I’ve always preferred entertainment with bite.

While I have to admit that the sequel, Lost Boys: The Tribe, was terrible, I still haven’t had my fill of vamps.

Thanks to young adult author Stephenie Meyer and he wickedly addictive “Twilight” series of books (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn), I’ve had more time to spend with bloodsuckers as of late.

Then there’s HBO’s new show, “True Blood”, based upon the vampire series written by Charlaine Harris, which includes Dead Until Dark, Living Dead In Dallas, Club Dead, and Dead To The World.

And, not to be outdone, Twilight (the film version) will soon be released in theaters.

I’d say my vampire obsession is only being fed right now, with no plans to expire any time soon!

When one person in the group heard I was a horror film reviewer/blogger and buff, she asked, “So what’s the scariest movie you’re ever seen?”

Glitter, Showgirls, Alfie (the remake), Eyes Wide Shut…all train wrecks and scary in their own right.

The sarcastic responses were swirling in my head, but I knew what she was getting at–what is the one film that I can say truly terrified me beyond all others?

We went on to discuss the classics (Carrie, The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, The Omen) and splatter fests (the Saw franchise, Hostel and its sequel).

But there is one film I hold above all else as the scariest.

The Blair Witch Project came out in 1999, and I remember dragging my then boyfriend (now husband) with me to see it. The entire audience seemed riveted by the film, and it was one of only a handful of times I can honestly say I did not feel robbed or cheated in any way after the film was over. In fact, I probably would have paid more to see it in hindsight.

Although I loved every scary moment of the film, I did not see the film again in the theaters, and I would also not allow it in my home. No way.

It’s not that The Blair Witch Project is a true story (although it’s given a real feel courtesy of documentary-style footage and a marketing campaign that had everyone convinced for a while there). And it’s not gory at all.

In fact, it subscribes to the less-is-more theory that sometimes what you don’t show the audience is much more terrifying than what you do show them.

It’s been nine years since The Blair Witch Project first came out, and I have only re-watched it once since then.

I don’t need to see it again to recall the feeling I got in the last five minutes of the film. Luckily, I haven’t been camping in the woods in well over two decades, and I’m not much of a hiker, so at least the film didn’t ruin the woods for me (like Jaws did the ocean).

Although my husband and I laugh about it, as one more than one occasion one of our two cats will sit facing a corner, a pose we call “Blair Witching”, I don’t think I will ever be able to wipe from my mind the final images from the film.

For that (as well as its brilliant cinematography, directing and acting), The Blair Witch Project is, hands down, the scariest horror film I’ve ever seen.

I love Halloween, in part because I’m a scary/horror film addict. I have it bad–so bad that I will give pretty much any scary movie a try in the hopes of getting my fix. (Hello, 1408, I want my money back!)

I was raised on scary movies. I bet you don’t believe me, but it’s true. My absent permissive parents didn’t care when my sister and I stayed up late to watch 1976’s The Little Girl Who Lived Down The Lane (I was learning how to read and write at the time), or 1972’s Home For The Holidays (when it aired on television). And there were, of course, the classic slumber party films such as 1976’s Carrie and 1983’s Cujo.

Now before you go shaking your head about my parents, you should know that even had I not been allowed to watch those films, I was reading the books anyway. By junior high, I was a fan of Stephen King, and I went on to appreciate the likes of Dean Koontz and Anne Rice. But somewhere along the way I put down the books and expected scary films to fill my need.

That need is the heart pounding, dry mouth, dropped stomach, almost pee your pants feeling of being scared silly. But more importantly, it’s the exhilarating feeling of being alive. There’s no question that when your heart feels like it’s beating in your throat, you’re very much present and accounted for.

Through the years, I’ve come to catagorize the scary films I watch into five general types, although some films fall into more than one category:

Pee Your Pants Horror (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake)
Psychological Horror (Silence of the Lambs)
Gross Out Gore Horror (House of 1,000 Corpses)
Silly/Funny Horror (Scream trilogy)
Smart Horror (The Blair Witch Project)

To me, any film that is scary (horror, sci-fi, thriller) is fair game, as long as it falls into at least one of the above categories.

Among my favorite horror flicks are The Blair Witch Project, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake), and The Shining.

How about you?