Scariest alien creature?

[Srelex]

So, as far as SDN is concerned, let's settle which monster from beyond the stars freaks you the most out. Doesn't matter how obscure. In my case, while the appearance of the xenomorph freaked me out as a young kid, it's the Thing that makes me shiver while thinking about it.

[Guardsman Bass]

The alien they bring in for dissection and autopsy in Independence Day freaked me out when I was a kid.

[Mr Bean]

The Thing from the thing.

There are some scary alien beasties out there but the Thing wins it hands down because it takes over your body and turns you into the scary monster in effects that still hold up today as lose your lunch disgusting and terrifying.

[Chaotic Neutral]

Hehe, the image of it ripping it's head open while tied to a chair to eat the the man next to it is priceless.

[Kyler]

The Thing from the thing.

There are some scary alien beasties out there but the Thing wins it hands down because it takes over your body and turns you into the scary monster in effects that still hold up today as lose your lunch disgusting and terrifying.

Damn right! That movie scared the hell out of me when I first saw it. The creatures from that movie are still way above anything out there in my opinion, and they were all done with without fancy super computers.

The Thing is has got my vote too!

[TOSDOC]

Xenomorphs had me waking up in cold sweats, but while I was awake I think the Ceti Eels grossed me out the most. The thought of having one of those things in my head freaked me out when I was a kid.

The Thing is the ultimate sci-fi biohazard. It still gets me that everyone talks about the gross-out scenes as if they comprise the whole movie, when the creature's special effects comprise only about 12 minutes of the total screen time. They hit you that hard.

[ThomasP]

The Thing scared me even more than the Alien.

Since those two are most likely winners, I'll throw out a more obscure reference to the Vang from Christopher Rowley's Starhammer/Vang universe (which were in turn an inspiration for Halo's Flood). May or may not be more horrific than what the Thing does, depending on your views on how the Thing goes about its body-horrification.

[wautd]

the xenomorph

I actually found the facehugger worse than the foll grown hybrid.

But yeah, I'd say the Thing as well. Hell, for all we know it could change into a xenomorph if it wanted to.

[IvanTih]

Hmm,it's hard to decide between the Thing or the Facehugger,but the Think always gave me shivers when I was a kid.

[The Romulan Republic]

I can't think of any aliens that really scared me. Its usually stuff like demons, ghosts, etc that bother me in fiction.

I agree the Xenomorph has a certain potential for creepiness.

[Nephtys]

The Alien is scary, but not really 'terrifying'. It in the end, is merely a very fast and very strong animal. An animal that is put down by bullets and fire.

Things that scare me are beyond my comprehension. Lovecraftian demons from another dimension such as the Hounds of Tindalus are an example. How mind blowing is it to be vulnerable to attack out of any angle sharper than 120 degrees? Or perhaps the Ludovician or however it's pronounced, a shark-like entity that exists in abstract linguistics? Personally, I find the idea of a perfectly geometric object (such as the 2001 Monolith) following me, by being closer inexplicably every time I look behind me one of the most terrifying possible scenarios. I mean, it's like... what is going on?

[Freefall]

While it's kind of similar to the Thing, I'll mention the critter from Leviathan. It's been years since I've seen the movie, but as near as I can recall, the main difference is that instead of subtly infecting you like the Thing, it actually kills and eats you, and can then assume your shape. It was also a lot slimier.

As an adult I can say the The Thing is pretty clearly the more impressive movie and more dangerous monster, but as a kid, there was just something about Leviathan that really got to me.

I also vaguely remember some old movie with Rutger Hauer where he was hunting down some sort of stealthy alien menace that creeped me out a lot at the time, but I can't even recall the name of the movie. Still, you've got to consider that this was a movie I only saw once over 20 years ago, when I was maybe 7 or something. That I remember this at all kind of says something (of course, if I saw the movie now it's entirely possible I'd consider the thing to be lame as hell. Who knows).

[Metahive]

The most scary factoid about The Thing however is that you yourself could be one without even knowing it until something triggers a fight-or-flight reflex within your compromised cells.

