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7* The Reptilians. They can take on any form, are smarter than us, and have infiltrated pretty much ''everywhere''. If you get marked, they can find you no matter where you go. Victims are wrapped in a translucent substance that keeps them very much alive, possibly even conscious. They clearly need live humans for something, but this purpose is [[NothingIsScarier never explained]].
8* The ''Monster of Monterey'' episode. If being stuck out at sea isn't enough for you, how about seeing it happen to your friend (and your implied significant other no less) on a live recording? Throw in you being knocked off your boat, with no way back on, and a plesiosaur dragging you under, and you can't see it, and you've got some prime horror. It's especially galling because she did ''nothing wrong''. In fact, if one of her sails hadn't jammed at an inopportune moment while she was working to unfold the sails to negate her engine having gotten jammed by the monster's ramming the boat a second time and forced to get into a disadvantageous position for the sake of resolving the issue, it's entirely possible that she'd have been able to safely get away and not have gotten knocked into the water at all.
9** A blink-and-you-miss-it example; as they show a POV shot of Sharon slowly drifting away from the boat, she suddenly gasps and shouts "what was that!?" before being pulled under...
10** The long, slow, drawn-out shot of a blurry shape swimming by under the boat and utterly dwarfing her in size is also absolutely chilling.
11** Earlier in the episode, she received a distress call, saying they were under attack by something, but then the transmission is cut off. Later, she comes upon the boat, but doesn't see anyone on it, however when she drives passed it, there's blood on the side of the boat, suggesting the crew was attacked and killed by the monster.
12* Some episodes manage to be truly scary: ''Zombie'' has some real jump-inducing moments. ''Poltergiest'', ''Strigoi'', ''Alien'', and especially ''Devil Dragon'' tend to stand out.
13** ''Poltergeist'' especially, particularly the feelings of hopelessness that come up as the documentary crew is killed one by one, especially the circumstances under which they all die: the woman in the wheelchair is thrown against the wall and convulses as the poltergeist [[DemonicPossession possesses her]] to tell the others to leave; the cameraman is killed, ''blood comes from his eyes'', and he just stays standing there like he's in a trance rather than dead; and their asthmatic leader is lured upstairs by what sound like cries for help, only to be confront by the poltergeist--which only he can see--and is stabbed to death.
14** The clincher? By the time the cameraman dies, the leader ''[[DespairEventHorizon gives up]]''. He immediately starts screaming "Okay! You win!" to the poltergeist in a terrified voice before desperately trying to escape. But the poltergeist isn't satisfied with them leaving the ''normal'' way. No, he wants them to leave in body bags. [[TheBadGuyWins And that's exactly what he gets]].
15** Just to add to the terror of the scene, as Jeremy (the leader of the documentarians) tries to leave through the front door, but it's locked. No problem, right? He's inside, so he has control over whether the door is locked or not, right? ''Nope.'' The poltergeist keeps locking the door, and Jeremy is clearly becoming more panicked as he undoes the lock only for it to close again seemingly all by itself the second he takes his hand away. Much like in other paranormal horror stories, it's a very mundane thing which becomes much, ''much'' scarier by the fact that you can't see what's doing it.
16** The episode begins with Troy and Meghan filming a video for their grandparents, only for the siblings to get into an argument. When one of Meghan's stuffed animals is thrown off the shelf by the poltergeist, the argument culminates in Meghan calling her brother a freak. Cue the poltergeist causing the entire shelf coming ''very'' close to landing on Meghan. It's later mentioned that she went to stay with her grandparents because the parents were afraid that Troy might try to kill/hurt her again.
17* ''Owlman'' is packed with nightmarish moments, including the way Sue Ann appears to draw and see him everywhere. He wants girls for eating, and who knows what else.
18** The part where he ripped the old lady from the earth, the one he had been pursuing, was also rather frightening.
