4. Leatherface - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Leatherface digs up dead bodies and uses their skin to make things. Then he kills people with a chainsaw while wearing the mask he's made from the skin of those dead bodies. That alone is enough to send chills up my spine. Leatherface has terrified me since childhood and continues to do so. I was actually in the small camp that enjoyed the Massacre reboot with Jessica Biel. Granted it's not as uncomfortable and awkward as the original, but it was decent and Leatherface, once again, gave me nightmares. Both Leatherface and another famous slasher, who you'll meet later int he list, share the same real life serial killer Ed Gein as their inspiration. Gein actually dug up corpses and used their remains to make things like purses, masks, lampshades and seat covers. Ew, dude. This was a real guy. Give him a chainsaw and he IS Leatherface, literally. Knowing that about Gein means I now always subconsciously associate the real man for the fictional character and they become one in the same. Leatherface is also disgustingly terrifying because he isn't remotely supernatural or even complicated. It takes a certain kind of intellect to be Jigsaw, a large sum of money to be Patrick Bateman, or a fictional story to be Fredy Kreuger. But it only takes some mentally disturbed white trash guy to be Leatherface. As far as I'm concerned, he is real and that eats me up inside and deprives me of sleep when I remember what real horrors mankind is capable of.