30. Team Silent (Makers of Silent Hill Video Games)
For my money, there just isn't a scarier video game franchise out there than the Silent Hill series. I attempted to play Silent Hill 4: The Room in college, staying up into the wee hours in an empty house in the middle of nowhere I still haven't recovered from that experience. Team Silent has told many tales of the not-so-sleepy American town besieged by demons, monsters, whack-jobs, and pyramid heads. The series has been adapted for comic books, novels, and even a couple Hollywood films, but there's nothing that beats the visceral terror of controlling the main character in this nightmare environment on your favorite console.
29. Ridley Scott
Say what you will about Prometheus, and I'm sure many of you already have, but legendary director Ridley Scott still has the talents to make a good-looking flick full of authentic thrills and scares (if not especially cohesive logic). Well before he made headlines (and was dragged through the muck by them) for his latest bout with extra-terrestrials, Scott was busy concocting two of the most beloved sci-fi films of all time: Alien and Blade Runner. They're both very different in terms of visual style, story, and character, but they both have a firm grasp on the nature of fear and make no bones about shoving said nature into your jaw-dropped face.
28. Tom Savini
Best known for making his living by dressing up the dead, Tom Savini is a makeup and special effects artist who has done much to give fans of horror many a restless night. Working with George A. Romero, Savini created the unforgettable zombies of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. But he didn't stop at zombies. He also went on to create horrific effects for such classics as Friday the 13th, Creepshow, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and even directed the 1990 remake of Romero's Night of the Living Dead. He's a master craftsman and Master of Fear who knows how to splatter some glorious gore on the silver screen.
27. Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper has brought to life some of the most frightening visions of horror to cinema screens from the director's chair. He's a man who is not only well-acquainted with the idea of fear--he has actually snuggled up close to the beast on cold nights and produced some truly terrifying off-spring. To bear witness to this hellish progeny, you only need to feast your eyes on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, Salem's Lot, and better than a dozen other features and made-for-TV flicks with his name on them. Yikes.
26. William Peter Blatty/William Friedkin
Is this cheating? Perhaps it is, but like the Super Twins, I feel that it is only when these two Professional Goosepimple-Raisers unite that we get the all-powerful Master of Fear. And oh boy did we get it in 1973, when the two Williams combined to give us the seminal horror film The Exorcist. Blatty wrote the novel and Friedkin shot the picture, and together they worked to scare the holy hell out of each and every one of us. (Or, perhaps it was that they scared the holy hell INTO us.)