Movies
1994:
- Both the Nightwing killer and Skull-Face are possibly two of the most terrifying killers in the series, along with Billy Barker and Cyrus Miller. They are both fast and ruthless, responsible for killing Kate and Simon in a gory fashion. Skull-Face takes his sweet time with the execution, stabbing and silently gloating to Kate before leading into the entry below. The fact that the most levels of It Can Think the killers display is sadism is chilling enough.
- Kate's death via getting her head pushed through a bread slicer is possibly the most gruesome death in the series. We even get a very detailed close-up of her head split into several thin pieces.
1978:
- Hell, Sheila's torment of Ziggy is terrifying for anyone who's ever experienced bullying. All she did was steal $10 and she's chased into the woods, hit in the face by Will and strung up at the Hanging Tree. Sheila then burns her arm, possibly fully intending to set her on fire. When appealing to Kurt, Ziggy interprets it as such."I'm out? They just tried to murder me!"
- Tommy’s first victim is Arnie, who gets his face gruesomely axed until he’s unidentifiable.
- Tommy murdering campers. Sure, their deaths are shown offscreen, but we still hear the terrified screams of Jeremy and the four other unlucky kids before hearing the hacking sounds that kill them.
- Not only that, but the fact that all four kids had an established level of trust with Tommy is the reason they didn't try to run
- Alice touching the eldritch mass of flesh and seeing a vision of Cindy dead and all the eyeless children from the very first Shadyside killing in 1666.
- The film itself is relatively self-contained up until Tommy is resurrected by Ziggy bleeding on Sarah Fier's hand. Then we watch as Ruby Lane shows up. Then Harry Rooker. Then Billy Barker. Before we know it, nearly every killer from the last century is gunning after the Berman sisters.
- The double murder of the Berman sisters is as horrific as it is tragic. Cindy repeatedly gets an axe to the torso, while Ziggy is stabbed over and over. Blood is pouring out of their mouths, and the killers keep on hacking. And then you remember the line in the rhyme "she'll never stop until you're dead" - the killers literally will not stop until both sisters have been declared legally dead.
- And most of the killers are masked or you can't see their faces. Ruby Lane on the other hand? She makes her way towards the sisters, brandishing her razor with the creepiest Slasher Smile.
- And then there's the terror in Ziggy's voice as she realises that Cindy is going to sacrifice herself so she can get to safety. She knows she's about to watch her sister be carved up like Alice, Gary and everyone else.
1666:
- The blights affecting Union are very unsettling. All the food starts rotting, getting covered in mold and insects. The well is poisoned by someone killing Sarah's dog and throwing it in. The animals start going crazy, including the Fiers' pig eating all of its piglets and forcing Sarah to put it down.
- Pastor Cyrus Miller becomes the first person possessed by the curse, and his victims are 12 children who have their eyes gouged out, including Sarah's brother Henry.
- The build-up to the reveal of what Pastor Miller had done is also horrifying. Sarah comes to the church to find the townspeople gathered outside it, and is told that the pastor had gathered all the children and kept them locked in there for hours, not responding to anyone’s calls. Parents (and older siblings, such as Abigail and Sarah herself) start to frantically try to burst open the doors, and once they finally manage to, they find Cyrus standing on the pews, the children seemingly sitting in silence, before they see what was done to them.
- The realization of what happened hits Solomon and the viewers when he comes across a pile of eyes in the middle of the floor. It’s as horrifying as it is nauseating.
- Solomon tries to stab Sarah, but she blocks the attack with her arm at the cost of having her hand almost cut off. Then Goode grips said hand to keep her pinned to a rock, and she struggles so much that the muscles and flesh eventually tear completely, letting her escape. It's excruciating to watch.
- The montage of Goode men cursing innocent people. Most of them are said calmly. But then there's one said with conviction and twitching hatred. Who's the name? William Barker, who was a deformed child. One can only imagine why.