19** Sue Ann is presented as a trauma-induced CreepyChild who got an up close and personal encounter with [[HumanoidAbomination The Owlman]]. Between her NightmareFuelColoringBook chalk drawings and CreepyMonotone, she's essentially a more [[TheWoobie woobie-ish]] NightmareFuelStationAttendant, but this following line of hers is pure ParanoiaFuel.
20-->'''Sue Ann''': It knows you're here to stop it. And it's coming back to stop ''you''.
21** Adding fuel to the fire is the implied connection between the Owlman and demons. Special attention is drawn to the biblical Lillith, who is shown flanked by two owls, and the child sacrifices made to Moloch by the Carthaginians. The strong implication is that the Owlman is [[HumanoidAbomination the physical manifestation of one of these old gods]], which explains the way it ruthlessly hunts down Sue Ann - ''it thinks of her as a sacrifice''.
22* Let's not forget ''Wendigo: American Cannibal''. Not only does the episode feature surprisingly good special effects and acting, the clips of Matthew approaching the DespairEventHorizon after a week of no food hit ''really'' uncomfortable places, as a PrimalFear to end all fears. Paraphrased conversation:
23---->'''Lane:''' We can't just leave her [their injured friend] here!
24---->'''Matthew:''' I'm not saying that, but we can barely look out for ourselves!
25---->'''Lane:''' Well, what other plan do you have?!
26---->'''Matthew:''' ''(guilty silence)'' How long has it been since you had something to eat?
27---->'''Lane:''' ...You're sick.
28** When the investigators find Lane hiding in a cave from the Wendigo, screaming "Please don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" Once she calms down, she explains what went down over the last couple of days to the investigators:
29---->'''Lane:''' Because I was afraid. It can make noises that sound like people! Matthew! It!
30---->'''Shelby Nash:''' Lane, why don't you tell us what happened on the camping trip?
31---->'''Lane:''' We didn't know where we were going. Then we got lost. And then we got really scared and we ran out of food. That's when things got really, '''really''' bad...
32** Footage of Day 11 shows Lane finding Matthew eating ''something''...
33---->'''Lane:''' Matthew? What are you eating? It's not another squirrel, is it? ''(a bloodied Matthew turns to face Lane, Lane gasps from what she sees, then he returns to eating)''
34** By Day 12, things get worse as April is injured with a compound fracture and Vince has disappeared:
35---->'''Lane:''' What happened?
36---->'''April:''' ''(in pain)'' It was chasing us! God! I fell...
37---->'''Lane:''' What was chasing you?!
38---->'''April:''' It was like an ''animal''! It was screaming... ''(the camera cuts to black as Lane pushes the bone back into place and April screams in pain)''.
39** The titular Wendigo is one of the scariest monsters on the show. To top it off, it has what looks like ''a deer's skull'' for a head. Sweet dreams.
40** The thing that makes it ''truly'' scary is that Wendigo psychosis ''is quite real''.
41** Knowing the myth of the Wendigo makes it even worse, and they tell you it during the episode. Pretty much, it's an unstoppable killing machine that can ''never'' be full. It'll stalk you until it gets you, no matter how much it's eaten, and it'll just keep coming after you until it's got its claws on you. And no matter where you run, it will get you. Because [[RealityWarper it can travel through time and space to get you]].
42** Matthew's transformation into the Wendigo is very much akin to SanitySlippage. He slowly becomes more violent and aggressive as the spirit possesses him, resorting to eating a dead squirrel raw for the sake of food. Even worse, [[AndIMustScream he seems to be aware ''something'' is wrong with him, but has no idea what it is or how to stop it]]. It's not clear how much of his mania was himself or the Wendigo, but the cravings were, like a horrific drug addiction, too strong to fight.
43---->'''Matthew:''' ''There's something, there's something... happening. It like it's inside my head, and it's like an itch that I can't... I can't scratch''.
