Scariest Episode?

[spooniermist]

We're drawing to the end of the first season of TMA, and it made me think about the reasons I got into it in the first place: horror and mystery. It got me thinking about the scariest episode, what do you find is the episode that makes your skin crawl the most?

For me, it's got to be MAG 15: Lost Johns' Cave. The idea of being contained within rock is terrifying to me anyway, as well as having your senses cut off when the author is trapped in the cave, and the idea that Alena is still down there... *shudder*. Not only that, but that what actually happened was clearly so different to her account, what with her arriving somewhere different and not being as deep underground as she said. Not only that, but the recording of Laura at the end still makes my skin crawl right now (I literally have goosebumps). "Take her not me. Take her not me. Take her not me."

So, which episode scared you the most?

[kea]

I have to pick just one? I'm going to cheat a bit, I guess, and choose three, although I find them scary for much the same reasons. MAG:13 (Alone), MAG:27 (A sturdy lock) and MAG: 32 (Hive). It's not only the paranormal aspects, which are somewhat muted in the first two, but the isolation and desperation that provides context. Both Naomi and Paul have very good reasons that they know that they won't be believed, but they both desperately need emotionally to have their experiences understood - Jonathan notes somewhere that often these statements are emotional closure, rather than follow up - but both of them want to have them investigated to prove to themselves that their trauma wasn't a sign of mental illness. All three of the statement givers want help, which the Institute cannot provide. They know they are probably not going to believe.

So as well as dealing with The Thing Which Happened, all three of them have to do it alone. (Well, for a given value of alone, in Jane's case). Having this experience isolates you from the rational world, and the rational world won't (or can't) help you - with an emotional context that is already isolating. (Jane and Naomi have few friends, Paul's lost his wife) Again, there's that old chestnut about "if I am not careful, this may happen to me" - except in this case, no amount of care taken to could prevent these things from happening to them. Of all the statements out of these three is Paul's, because we (and he) have no real idea of what this thing wants, only that it's not benign. 

[Kitsune]

MAG 11: Dreamer really got me. Jonathan's voice at the end when he realized it might have been Gertrude sent shivers down my spine.

[Samwise]

I think MAG 38 (Lost and Found) has the be up there for me. For some reason I've been unable to get the image of those fingers coming out of that vase out of my brain for the last 2 weeks.

MAG 24 (Strange Music) is also one I cant re-listen to without forcing myself, I'm terrified of Mannequins, Dolls, Puppets and Clowns. And to think one is wandering around ripping off peoples jaws is too much for me.

[DoctorTOC]

It's so hard to pick just one. For sheer claustrophobic terror, I'd have to pick "Lost Johns' Cave", with "Freefall" coming a close second. Both tap beautifully into primal fears; being buried alive and falling. The most affecting story for me though has to be "Killing Floor", which finally gave me the push I needed to go vegetarian.

[tohlemite]

For me, I think it had to be MAG 6 "Squirm". Although there have been more generally unsettling episodes since (looking at you Lost Johns Cave) Squirm was the first episode to actually make my skin crawl. Needless to say, I think Jane horrifies me more than anyone else.

[spooniermist]

Oct 14, 2016 18:43:51 GMT tohlemite said:

Needless to say, I think Jane horrifies me more than anyone else.

Although she probably won't come back after MAG 6, don't worry.

[magnusfile]

I agree
to me the scariest episode is
#15 lost john's'' cave
the description of the tight squeezes made me hold my breath
the hitting the rocks and not being able to come up from the cave dive is terrifying .
and the recording at the end scared me to bits.
i felt so claustrophobic the whole time and i was just sitting on my couch!

[ltkettch]

I might be a bit late to the party (and I am only up to MAG 15 so I can only comment on a few episodes) but I got so freaked out by Lost John's Cave that I had to come to the forums for the first time!!
It was so atmospheric and I literally got tight in the chest when she tried coming up for air.

But also a special mention to a few others so far,both Angler Fish and Do No Open were both wonderfully atmospheric and really got me hooked on this podcast!

[danae149]

I think the show does horror really well in general, but the episode that I had the most visceral reaction to was Across the Street. I made the mistake of listening to it late at night, alone in my apartment, and I ended up freaking myself out to the point that I was jumping at shadows. It's funny, because the episodes that involve things that I am legitimately terrified of (spiders, heights, clowns) are always incredibly creepy, but I think they end up scaring me the least because I've sort of mentally prepared myself for them. It's the stuff that I hadn't really taken a lot of time to think about that really get under my skin. (And speaking of under the skin, everything with Prentiss was also really effective. Just thinking about her makes me itchy.)

[Harp0]

I honestly have to agree with the majority on this one. "Lost John's Cave" is the one that got to me the most, and it was actually the second time around when I was driving at night, alone, across the Texas desert. Specifically, it was the audio clip at the end that got me.

My favorite episode so far though has got to be Episode 7, The Piper.  I have no idea why this one calls to me as much as it does, possibly because the story of Hamlin and the Piper have always been one of my favorite stories?

[cannonlongshot]

In terms of emotional impact, there's no question that MAG40 had me feeling physically ill. Not the events happening, but the revelations re: Sasha. I was crying, angry, and sick to my stomach listening to that one.

MAG19/20 also gives me a creeping sense of horror, but I'm unsure how much of that is how I felt at the time listening to it and how much is mixed up with my feelings for the exceptional Knifepoint Horror episode "possession", which deals with similar themes.

MAG15 is definitely up there, but I actually think I'll have to go with MAG1 as my final answer. It was the first time I realised that horror didn't have to be jump scares and gore and it - without a doubt - is the thing that got me into horror as a genre.

[Mister Donkey]

The two scariest episodes to me were 9: A Father's Love and 15: Lost John's Cave. I think the reason why they worked so well was that they were both had scary elements (living with a serial killer, crawling through a cave) before they got to anything overtly supernatural.

I think many people are more ready to suspend their disbelief of the supernatural if they are already scared.

[Dullahan]

I think Freefall or Tale of a Field Hospital were probably the two most frightening statements for me. Freefall's just so strange, so off and inexplicable. There's no explanation for what happened to Robert, no event or object or entity tied to his fall. The sky just decided to eat him.

Tale of a Field Hospital on the other hand deals with disease and early wartime triage, both of which terrify me. Plus the description of John Amherst, fever-flushed and yellow-eyed saying "But Doctor, I am such a restless man." haunted me every time I shut my eyes for the next day or so.

Burial Rites, however, might be my favorite story. It isn't particularly scary, but there's a bleak horror all the same in its implications. I also adore it as being the TMA "Mummy story", of sorts. I've always liked mummies as far as classic movie monsters go and it was nice to see a horror story that made them genuinely unsettling.

[brittlegill]

For me absolutely 'Lost Johns' Cave' with honourable mentions for 'Killing Floor' and 'The New Door'. These are the ones that gave me the strongest reaction when listening.

Having written this I notice they are all about being trapped and unable to find the way out. Hmmmmm. *checks exits*