUS]

the Others, by far..