44** On Day 13 later at night, Lane finds Matthew crouched over April's dead body, ripping at her flesh like an animal. She runs over to confront him, but then Matthew turns to her, showing a bloodstained face, BlackEyesOfEvil and [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily a mouthful of fangs]] - it isn't Matthew anymore. It bellows at her as she screams in horror, and then cuts out abruptly.
45** The ending shows a terrified Lane crying over the investigators' dead bodies and then looking into their cameras, to tell future viewers what happens if they find the tapes. Before she can finish, a shadow looms over her and footsteps come closer. The Wendigo attacks Lane and she screams, just as the camera freezes on the final shot of her in sheer terror. He probably killed Lane ''immediately after''.
46*** In the scene immediately before this, the last rescue worker's screams as the wendigo kills her are particularly chilling.
47** The scariest parts of the episode were the climax and ending: Imagine being trapped in a dark cave at night with the Wendigo coming towards you, and the ending has it [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou staring right into the camera.]]
48*** Unsurprisingly, the Wendigo episode was [[http://animal.discovery.com/tv/lost-tapes/episode/ voted the scariest]] on the official site.
49** The FridgeHorror at the end: Matthew, the Wendigo himself, was never seen again... there's a good chance that he's still alive... [[ParanoiaFuel and still hunting...]]
50* In ''Skin-Walker'', something sounds exactly like Brian's mother, and it's genuinely frightening.
51* The ending of ''Devil Dragon'': the naturalist gets dragged into the bushes by the giant lizard and is eaten.
52* The scene from "Vampire" when the vampire was sneaking up on the boy while he was sleeping.
53** The exterminator who was hired to take care of their vermin problem discovers the nest of the vampires. He holds his camera up in front of the vampire and accidentally wakes it up, prompting the bloodsucker to pull him through the wall. The camera then films the vampire drinking his blood. What's even scarier is we hear the exterminator screaming as the monster drains him dry.
54** The entire Vampire episode. These are ''not'' your [[Literature/{{Dracula}} aristrocratic vampires]] or [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga sparkly vampires]]. These vampires are horrifying, feral beasts.
55*** To paint a picture: imagine a cross between a vampire bat and an ape with extremely sharp teeth and claws and a HairTriggerTemper. Now picture it chasing you, with the intent to render you hollow of blood. Oh, and sunlight? Yeah, [[DaywalkingVampire it doesn't do]] ''[[DaywalkingVampire squat]]'' [[DaywalkingVampire to it]].
56** The Strigoi Vampire episode is ''worse'', because it's a ShapeShifter and ItCanThink.
57* ''Thunderbird'' focuses on three small children going into the woods to skate. [[FromBadToWorse One of them falls and breaks their leg]] while the other two go to try and get help, all the while the 'helpful' facts are informing us about what [[CruelAndUnusualDeath happens to the bird's victims.]]
58** While possibly driven less by a rational choice and more by panic, one of the older kids (incidentally the same one that accidentally broke the kid's leg) suggests to the other that they ''[[KidsAreCruel leave the young boy to die out there]]''.
59** The implication that the Thunderbird is an [[GiantFlyer Azhdarchid pterosaur]] that acts like a [[FeatheredFiend shrike]]. Imagine it...a flying, giraffe sized monster that can eat you whole, but instead prefers to kill you, eat part of you and then ''impale your dead body on a branch to eat you later''.
60* ''Dover Demon'' taps into the fear of something with gangly limbs and giant eyes coming at you in the dark. And then the night vision comes on.
61** Notable parts are its glaring red eyes marking its victims in broad daylight, setting up traps to snare them, and most brutally, cleaving one of their injured friends who were accidentally shot into many scattered chunks around the forest in mere seconds. The creature even taunts them with chittering throughout the video and slowly walks towards its caught prey in the finale, tanking a desperately fired shotgun and deciding to end it by digging out their entrails at a near instantaneous speed as the couple give out one last miserable cry of love to each other.
