10 Everyday Things Horror Movies Have Made Terrifying

The objective of a good horror movie is to make the viewer uncomfortable, to make every muscle tense up, ready to jump at the slightest provocation. Some horrors do this by showing otherworldly atrocities. Ghosts, werewolves, vampires, all those creatures have sprung from humanity's horrific imagination to strike fear into any audience.

But sometimes, allowing the audience to remind themselves that the horror is all in their head gives them too much solace. They take security in the fact that zombies and monsters aren't real, at least, not to their knowledge.

When horror is at its most effective though, it finds ways to corrupt even the most innocuous things. Suddenly everyday things that could be brushed off as merely passe can now foster sensations of discomfort, making someone legitimately afraid to even approach an object that used to seem so harmless.

Some of cinema's most storied directors like John Carpenter and Alfred Hitchcock have turned some of their actors into icons of the genre. Getting legendary performances from an actor or actress is one challenge, but being able to turn an inanimate object, a time of day, or an animal, into something people immediately associate with a horror film is something else entirely.

While many actors may have shone in films, the show was stolen by the ten items on this list.

Nobody is more vulnurable than when they are in a shower. The hot water relaxes and the skin and the muscles as the person exfoliates and lets the shampoo form a swath of suds in their hair. On top of all that, they're naked. Not much is there in the way of protecting the body, or even keeping the private parts from being exposed.

Despite all of this many people approached showers without any fear or trepidation for hundreds of years. That all changed when Hitchcock's legendary slasher and psychological horror film, Psycho came out in 1960.

The original scene is laid out perfectly with Janet Leigh taking her shower without any background music. A couple of tight angles give this trapped feeling before the curtain is pulled back and a shadowy figure hacks away at Leigh, with the soundtrack producing these ear-bleeding shrieks and the victim lets out screams of her own, creating a scene both brutal and voyeuristic.

From then on, the shower scene has become a staple of the horror genre, playing on the viewer's inner previsions. Ever since Psycho, people have kept the bathroom door locked for their showers, just in case there's a knife-wielding maniac in the house. Getting stabbed is one thing, but nobody wants to be naked and get stabbed.