10 Horror Movie Characters Punished For Not Believing

7. Sheriff Eben Oleson - 30 Days Of Night

Jaws 2 Amity Town Council
Columbia Pictures

To be fair to Josh Hartnett's 30 Days of Night character, you have to question how much of a difference it would've made if he'd have taken the rambling warning of Ben Foster's unnamed stranger seriously.

Foster's mysterious figure starts that movie by walking into the cold, snowy town of Barrow, Alaska and erratically warbling on about danger being on the way. Presuming that he's just some utter loon, Hartnett's Sheriff Oleson locks the fella up in a holding cell, then continues to get ready for the town's annual 30-day run of consistent darkness.

Unfortunately, what this nutcase is harping on about is the bloodthirsty gang of vampires that are soon to arrive in Barrow to feast on the townsfolk. Unbeknown to Oleson, this stranger has already sabotaged the town's communications and transport, meaning its inhabitants are juicy, meaty sitting ducks for a swarm of vamps.

Could things have played out differently for Sheriff Oleson if he'd have taken the ramblings of a crazy man seriously? Maybe. Maybe not.

As it went, Eben Oleson does manage to save his town. The problem is, to do so he had to turn himself into a vampire - with him then turning to dust once the sun finally shone down on Barrow once again.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.