I'm STILL on the Supernatural kick and STILL not stitching, so I have to blog about something, right? A couple of you guys commented about the show being scary and that's why you don't watch it, and I get that...not everyone can handle scary. I have always loved horror. Granted, this is a network TV show, so calling it "horror" is a stretch, but people do have different definitions of scary.
For me, the ONLY thing I find scary is ghosts and, it has to be really scary, but the occasional demonic possession. Most things gory are boring to me because I do work in a path lab, so gore is normal in my world, but in some cases, as Dean says, "demons I get people are crazy". When it comes to your typical monster types, since they aren't real, those also don't scare me. Ghosts, on the other hand, are real (at least I believe they are since I am sensitive to them although I'm not sure I've ever seen one, just sensed them) and anything real can be made to be scary. Because ghosts are my weakness, that's going to influence this list. Everyone's fears are different (I also have a fear of clowns, trees, bugs, and dozens of other things, but on film, those things don't translate the same except in certain situations). Demons could potentially be real, I'm still on the fence about them, or they could just be evil ghosts, so therefore, I'll intermingle them a bit.
I should also add, that until season 4 when the Angel lore kicks into full gear, the main premise of each episode basically dealt with folklore and urban legends. As an odd-ball kid, I had more than an average working knowledge of folklore and urban legends, so a lot of the stories they took on in those first three seasons were super fascinating to me. After the angel stuff started, these storylines slowed down and almost halted for a while and became just the occasional treat. That would be my only complaint about the show. I miss those weekly horror movies. But alas, it is what it is now and I do still love it, but it's also why my lists really only encompass the first few seasons (even though there are 13 so far).
#5: 5:09 - The Real Ghostbusters
This episode could also make the funny list as well...the meta story in the show where the boys find out about a series of books written about them exists gets worse when they arrive at, what they think is an emergency case, only to find out it's a Sam and Dean convention. Becky Rosen, who turns up in several episodes, is Sam's "biggest fan" and is slightly stalkerish (OK, that's the understatement of the year, but still), any episode she's in makes it funny just on that alone. And well, when it comes to Chuck (the author of the books and another "prominent character I won't give away because of spoiler-dom), I always love episodes with him. I really don't think there is another show that makes fun of itself as much as Supernatural does.
The convention is at a hotel that used to be an orphanage and is haunted by kids who were murdered there. There is nothing scarier than ghost kids, funny moments or not. Unfortunately, because of the funny moments in the show, there are no great scary clips of the kids, so you'll just have to take my word for it. There is a great twist to their story as well which, because of the funny, you don't see coming.
#4: 3:13 - Ghostfacers
Yet another "funny" episode (and potential spin-off show that never got off the ground other than a web series), the underlying story though is quite scary...a hospital janitor, born in a leap year, haunts his house and murders every four years on his birthday and, when the boys show up to destroy him, they run into their old nemeses, the Ghostfacers. This entire episode is told from the Ghostfacers point of view, so you are seeing Sam and Dean differently. It's always funny because, when they do episodes like this, the boys are more "real" than average and they cuss like sailors!
And the episode they are referring to (1:17 Hell House, would probably make the top 10 list, despite the funny parts). That's the thing about this show, sometimes the funny lightens up the scary.
#3: 1:15 - The Benders
This is my one non-ghost episode that makes the list (and it also makes most of the cast's scariest episode list too). When I make my road trips, I often think of this episode because it is a very real possibility. Basically the premise is, in the midst of investigating the disappearance of a guy, Sam also disappears. Come to find out though, the bad guys aren't monsters or demons, but actual humans who get off hunting other humans for fun and then eating them Texas Chainsaw Massacre style.
#2: 1:01 - Pilot
Obviously, coming into a new show and not knowing what you are getting into, your nerves are a bit on edge anyway and knowing you are watching a horror show makes it that much worse, but I do think they put a little more "juice" into the pilot episode than some of the other ones in the first season. Besides setting up the main storyline of the boys and their past (as well as their future), they go on their first case which turns out to be a lady in white. A lady in white is an urban legend based on the ghost of a woman who died, usually by her own hands, but because of being hurt by a man. She is often seen (and rumored to kill) cheating men on dark lonely highways at night. There is a bit of spoiler with this clip, but I wanted to show it because it shows how great the special effects are in this show. You have to remember...this episode aired in 2005 and it's still better SPX than shows in 2018.
#1: 1:10 - Asylum
Granted, I have more of a first-hand knowledge of Asylums more than most people, but I've always been terrified of them even before I was locked in one. Crazy in life leads to even crazier in death. But I'm still extremely fascinated with them (at least the empty, haunted kind). This is my all-time scariest episode, the one that I have to watch with the lights on.
There are actually a lot of asylum episodes in Supernatural...Sam spends time locked in one, as does Castiel, the boys lock themselves in one a couple of times to solve cases, even Crowley takes up residence in one (because he doesn't like living in Hell, King of Hell and a demon or not), but none of them really involve haunted ones like this episode. I think I find the Sam locked up episodes the most disturbing (and hitting closest to home).
Honorable Mention: 2:06 No Exit
Like Sam, I also have a morbid fascination with serial killers, so when they did an episode about H.H. Holmes (America's first serial killer), I was all excited! I was a bit bent out of shape when they used a photo of one of Jack the Ripper's victim's (Elizabeth Stride to be precise) instead of H.H. Holmes (I guess they thought most people would't notice?), but otherwise, it was an incredibly scary episode. Normally, I hate clips like this, clips where people record them from their TV, but it shows the photo in question and describes Holmes' tactics.
