10 Women in Horror Who Haunt My Dreams

Did you know February is Women in Horror Month? The phrase “Women in Horror” can mean a lot of different things to different people. What came to mind for me was a collection of movies, shows, characters and actresses who have terrified and delighted me through the years. Being a horror fan with a blog, I naturally decided to write up a top ten list. 

So without any further adieu, here are ten lovely ladies who I’d like tip my cap to for Women in Horror Month. They can bite my neck anytime!

10. The Bride of Frankenstein: 
This electric lady is one of the definitive faces of horror and one of the only women to crack the Universal Monsters boys club. Most women who hang around with these guys end up as dinner. Not The Bride though. She stands tall in the pantheon of legendary monsters, thanks in part to her impressive and towering hairdo.

9. Catherine Rawlins, the Female Vampire from Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 
You may not know who Catherine Rawlins is, but she played a huge part in my development as a horror fan. I first met her when I was an impressionable young kid while watching my favorite paranormal series of all time. The TV show, Kolchak: The Night Stalker had captured my imagination and in it’s fourth episode, newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak came face to fang with a lady vampire. What made it even better is that this episode was actually a sequel to the hit TV movie, The Night Stalker, in which Kolchak confronted a male vampire. In the show, one of his victims comes back to wreak havoc on our hero… and my nightmares. 

8. The Twins from The Shining: 
The Grady girls, the creepy twins from The Shining, are only briefly seen in the movie, but wow, they sure made the most of it. The striking image of those twins is one of the most memorable and enduring in horror history. To this day, I can’t look down a long hotel hallway and not expect to see them to appear and then invite me to play with them… forever.

7. Jennifer’s Body:  
Jennifer’s Body is a 2009 movie in which Megan Fox plays a possessed cheerleader with a habit of devouring her male classmates, while making her best friend Needy’s life a living hell. Literally. Amanda Seyfried plays Needy. While the movie is not generally considered a classic, it does have its merits. There are some great horror moments and a lot of laughs. But lets face it, a film that gives us a deliciously evil and totally smoking hot Megan Fox AND a totally adorable and smoking hot Amanda Seyfried, deserves all the accolades in the world. Their famous kissing scene alone is worth the price of admission. So I salute Jennifer, Needy, Megan and Amanda for Women in Horror Month, along with Diablo Cody, the woman who wrote the movie.   

6. Frau Blücher: The grim housekeeper from Young Frankenstein played by the amazing Cloris Leachman. All of the women in Young Frankenstein are wonderful, including the beautiful Teri Garr and the hilarious Madeline Khan, but only Frau Blücher makes my list because there is no one else in monster movie history whose name causes horses wildly neigh whenever it is spoken.

5. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark: 
Elvira is a legendary figure in the world of horror, with a legendary figure. An incredibly sexy horror hostess with a wit as sharp as a pendulum, Elvira is the true poster child… or pin-up girl, for Women in Horror. I would also like to applaud her for her indelible influence on sexy Halloween costumes. Thank you Elvira. 

4. Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 
When I say Buffy, I am referring to both Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Joss Whedon TV show. The movie with Kristy Swanson was okay, but it’s the TV show that made Buffy a household name. BTVS had just the right blend of action, humor and the supernatural. It took the genre seriously, but not too seriously. Now Buffy is arguably the most famous vampire hunter after Professor Van Helsing himself. The lovely Sarah Michelle Gellar brought just the right balance of beauty, brawn, sexiness and heart to the character. Plus, the show introduced us to an amazing amount of gorgeous and talented ladies including Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter and Eliza Dushku. 

3. Regan MacNeil:  
How could the possessed little girl from The Exorcist, courageously portrayed by Linda Blair, not make the list? Although it is commonly thought that Regan is possessed by the Devil, it’s actually the demon Pazuzu. The Exorcist is one of the scariest movies of all time and the demonic visage of Regan is one of the most iconic throughout the world of horror. Whether her head is spinning or she’s puking pea soup on you, that little girl from The Exorcist is one of the true queens of the genre.

2. Lily Munster: 
The First Lady of TV Monsters and wife of the great Herman Munster. The Munsters was not only a great show, but it was a dream come true for monster loving kids everywhere. As a child, before the advent of video stores and later cable TV, there weren’t many places to get your horror fix. Plus, many scary movies had to wait until you got older. With The Munsters, you got a hilarious TV show, on most everyday in reruns, which gave you your daily dose of vampires, werewolves and other monsters. A loving wife, caring mother and daughter of Dracula, Lily, played by Yvonne De Carlo, was the glue that kept the Munster household together… with a little help from some cobwebs, of course.

I’d also like to give honorable mention to Morticia Addams from The Addams Family, played by the sensuous Carolyn Jones. Morticia may have been creepy and kooky but she was also stunning and the mother of the weirdest family this side of Mockingbird Lane.

1. The Wicked Witch of the West: 

I’m giving the number one spot to a woman who truly horrified me.  As a horror fan, I have never seen a better or more terrifying portrayal of a witch than Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz. While some say it was the Flying Monkeys that scared them, it was always the Wicked Witch that had me hiding under the couch. She is to witches what Dracula is to vampires and JAWS is to sharks. She’s even scary as Miss Gulch, her alter ego in Kansas that has it out for poor Toto. For me, she is the ultimate woman of horror.

So there you have it, ten of my favorite Scream Queens, Monstrous Mistresses and Femme Fatales. Who are some of your favorites? 

More about WiHM:

The official Women in Horror Recognition Month web site states their missions as this: “Every February, Women in Horror Recognition Month (WiHM) assists underrepresented female genre artists in gaining opportunities, exposure, and education through altruistic events, printed material, articles, interviews, and online support.”

Learn more at the Women in Horror Recognition Month web site.
 

For more horror talk, book and movie reviews along with ghosts, UFOs and anything else that goes bump in the night, check out the Monster Men Video Podcast hosted by me and horror author Hunter Shea. Episodes are posted here on Back in Jack and on Hunter's blog as well. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel; MonsterMen13.