I feel your pain peanutpatty.
I've learned to read things and do a little hop with my eyes if I can see a spoiler coming up. I try to avoid obvious places but they still catch you out.
I've no idea whether The Silence Of The Lambs is scary because I'd read a review about an hour before I was due to go that revealed everything. I mean every little twist and jump. I was thinking: 'Surely there are some surprises left.' Nope. The review even said why the murderer was killing the women in the first place which is kind of the point of the film really.
The Trinity series - only the best one - of Dexter was spoiled for me the day before it started. It was a website I wouldn't have thought to avoid because you just wouldn't expect it to have anything about the show. I will hunt the writer down and strap him to my table with cling film.
A colleague told me about the death of a character in The Wire and when I said: 'Oh no! Why did you tell me that?' she said: 'Because you really like it, don't you? I thought you'd want to know. I don't watch it. Is it any good?'
I was hoping that because she didn't watch it she'd got mixed up but I knew deep down that she hadn't.
When the first series of 24 came out (still the best) another colleague and I tossed for which of us was going to interview a major character for something that was going to run for the finale.
He lost and he had to do the interview and he discovered the villain whose identity was only revealed in the very last scene. At least he was good enough not to tell me.
Actually, in 24, they took spoilers very seriously. Actors were only told things on a need-to-know basis. They even killed off a character because a fansite had leaked a plotline. I don't think the person playing the character was to blame. But Jack Bauer was ruthless.