Not to sound overly pretentious, as media critics, when we were considering how to bring back the site, one of the things I proposed was one of our top five lists to compare the five slasher monsters we “enjoyed” (not the right word, but leave it there as a place holder) watching: who scared the poop out of you? He said, “Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers. Who else is there?”
I, of course, mentioned ten off the top of my head. (Of course, not because I’m a connoisseur of slashers which I am, nor because I was being a jerk which I can be, but because I already had considered the question.) I will list honorable mentions at the end.
When the Beard handed me his list, he wrote a disclaimer that I will include here in its entirety:
These are not in order of last to best or best to last. I decided they ALL hold an equal and special place in the pit of my stomach, so I decided to place them in order of how I first encountered them.
#5
Pennywise from 1986: I have never found clowns amusing. I always found them scary and I did not go to a circus until I was an adult and he is the one I find the most frightening. — The Beard
Leatherface: I was very young when I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We were on vacation and we received tickets to a drive-in theatre. I don’t know why the title didn’t clue my parents in that it was going to be horrific. I don’t think they expected my little brother and I to stay awake to watch the whole thing, but one of us did, and Dad even today asked me, “Why do you like that stuff?” — The Mustache
#4
Ghostface: First appearance was 1996. I love his look. He is easily the most stylish of all the slashers. — The Beard
Pennywise: I read Stephen King’s It way before watching the TV movie with Tim Curry, and found it scary, but nowhere near the way it played out in my imagination. However, the Bill Skarsgard interpretation was particularly chilling when I went with my sister, Dee, who has a clown phobia, to watch It (2017). — The Mustache
#3
Jason Voorhees first appeared in 1980. What can I say? You gotta love this guy! What hasn’t he done and where hasn’t he been?
Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise came onto the scene pretty early during the slasher craze and I was in on the ground floor. The knives for fingers is perfect for a slasher. Wolverine, he is not. — The Mustache
#2
Michael Myers’ first appearance was in Halloween (1978). I never found him particularly scary but the movies themselves gave me nightmares. Good writing! — The Beard
Michael Myers: On this one the Beard and I agree because Halloween started it all: (although proto-slashers like Psycho and Peeping Tom did exist before hand) the beginnings of the sub-genre happened when John Carpenter created this guy over here. I never had to babysit overnight, but if I had to, I would have invited a crapton of people. — The Mustache
#1
Freddy Krueger’s first appearance was 1984. It is remarkable that what could so easily come across as a cartoon character instead is truly the stuff of nightmares. I credit this to Robert Englund’s excellent portrayal.
Jason Voorhees has inhabited my nightmares since I was 14, when I watched the first Friday the 13th movie, and although he only made a brief appearance in the last minutes of that movie, they were freaking memorable minutes. When the second movie happened, that’s when it became even more real. — The Mustache
That’s it for our list, but we do want to mention some other slashers that would have made my top ten. I think Ghostface, was a great choice by the Beard, but he would have been six, Mad Man Mars would have been seven, Jigsaw would have been eight, Angela Baker from Sleepaway Camp for a host of reasons, and last but not least Terrifier. I left Pamela Voorhees off my list because she lost her head, and Chucky because he’s just a toy.
Shout out to my Dad, (the Collar) who is our biggest fan and swears we should be calling ourselves media critics because we don’t just talk only about movies or books, but about all of it. I don’t give him enough credit. That’s it for us. Tell us what you think. Share your own list. If you like the post, tap that Like button. Share and subscribe.
As always, thank you for reading the post. See you later. Take it easy and. . .
The Mustache and The Beard 