The Non Reluctant Reader YA Paranormal Spooktacular: Scott Tracey, author of Demon Eyes

Hey guys, welcome to the ninth day of The Non Reluctant Reader YA Paranormal Spooktacular! I'm pleased to welcome Scott Tracey, author of Demon Eyes! So read on and prepared to be scared! And make sure when tweeting about it you use the hashtag #NRRYASpooktacular! See the schedule of the entire event and all the authors featured HERE.

Demons don't die without a fight...
After destroying the demon Lucien, Braden—son of Belle Dam’s most powerful warlock, Jason Thorpe—doesn’t need the power of his witch eyes to see that everything in his life is turning against him: friends, family, and even his visions. When disturbing nightmares of Lucien’s return haunt him, Braden discovers that the simmering feud between the city’s two witch dynasties is fast approaching its explosive boiling point.
While struggling to come to terms with his attraction to Trey, Catherine Lansing’s son who should be his mortal enemy, a diabolical plan starts to unveil before Braden’s eyes. Young women are disappearing from Belle Dam, and as he investigates, Braden is forced to explore the dangerous unknown power within himself. But when the truth about his family is revealed, Braden must pay a terrible price.

So I scrambled my brain to come up with a great topic, but seriously, it’s HARD.  Like, thinking up your own topic is not for the weak of heart.  Should I write about my favorite villains?  Favorite scary novels I read growing up?  Favorite scary Paris Hilton memories? 

And then it hit me.  The scariest non-horror movies ever.  Now there were a few honorable mentions, but I had to go with only the movies I’ve actually finished watching.  So, sorry ARACHNAPHOBIA, I couldn’t pick you.  Fun story – when I was a kid, my parents bought Arachnaphobia when it came out, and I tried DESPERATELY to watch it.  I think it just became a challenge after awhile – to see if I could get through the entire movie.  I probably started watching it 20 different times.  I never once made it through.  THAT is the mark of a traumatizing movie.  I probably wasn’t even that scared of spiders before! 

Also, an honorable mention to SLITHER, which Nathan Fillion.  I got to the part where the girl expands to the size of a barn and I was DONE.  D.O.N.E.  I hate sci fi movies especially when people get infected by creatures and things.  It gives me the creeps more than almost anything else.

But as I said, these are only the honorable mentions.  I had to go with the five scariest movies I’ve ever seen all the way through.

The Top Five Non-Horror Scariest Movies Ever:

1. CABIN FEVER

IMDB says: A group of five college graduates rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a horrifying flesh-eating virus, which attracts the unwanted attention of the homicidal locals.

Why it’s creepy:  It’s not even really a horror movie, per se.  But it’s a horrible, horrible movie (in the good way) about the flesh eating bacteria and one really messed up weekend.  I’ve seen this movie once, and only once, and I’ll probably never watch it all the way through again, because it creeped me out that bad. 

Why?

Because everything in this movie could feasibly happen.  It’s not about an undead killer being raised from the dead for the ninth time, this could happen.  (Okay, maybe not exactly the way it happened in this movie but it could happen).  There are horribly graphic moments where you realize just how horrible it would be to have the flesh eating virus.  If you’ve seen the movie, you know exactly what I’m talking about when I mention the shaving scene.

2.  REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

IMDB says: The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island individuals are shattered when their addictions become stronger.

Why it’s creepy:

Drugs are bad.  But watching a movie like this, where you see exactly how so many different people fall into the drug trap, is kind of terrifying.  You can see exactly how people fall into a lifestyle of drugs and destruction, and you see exactly how badly Jared Leto fairs by the end.  Again, another movie I’ve only seen once (even though I own it) and I’ll probably never watch again.  The image of Jared Leto’s arm haunts me to this day. 

3:  THE INVISIBILE

IMDB says: After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able to help him, is his attacker.

Why It’s Creepy:  I don’t think there would be anything worse than having to watch what happens in the aftermath of your death, and knowing that there was nothing you could do to affect any of it.  Watching how the kids at school talk about you once you’re gone, what your parents go through, and even the ways your death affects the people that you didn’t realize it would affect.  And you’re trapped in a quiet afterlife world where no one can hear you, and nothing that you do sticks, and all you can do is watch.

This movie, unlike some of the others, is a movie that I’ve rewatched a thousand times.  It’s one of my favorite movies, and I love the visuals and the way the movie is set up.

4:  SUPERMAN III

IMDB says: Synthetic kryptonite laced with tobacco tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel.

Why It’s Creepy:

Now this is an oldie (sort of), but it’s the first truly horrific movie I’ve ever seen in my life.  In the movie, there’s a part where one of the villain’s cohorts (his assistant, or secretary, or girlfriend, I forget) gets sucked up into this giant supercomputer and is forcibly remade into a creepy cyborg against her will.  I tell you, I saw this movie when I was five or six and I didn’t sleep for WEEKS.  WEEKS.  Any time you have a movie where people get remade, or they get infected with alien things, or they’re in some way taken over by computers or anything like that, it freaks me out worse than anything.

I STILL cannot watch this movie to this day.

5:  BRING IT ON

IMDB says: A champion high school cheerleading squad discovers its previous captain stole all their best routines from an inner-city school and must scramble to compete at this year's championships.

Why It’s Creepy:  Do I really need to explain this one?  Seriously, I still have nightmares…