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Re: ^Yeah Camilla Send a noteboard - 17/09/2010 09:08:33 AM
They were cute.

I think it's interesting because of what you said in your original post:

I have been watching Buffy lately, and I've realised that the only monsters there I am properly afraid of (as in, I'll skip the episode or hold hands in front of my eyes) are the guy in Killed by Death and the gentlemen in Hush. And the more I think about it, they follow a trend in how I react to monsters. If there is something wrong with the eyes or they smile wrong (my main problem with Hufsa in the Moomin), I am petrified. That is all it takes. It in addition they are tiny children or float instead of walking, I will sleep with the light on, but the core of the problem is eyes and smiles.

Is this just me? What makes a monster scary?

I may stop reading replies if they get too scary.

All of the monsters in that movie are 'deformed' in the ways people imagined them as children. A couple of them have just one eye. Others have 3, or 5. Some have extra arms and legs, horns, etc. As far as smiles go, they are fairly 'human'

I think it's pretty interesting that you would find these characters to be 'cute' in that case.

It's pretty remarkable to think about what scares people. Along these lines, have you ever heard of the Uncanny Valley hypothesis?


I have, and it is quite true. Regarding the Monsters Inc monsters, however, I think the cue is not only that they don't look human (they look like big bears &c), the parts of them that do (as you say, smiles) are right, while smiles have the power to unsettle if they are wrong and on something that looks human, having one on a big blue bear (fuzziness helps) merely makes them relatable. I think all their eyes are big as well, regardless of number. For some reason that has the same effect (but only in drawings -- similar eyes in a realistic-looking film would scare me silly. Perhaps the divorce from reality that a drawing entails punctures the uncanny by removing it too much (or, rather, enough) from reality.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
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Monsters. Why are they scary? - 13/09/2010 05:44:08 PM 978 Views
It's always best not to see the monster - 13/09/2010 06:06:07 PM 700 Views
Re: It's always best not to see the monster - 14/09/2010 02:06:42 AM 762 Views
I get more scared by writing than by film, so I'm going to go with the unseen bit. - 13/09/2010 06:49:38 PM 704 Views
Re: I get more scared by writing than by film, so I'm going to go with the unseen bit. - 13/09/2010 06:52:07 PM 740 Views
Slake moths - 17/09/2010 05:17:29 AM 706 Views
You should read it! It's public domain and very short. - 18/09/2010 06:33:21 AM 689 Views
Hufsa? - 13/09/2010 06:51:44 PM 876 Views
Re: Hufsa? - 13/09/2010 06:54:12 PM 812 Views
Re: Hufsa? - 13/09/2010 07:22:08 PM 780 Views
Re: Hufsa? - 13/09/2010 07:33:17 PM 708 Views
im not scared of then but i'm creeped out by children. - 13/09/2010 08:34:59 PM 713 Views
Re: im not scared of then but i'm creeped out by children. - 13/09/2010 08:53:35 PM 712 Views
children singing nursery rhymes and making the lyrics sound scary - 14/09/2010 08:56:37 AM 744 Views
I agree. - 14/09/2010 08:07:07 PM 767 Views
One, two, Freddy's coming for you... *NM* - 15/09/2010 01:00:58 AM 331 Views
Things that are Wrong or unknowable. - 14/09/2010 02:04:54 AM 654 Views
But aren't all monsters "wrong" by definition? *NM* - 14/09/2010 10:04:05 AM 401 Views
Hokey wrong is not Wrong. - 14/09/2010 06:31:10 PM 781 Views
True. - 14/09/2010 06:39:25 PM 605 Views
imo, one of two things - 14/09/2010 05:24:45 AM 765 Views
unheimlich - 14/09/2010 10:05:07 AM 801 Views
anything that makes me jump - 14/09/2010 09:01:11 AM 746 Views
Re: anything that makes me jump - 14/09/2010 10:05:49 AM 706 Views
Deformity - 14/09/2010 12:47:10 PM 793 Views
Re: Deformity - 14/09/2010 03:02:28 PM 620 Views
The Gentlemen from Hush were probably the creepiest monsters I've ever seen. - 14/09/2010 04:10:22 PM 722 Views
yah. they were definitely the creepiest. - 14/09/2010 08:35:01 PM 702 Views
Re: yah. they were definitely the creepiest. - 14/09/2010 08:42:02 PM 749 Views
Most monsters scare me... - 15/09/2010 03:21:15 AM 792 Views
Re: Most monsters scare me... - 15/09/2010 08:33:06 AM 682 Views
You really need to watch Monsters, Inc. *NM* - 15/09/2010 03:53:20 AM 358 Views
I have - 15/09/2010 08:33:53 AM 677 Views
Re: I have - 15/09/2010 10:36:13 PM 725 Views
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^Yeah - 17/09/2010 07:25:44 AM 703 Views
Re: ^Yeah - 17/09/2010 09:08:33 AM 714 Views
For those who are creeped out by unnatural movements... - 18/09/2010 06:22:18 PM 594 Views
Re: For those who are creeped out by unnatural movements... - 18/09/2010 06:23:43 PM 688 Views

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