There is something about escaping from your everyday life by taking a nice long vacation. The worries and stresses of life seem to melt away when you are in a tropical location watching the waves roll in with your favorite beverage close at hand. But we also use movies as a form of escapism. A really good movie can give you a couple hours of free time away from your problems, bills and other issues you face each day.

A good comedy can lift your spirits and a good drama can leave you identifying and sympathizing with the characters. But what I don't understand is the fascination we have with scary movies. Believe me, I am as big of a horror movie fan as you'll find but what I can't explain is why it's so fun to have the #@%$ scared out of you! Scary movies have always been popular, going back to the silent film days. With Halloween coming, it's a good time to take a look at the most popular scary movies of all time. Recently Hollywood.com put together a list of the top scary movies of all time according to box office numbers. Some of these are not typical horror films, but when they were released they still made people jump in their seats. In parenthesis is the money each one earned, adjusting for inflation to modern day ticket prices.

5. "Jaws 2" 1978 ($215 million) As one of two sequels in the top 5, this movie really drew on the popularity of the original. Everyone knew exactly what it was going to be about and they came out in hordes to see a monster shark feed on some more foolish swimmers.

4. "The Mummy Returns" 2001 ($221 million) You remember, the Brendan Fraser movie. I don't really get this one, I think it's more of an action movie then a scary movie, but it had its moments. Overall it was an average movie at best, much like the first one of the series. But apparently it had the right combination of action and suspense to make it one of the biggest movies that year.

3. "The Sixth Sense" 1999 ($357 million) This is a good suspenseful movie with an excellent twist, that unfortunately was ruined for me before I saw it. The bad part is this movie launched the career of M. Night WhatsHisName. He has struggled to top this movie ever since, and I highly doubt he ever will.

2. "The Exorcist" 1973 ($686 million) Now this is a good old fashioned horror movie. I was pretty young in the 70's but I knew a scary movie when I saw one and this was it. I don't know if I watched the whole thing the first time I saw it, but I know the parts I did see stuck with me for a long time.

1. "Jaws" 1975 ($795 million) Unlike "The Sixth Sense" this movie launched the career of someone who has made some of the best movies of all time: Steven Spielberg. This movie is a classic and stands the test of time very well. More than 32 years later the music alone can still make you think twice about jumping off a boat.

What's kind of shocking about this list is that you don't see any of the "Nightmare On Elm Street" or "Friday The 13th" movies anywhere, even in the top 25! The psychological thrillers probably do deserve more credit then the gory, slasher movies. Most of these movies will be all over cable TV throughout October so you'll have plenty of opportunities to get spooked!

Learn more about this author, Jon Hanson.
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