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For your viewing pleasure: Friday the 13th movie lineup

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For your viewing pleasure: Friday the 13th movie lineup

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Friday13

Scary movies are some of my favorites, I go nuts over The Walking Dead every year, I have more decorations for Halloween than Christmas, and if you ask me, Stephen King is the greatest living author. It’s safe to say, I love days like Friday the 13th.

One of my favorite things to do on a Friday the 13th is self-impose a scare-fest by watching as many scary movies as possible. In middle school, my best friend and I rented (that used to be a thing!) Candyman, The Amityville Horror and The Exorcist for a Friday the 13th movie marathon. I’m not ashamed to say that after watching all three, I refused to go to sleep that night and spent a ridiculous amount of time in the coming weeks worrying that my bed would start uncontrollably shaking and soon a demon would be coming for me. That’s what a good scary movie can do to you.

So, for anyone who wants to join in tonight on my tradition of scaring yourself, I’ve compiled a list of what I consider to be the top 5 horror movies sure to get your heart racing. Last I checked, the first three are available for instant streaming on Netflix. Enjoy!

1. The Exorcist – Need I say more than what I’ve already said above? It’s terrifying.

2. The Shining – Even if you’re not a huge Stephen King fan, this is a must see horror flick. Jack Nicholson’s performance is amazing and the suspense throughout the whole movie is palpable. Bonus: If you like the movie, you should definitely check out the book.

3. Chucky (Child’s Play) – I was convinced growing up that the dolls in my room were up to no good. I even went so far as to ensure I didn’t fall asleep with my back to them (clearly I was a very nervous child). The fear that something that is supposed to be sweet (not to mention inanimate) could come to life and start wreaking havoc is pretty darn scary.

4. The Strangers – Although this movie only has a 45% “Tomatometer” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I still think it is one of the scarier films I’ve seen. Why? Because most of it could actually happen. There isn’t anything paranormal in this movie – just a group of disturbed individuals who decide they’re going to invade someone’s home and do some damage. The closer a horror movie is to reality, the more it will make my skin crawl.

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street – And on the other end of the spectrum … someone living in your dreams and killing you is never going to happen in real life, but it’s scary to think about nonetheless. We’ve all had nightmares that have felt so real that we’ve woken up in a cold sweat. This movie plays off that fear and shows you what it would be like if your nightmares and waking life were irreversibly intertwined.

Just for fun I checked to see if any prominent scary movies were filmed in Georgia, and I discovered that Scream 2, Friday the 13th: Jason Lives, and Deliverance were all filmed in our state. Scream 2 was actually filmed on campus at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, and on Georgia Tech’s campus.

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!