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AIBU?

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Original poster

To really miss traditional ghost story movies?

137 replies

Dockerty · 22/10/2025 22:17

Im a fan of horror but to me, the best films don’t rely on OTT monsters, demons, explosions and special effects - they rely on a good story and clever writing.

Why don’t they do proper ghost stories anymore? Horror films these days are shite - the conjuring etc 😴 all the same.

Give me The Sixth Sense or The Others any day.

AIBU to think the horror genre is missing clever writing? No special effects needed if you can actually tell a good spooky story

OP posts:
MindatWork · 22/10/2025 22:58

Have you seen The Haunting of Hill House? It’s a tv series rather than a film but is one of the scariest (but also most beautiful, well written and acted) things I’ve ever seen.

Mile Flanagan (director and writer) is a genius.

Doingtheboxerbeat · 22/10/2025 22:54

EmeraldRoulette · 22/10/2025 22:50

@Doingtheboxerbeat oh my God, that film is absolutely brilliant! I read the book as well.

Oh god, I didn't know there was a book.

EmeraldRoulette · 22/10/2025 22:50

@Doingtheboxerbeat oh my God, that film is absolutely brilliant! I read the book as well.

Doingtheboxerbeat · 22/10/2025 22:48

I love my creepy stuff, my favourite is The Mothman Prophecy based on a true story - so unsettling and stays with you for ages after.

JenniferBooth · 22/10/2025 22:43

Dockerty · 22/10/2025 22:17

Im a fan of horror but to me, the best films don’t rely on OTT monsters, demons, explosions and special effects - they rely on a good story and clever writing.

Why don’t they do proper ghost stories anymore? Horror films these days are shite - the conjuring etc 😴 all the same.

Give me The Sixth Sense or The Others any day.

AIBU to think the horror genre is missing clever writing? No special effects needed if you can actually tell a good spooky story

Try Lady In White. Lukas Hass and Katharine Helmond are in it

HRTQueen · 22/10/2025 22:40

It’s the suspense that is so unnerving. The BBC Women In Black adaptation (only shown once and spoilt everyone who watched it Christmas that year) is really good

In the Sixth Sense the scene when the little boy gets up to go for a wee, you see the thermostat drop drastically and you know something is going to happen. All that happens is a lady in a dressing gown (could have been his mum) walks past but we just know it isn’t her. I can remember people screaming at the scene it’s so clever

menopausalfart · 22/10/2025 22:39

Some of my favourites have to be Rosemary's Baby, Changeling, Original Ring, The Shining, Carrie, and The Wicker Man, I named my daughter after the girl who goes missing.

Freebus · 22/10/2025 22:38

Agree. I'd like to rewatch The Others as I've only seen it once, but couldn't find it anywhere.

Devilsmommy · 22/10/2025 22:35

Try some of the Korean horror on Netflix. They make some excellent horror without all the in your face gore. Plenty of atmospheric ghost stories

Wigtopia · 22/10/2025 22:31

The innocents is a good old one

Pricelessadvice · 22/10/2025 22:29

I agree OP. I love a simple ghost story in a film.

VoodooQualities · 22/10/2025 22:27

I'm always on the lookout for good scary films. I agree The Others and the Sixth Sense are both top tier. That young lad in Sixth Sense is just awesome in it. (Edited to add - and his mum, that scene in the car when he sees the dead cyclist and she talks to him about it, God damn that's just brilliant stuff from her and him).

And I agree the old ones are the best.

Have you seen The Changeling from 1980? That's probably my favourite though I love Exorcist 3 too (fab film all the way through but also has the first and still best ever jump scare). I haven't watched The Omen for years but that's another favourite of mine. Rosemary's Baby, just brilliant.

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