Non-Scary Horror Movies
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9 Horror Movies For The Faint Of Heart

Chills and thrills for the anxious soul.

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9 Horror Movies For The Faint Of Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oquZifON8Eg

Summer is ending, and you know what that means: it is now, legally, Halloween. If you're like me and can't handle the big scares, though, here are a few movies to suggest at your next scary movie night:

1. The Others

There is one type of horror movie I absolutely cannot handle. I can stomach monsters, I can handle serial killers, but I believe too deeply in ghosts to enjoy basically any kind of horror fiction about them. Except for The Others. The Others is, actually, one of my favorite movies. It presents itself as a standard horror movie - a woman and her children are introduced to their house's new servants and strange things begin happening soon after - but turns on its head as you begin to realize that what looks like a straightforward set of clues doesn't actually add up. It's a fun one to try and solve, and isn't too, too spooky in the end.

2. It Follows

If you don't like horror movies because you don't enjoy the suspense, this one probably isn't for you. Otherwise, though, It Follows features a clever, new monster for an audience that has grown accustomed to horror tropes. It Follows follows a girl trying to escape a creature invisible to all but the person its curse is inflicted upon, the victims of which must endure the creature as it follows behind them at a walking pace with certain death in the cards if they are caught. It's new, creative, and only frightening if you fear the sensation of being on the run.

3. Coraline

Coraline is the most terrifying children's movie ever made. It makes your skin crawl and keeps you unsettled for its entire duration. It's a girl trapped in the Upside Down who believes she's merely in Wonderland, a downward spiral that keeps me on edge long after it finds the bottom. It is perfect, however, for children. "It was a story, I learned when people began to read it, that children experienced as an adventure, but which gave adults nightmares," Neil Gaiman wrote in a Facebook post in 2011. "It's the strangest book I've written."

Adults see Coraline as a child living in a dangerous world with no means of escape. Children see Coraline as validation of the monsters they already believe are in the world and see themselves as Coraline, the hero of an adventure. It's a fascinating piece of writing -- worth the goosebumps, I think.

4. A Quiet Place

This is more of a post-apocalyptic, family-driven suspense film than a straightforward horror movie, but it is a monster movie. After an invasion of creatures who will attack anything that makes a sound wipes out the majority of the planet, a small family must find a way to survive without disturbing Earth's newest residents. It's got a few jump scares, but it's the silence in it that's most effective. Audiences watching this film often went as quiet as the characters had to be, only munching on popcorn when they knew they were safe. It's one of the most effective uses of sound in a film that I've seen, and a slightly less than terrifying one at that.

5. Cabin in the Woods

This one's a funny one. It's got some scares, but its main draw-in is the way it takes horror tropes and interrogates them through one of the oldest in the book: a group of friends meet extraordinary circumstances in what should have been a simple trip to a cabin in the woods. It's more psychological and clever than it is scary, and by the end has evolved from horror to sci-fi to thriller and back.

6. Get Out

If you haven't seen Get Out yet, you'd better have a pretty good reason. This Oscar-winning story about a young black man who discovers his anxiety over meeting his white girlfriend's family is more than earned is a tense, twisting thriller to the very end. As long as your horror movie fears don't stem from the idea that "humans are the true monsters" or you're afraid of deer, though, you should be able to withstand this new addition to the genre -- and you absolutely should.

7. Jennifer's Body

This truly was a comedy way ahead of its time. Sure, it's a horror film, but it's campy horror. It's over the top, high-school-girl-fueled horror. Unless guts and gore freak you out, you're in for a good time.

8. Crimson Peak

The ghost-fearing romantic heroine in me is reluctant to put this film on this list, but it deserves a mention. This Guillermo del Toro horror film follows a classic trope of gothic literature: an unsuspecting woman finds herself entangled in the dark and haunted (?) history of a brooding man. This time, though, the ghosts are very, very real. Crimson Peak is not only a very well-made piece of horror/adventure, but a brilliantly written love letter to the women of gothic literature as its fair skinned beauty becomes a 19th century ghost hunter.

9. What We Do In The Shadows

Or, if you really can't stomach any kind of horror but still want to join the fun, an honest comedy might be your best bet. Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi made this mockumentary about a group of vampire roommates in modern-day New Zealand, and it will sate your appetite for monsters without the scares.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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