The lights must be off. You have to have a blanket or pillow close at hand to hide behind. A drink should be within arm's reach to sooth a throat parched by screaming. And if at all possible, a phone needs to be available for you to call a friend (or the police) at a moment's notice.

If, and only if, these prerequisites are met, then you are ready to watch a scary movie. Here are a few flicks that require me to take these measures.

5. "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)
Though thought of by some as one of the hundreds of cheesy horror movies released in the '80's, the first "Nightmare" movie still holds enough power to make me jump and cringe. The grisly voice of Freddy Krueger is almost worse than the "steel fingernails on a lead pipe" screech that accompanies the arrival of the dream-killer.

His chilling banter just makes it worse when he's chasing Nancy down a cold deserted street, or talking to her on her phone ("I'm your boyfriend now"). And there's that thought, no matter how illogical, that something in our dreams can kill us, that I just can't shake. "Nightmare on Elm Street" is one of those movies that will frighten me for years to come.

4. "The Exorcist" (1973)
The first time I watched "The Exorcist," I was barely thirteen and had just come home from baby-sitting my neighbor's kids. It was after 1am, and they had let me borrow the movie. I hadn't even gotten past the beginning (the part everyone thinks is boring), before I got so scared I had to turn it off. When I finally got up the nerve to watch it in it's entirety, I was horrified. When I found out that the book it was based on was itself based on true events, I was doubly horrified. That a young child could be possessed by such evil was something I could not comprehend.

The movie is so realistic and terrifying, I've only been able to sit through it twice since. "The Exorcist" frightened me to the core, and has had such a lasting effect on me that to this day the thought of watching it fills me with a sense of dread.

3. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)
There's a tune they play during this movie that literally makes my hair stand on end. Hearing it makes me want to flee from the room and watch Disney movies. If only that was enough. Starring the beatific Mia Farrow and directed by none other than Roman Polanski, "Rosemary's Baby" answers the question "What if I give birth to the Anti-Christ?"

Farrow's innocent look in the movie just makes it more chilling when

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Scariest horror movies?
We want to hear your view. Write now!