For me, the ONLY thing I find scary is ghosts and, it has to be really scary, but the occasional demonic possession. Most things gory are boring to me because I do work in a path lab, so gore is normal in my world, but in some cases, as Dean says, "demons I get people are crazy". When it comes to your typical monster types, since they aren't real, those also don't scare me. Ghosts, on the other hand, are real (at least I believe they are since I am sensitive to them although I'm not sure I've ever seen one, just sensed them) and anything real can be made to be scary. Because ghosts are my weakness, that's going to influence this list. Everyone's fears are different (I also have a fear of clowns, trees, bugs, and dozens of other things, but on film, those things don't translate the same except in certain situations). Demons could potentially be real, I'm still on the fence about them, or they could just be evil ghosts, so therefore, I'll intermingle them a bit.
I should also add, that until season 4 when the Angel lore kicks into full gear, the main premise of each episode basically dealt with folklore and urban legends. As an odd-ball kid, I had more than an average working knowledge of folklore and urban legends, so a lot of the stories they took on in those first three seasons were super fascinating to me. After the angel stuff started, these storylines slowed down and almost halted for a while and became just the occasional treat. That would be my only complaint about the show. I miss those weekly horror movies. But alas, it is what it is now and I do still love it, but it's also why my lists really only encompass the first few seasons (even though there are 13 so far).
#5: 5:09 - The Real Ghostbusters
This episode could also make the funny list as well...the meta story in the show where the boys find out about a series of books written about them exists gets worse when they arrive at, what they think is an emergency case, only to find out it's a Sam and Dean convention. Becky Rosen, who turns up in several episodes, is Sam's "biggest fan" and is slightly stalkerish (OK, that's the understatement of the year, but still), any episode she's in makes it funny just on that alone. And well, when it comes to Chuck (the author of the books and another "prominent character I won't give away because of spoiler-dom), I always love episodes with him. I really don't think there is another show that makes fun of itself as much as Supernatural does.
The convention is at a hotel that used to be an orphanage and is haunted by kids who were murdered there. There is nothing scarier than ghost kids, funny moments or not. Unfortunately, because of the funny moments in the show, there are no great scary clips of the kids, so you'll just have to take my word for it. There is a great twist to their story as well which, because of the funny, you don't see coming.
#4: 3:13 - Ghostfacers
Yet another "funny" episode (and potential spin-off show that never got off the ground other than a web series), the underlying story though is quite scary...a hospital janitor, born in a leap year, haunts his house and murders every four years on his birthday and, when the boys show up to destroy him, they run into their old nemeses, the Ghostfacers. This entire episode is told from the Ghostfacers point of view, so you are seeing Sam and Dean differently. It's always funny because, when they do episodes like this, the boys are more "real" than average and they cuss like sailors!
And the episode they are referring to (1:17 Hell House, would probably make the top 10 list, despite the funny parts). That's the thing about this show, sometimes the funny lightens up the scary.
#3: 1:15 - The Benders
This is my one non-ghost episode that makes the list (and it also makes most of the cast's scariest episode list too). When I make my road trips, I often think of this episode because it is a very real possibility. Basically the premise is, in the midst of investigating the disappearance of a guy, Sam also disappears. Come to find out though, the bad guys aren't monsters or demons, but actual humans who get off hunting other humans for fun and then eating them Texas Chainsaw Massacre style.
#2: 1:01 - Pilot
Obviously, coming into a new show and not knowing what you are getting into, your nerves are a bit on edge anyway and knowing you are watching a horror show makes it that much worse, but I do think they put a little more "juice" into the pilot episode than some of the other ones in the first season. Besides setting up the main storyline of the boys and their past (as well as their future), they go on their first case which turns out to be a lady in white. A lady in white is an urban legend based on the ghost of a woman who died, usually by her own hands, but because of being hurt by a man. She is often seen (and rumored to kill) cheating men on dark lonely highways at night. There is a bit of spoiler with this clip, but I wanted to show it because it shows how great the special effects are in this show. You have to remember...this episode aired in 2005 and it's still better SPX than shows in 2018.
#1: 1:10 - Asylum
Granted, I have more of a first-hand knowledge of Asylums more than most people, but I've always been terrified of them even before I was locked in one. Crazy in life leads to even crazier in death. But I'm still extremely fascinated with them (at least the empty, haunted kind). This is my all-time scariest episode, the one that I have to watch with the lights on.
There are actually a lot of asylum episodes in Supernatural...Sam spends time locked in one, as does Castiel, the boys lock themselves in one a couple of times to solve cases, even Crowley takes up residence in one (because he doesn't like living in Hell, King of Hell and a demon or not), but none of them really involve haunted ones like this episode. I think I find the Sam locked up episodes the most disturbing (and hitting closest to home).
Honorable Mention: 2:06 No Exit
Like Sam, I also have a morbid fascination with serial killers, so when they did an episode about H.H. Holmes (America's first serial killer), I was all excited! I was a bit bent out of shape when they used a photo of one of Jack the Ripper's victim's (Elizabeth Stride to be precise) instead of H.H. Holmes (I guess they thought most people would't notice?), but otherwise, it was an incredibly scary episode. Normally, I hate clips like this, clips where people record them from their TV, but it shows the photo in question and describes Holmes' tactics.
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