Scary facts
While investigating facts about Scary, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Stephen King was recognised by an Old Lady in a store who criticised him for writing scary stories. Saying She preferred uplifting stories like The Shawshank Redemption. Completely unaware it was based on his short story.
The creator of Attack on Titan was inspired to create the Titans after seeing a drunk customer at a cafe. He was inspired by the lack of the ability to communicate even though the person was of the same species. He decided the most familiar and scary animal in the world is actually the human.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about Scary I managed to collect.
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The young cast of "It" were warned beforehand that Bill Skarsgård, who plays Pennywise, could be uncharacteristically scary in character. The kids brushed this off, but when Skarsgård came out for their first scene together, he scared them so badly that most ended up crying or screaming.
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Skrillex song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" stops mosquitos from having sex
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The Dire Wolf Project, a project to breed German Shepherds to resemble dire wolves. It started in 1988 and focuses first on health and temperament. They are enormous, scary, shaggy and, by all accounts, terribly sweet.
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Neither the Spice Girls themselves or their management came up with the Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger, Posh aliases. They were devised by Top of the Pops magazine in 1996 and later adopted by the group
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An episode of 'Peppa Pig' had to be banned in Australia because it taught children that spiders aren't that scary. It was considered too dangerous to teach Australian kids that spiders are not to be feared.
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The film Homicidal (1961) features a 'fright break' before the climax. The break gave the audience a chance to leave and get a refund before it got too scary. People that left got their pictures taken and added to 'Coward's Corner' which was used to advertise how scary the film was.
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Cup stacking girl Rachael Nedrow didn't know Skrillex had sampled her "Yes, oh my gosh!" on "Nice Sprites And Scary Monsters" until a friend sent her the song on YouTube, he later paid her a royalty
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A family-friendly game developer went into a depression after people repeteadely criticized his game character for looking like 'a scary animatronic'. He overcame depression, was inspired to make a horror game, and went on to create 'Five Nights at Freddy’s'.
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Infrasound - a low-frequency sound (19Hz and below) that cannot be heard, but literally unsettles human beings. Some horror movie music composers use this sound to make audiences feel dread just before disturbing or scary images appears on the screen.
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Tim Burton became popular after directing Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, personally chosen by Pee-Wee actor/creator Paul Reubens. Burton had recently been fired from Disney for creating the short film Frankenweenie, as it was deemed too dark and scary for children.
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Not only was Tim Curry Tim Burton's second choice for The Joker in 1989's BATMAN, he also was the voice of The Joker for four episodes of Batman: The Animated Series before his performance was deemed "too scary for children."
The children's book series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark were the most challenged books from 1990 - 1999 because of the violent nature of the stories and the surreal, nightmarish illustrations contained within. - source
In the first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, Marge warns parents of the content of the episode advising them to put their children to bed. The warning was put in as a sincere effort to warn young viewers, as the producers felt it was somewhat scary. - source
Films often use 'Infrasound', which is below the range of human hearing, but can induce anxiety and fear for use in scary moments.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark have been re-illustrated to become less scary. - source
Telling "scary ghost stories" on Christmas eve is an all but lost Victorian tradition
China's censorship board has banned all films with a 'supernatural' or 'cult' theme. To get around this problem, all Chinese horror movies (like Die Xian series) now has a "it was just a dream"/"you were just under hypnosis" ending attached after the normal scary stuff.
Mathematicians at London's King's College used statistical modeling in a study commissioned by Sky Movies to conclude that The Shining was the "perfect scary movie" due to a proper balance of various ingredients including shock value, suspense, gore and size of the cast
Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tubemen, marketed as "Air Rangers" or "Scary Dancers", are very effective scarecrows when used to protect vineyards and orchards.
The creator of HBO's Chernobyl (currently the highest rated TV show of all time on IMDB) also wrote Hangover II & III, Scary Movie 3 & 4, and Superhero Movie.
Skrillex's 'Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites' acts as a mosquito repellent. A study found that females mosquitos exposed to the album attacked hosts much later than their non-exposed peers