Top 8 Most Chilling Michael Myers Moments

This image juxtaposes the ghostly and otherworldly with the mundane. It shows Michael’s patience in stalking his prey and makes him appear far more calculated than a mindless killer.

This is arguably the most famous scene, not just of the first movie but of the whole series. Laurie barely has time to catch her breath, and there he is. Again, this just adds to his otherworldliness, as he appears as if from nowhere.

This film fleshes out Michael’s motives a little more (we add the sister’s backstory here), so, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t kill this couple. However, the way he stands there, unseen and unheard behind the woman, is chilling.

What is really creepy about this scene is how long it is drawn out. If she’d noticed right away that this was not Budd’s hand, then it would have been much more campy, but Michael stood there for what felt like ages, allowing her to hold his hand and kiss it.

While I like this film for reasons that can be saved for another article, I don’t find Michael all that scary. There is, however, one moment that feels like it came from some sort of fever dream, and that is when multiple Michaels appear, slowly surrounding the sheriff and Doctor Loomis.

Now, I know it’s sort of a ridiculous scene, but visually speaking, it gave me the impression of a spooky house of mirrors. The fact that it turned out to be just a bunch of idiots dressed as Michael really speaks to how intimidating his image is.

This film doesn’t get too many “scare points” from me, although I do enjoy it. It has that classic ’90s slasher Scream-I Know What You Did Last Summer-Kevin Williamson thing going on, which I can’t help but love. Everyone always picks out the scene where Michael and Laurie stare at each other through the window. However, when Laurie believes she sees Michael turn the corner and slowly walk towards her, she still doesn’t move. I feel a real sense of dread.

The latest Halloween installment has divided many opinions (what a shocker), but regardless, I think the scene outside the asylum where we meet Michael again for the first time is very deserving of this list. His unnatural stillness, the chaos that seems to be building around him (dogs barking, other patients shouting, etc.), and Aaron Korey (a true-crime podcaster) walking towards him, mask outstretched, make for a very disturbing scene.

I’ve been going chronologically so far, but for the last installment on this list, let’s go right back to the beginning again. Yes, I did start by saying his kills aren’t generally all that scary. And yes, I know he has just killed someone here. But that’s not really the scary part – that’s just a jump scare. The most interesting part is when Michael steps back to admire his handiwork. He doesn’t see the pain and death he has caused, and that makes him seem entirely inhuman.

As I said at the beginning, the big, gruesome kills aren’t really that scary to me – I’m not saying I could take him in a fight. Still, rather that his intimidating silence speaks to an innate fear of being unknowingly hunted, or perhaps even some sort of early childhood sleep paralysis, and that is where his real strength lies.