[TOSDOC]

Freefall, the movie with Rutger Hauer is Split Second.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I always thought the morwen in Outlander was pretty freaky.

[TOSDOC]

I always thought the morwen in Outlander was pretty freaky.

The Morwen was very well done. I wish they had played up the "fishing lure" just a bit more, that was a really neat idea.

I get a kick out of movies that mesh science with our old superstitions. Science Fiction explanations for Beowulf, ancient demons and gargoyles (Quatermass and the Pit), and even Satan (Prince of Darkness), dig at your subconscious fears as well--there's nothing like taking one of our old myths and telling people "hey, it could still be true in some way". They seem too underrated compared to movies like Independence Day and Armageddon.

[Shroom Man 777]

Those Weeping Angels from Doctor Who were pretty damn freaky. In the first episode of theirs, at least.

[adam_grif]

The Thing's special needs cousin, The Necromorphs, aren't too bad either.

The Inhibitors, The Replicators and (to a much lesser extent) The Borg are scary on a more intellectual level, but this thread has apparently just degenerated into body horror so...

[wautd]

Gelgameks.

What? Their females have a three feet wide vagina which is filled with razor sharp teeth

A bit more serious, those space spiders in Lost in Space were pretty scary. Next to looking like horror spiders and being able to bite trough metal, they made a scary howling noise. Oh, and they'd turn you in a mutant by scratching you.

[The Grim Squeaker]

In terms of the very idea of being in the same solar system as the beasty terrifying me beyond reason:
The Thing. (Insanely infectious, intelligent and malicious. And viscerally loathsome/gross).
The beast behind the patterns from China Mieville's "Details". It's some sort of Lovecraftian horror that exists wherever there's a pattern of any sort. And if you see it, it sees you, and it will get you. (The woman who became aware of it kept herself blinded, and still got snatched into a brick wall when she saw a wool shirt).
The Face hugger. Yuch. I got a phobia of dark places and the underside of beds after seeing Alien as a kid.

[Solauren]

For Sheer WTF Factor: The Thing

Enslavement Factor - The Gou'ald, and the Borg.
With the Borg, your identity is subsumed by the whole.
With the Gou'ald, your lose control of your body, but remain aware the entire time.

Unstoppable Factor - The Replicators (Stargate). If you even have a few of their blocks working along for a bit, you're going to have a massive problem on your hands, and you might not be able to stop it short of taking the entire planet with them.

Sexuall Uncomfortable Factor: Xenomorph Facehuggers, especially when you realise what they are really doing to you.

[Shroom Man 777]

this thread has apparently just degenerated into body horror so...

Body horror is scary.

I'd also nominate Jeff Goldblum as the scariest alien creature.




As The Fly mangs. Wait, does this count as alien creature?


The aliens from ID4 was also pretty freaky, killing the fuck out of those scientists in the middle of its own autopsy, and then trying to mindrape President Bill Pullman, going peace... no peace... no peace and shit before Jayne "Animal Mother" Cobb ruined the shit out of him.

[Cecelia5578]

For me, it was growing up on TNG in the 80s and those malicious crawdads that tried to take over Starfleet in...season 1 or 2, I can't remember.

[Lord of the Abyss]

The Thing, for all the reasons mentioned.

I'm not sure that it strictly qualifies, but it was created by an alien machine on an alien planet so I'll toss it in: the Monster from the Id from Forbidden Planet gave me nightmares when I was younger. It's normally invisible, can tear though anything from Krell blast doors to force fields, and can only be destroyed by your death because on some level it is you. Plus that bellowing scared the hell out of me as a kid.

[Sinewmire]

When I was a kid, nothing scared me more than the Psirens from Red Dwarf.

Horrible slimy flea-like things that psychically hypnotised you into beieving they were a fantasy of yours, before literally sucking out your brain, and this is the hilarious part that made it scarier for me because of it's use of mudane items, sucking out your brain with a straw.

I'd never seen monster effects like that before, and the BBC effects department gave them a strange chittering vocalisation that chilled me as it was a sound utterly alien to me. I had nightmare for weeks after watching that episode!

http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/database/inde ... ry=psirens

Bad picture there.