10 Scariest X-Files Episodes Of All Time

10. Irresistible - Season 2, Episode 13

Irresistible is one of the few X-Files episodes to have no paranormal element to it. The episode instead focuses on serial killer Donnie Pfaster, a death fetishist who kidnaps and kills women, taking locks of their hair and storing their fingers in his fridge as prizes. Nick Chinlund, the actor given the enviable task of playing Pfaster, does an admirable job.

He has such a horrible, creepy arrogance to him that adds even more tension to scenes that would have doubtless been scary had he not performed the role. Chinlund really puts it over the top. The episode also does a great job of exploring Scully's character and much of the tension comes from Pfaster's fixation on her and Scully's subsequent attempts to deal with the case so soon after her abduction.

The scene of Scully hallucinating that Pfaster is a demon is expertly done (and - spoiler - proved to be true when Pfaster reappeared in season 7's Orison). Astonishingly the episode could have been even darker. Chris Carter's original script had Pfaster written as a necrophiliac, but Fox rejected it on the claims that it would be unacceptable for broadcasting. But the implication is there in what turned out to be a very frightening and very realistic episode.