62*** What makes Dover Demon so much more terrifying? Its previous strength feat of scattering their friend's corpse into pieces so fast and tanking the shotgun without damage shows that it was more than strong enough to have rushed the entire group and swiftly killed them the moment they set foot on its land. It simply was too ''sadistic'' to let these intruders not endure a horrifically dreadful series of deaths, and wanted to crush their spirits before their bodies.
63* ''Alien'', the FridgeHorror ending.
64** And the titular monster's chestburster quality; this thing ''literally'' [[{{Gorn}} rips its poor host apart]] when trying to escape from her body.
65* Some of the corpses that appear in the aftermath of a monster's rampage are pretty [[NauseaFuel unnervingly realistic]]. ''Devil Monkey'', for example, features the lovely image of a man who was '''''[[{{Gorn}} graphically ripped in two]]'''''.
66** Some of the descriptions of what happens to some victims can be even worse. For example, in ''Lizard Man'', the news crew is stated to have been partially ''eaten'' after the Lizard Man got them. And also in ''Devil Monkey'', these Devil Monkeys were probably one of the most brutal monsters in the Lost Tapes series. At the very end, it's stated that the bodies of all the characters presented in the episode were found--except for the teenager who reappeared halfway through because he survived--but they were so badly mutilated that they could only be identified by DNA and dental records. Just think about that for a moment.
67* In the ''Chupacabra'' episode, there's a moment where the little girl drops her camera, which then catches her running away. She looks back, screams, and runs even faster. When it cuts to the pre-commercial title card, we hear her parents screaming and crying and the chupacabra snarling. The implication? That the little girl ''[[TearJerker saw her parents getting mauled to death by that thing.]]'' Definitely ''[[HarmfulToMinors not]]'' something a little kid should be witnessing.
68** We never actually see the Chupacabra. We just hear its horrifying sounds and witness the aftermath of its rampage, but that only makes things ''worse.'' Also, even though the beast is shot at the end of the episode, there's nothing that confirms its death, so for all, we know it could very well have gotten away and still be at large...
69* ''Zombies'' and ''Poltergeist'' manage to effectively instill an [[PrimalFear irrational fear that makes one reluctant to go into dark places]].
70** One could say the scariest episodes are the ones most likely to happen in real life. Like the "Wendigo" episode.
71* If you have any fear of insects, even in the least, "Death Crawler" will make you hide under the bedsheets.
72** Two scenes in particular: you see lightning flash over the tent and the shadow of a giant centipede is shown. The kicker, it looks ''unnervingly'' realistic. The couple is on the boat, happy they got away. Suddenly, the man looks to the side with an expression of horror... cut to days later when it's stated that their bodies were found with strange marks.
73** According to the epilogue, ''footprints'' from the giant centipede were discovered alongside the couple's bodies. That thing made it to American soil and got loose. ''[[ParanoiaFuel It might still be out there...]]''
74** Again, the most frightening part is ''Arthropleura'' really did exist, and grew to eight feet. However, possible {{Nightmare Retardant}} kicks in when one takes into mind that it was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropleura placid herbivore.]]
75* The opening snippet of "Beast of Bray Road" has a surprisingly effective and disturbing use of only partially revealing the monster as a militia fighter mostly blocks it from view with his back to the camera, but we can see its claws and a bit of its limbs. About halfway through, there's an especially violent moment as another of the fighters is attacked by the creature just out of frame, but we can see its shadow cast in the moonlight as it tears him to pieces. Perhaps the best and creepiest, though, is just under twelve minutes in: yet another of the militia fighters is quietly treading through the woods, with only the sound of insects for company. Then, while her back is turned, a ScareChord plays while as the creature suddenly emerges from the darkness, crawls across the top-right corner of the screen, and then disappears just as silently. It's the way it moves--it looks like a wolf, but you can clearly tell that it's not.
76* The whole Southern Sasquatch episode. After his future brother-in-laws are mauled by the Fouke Monster during a simple family bonding hunting trip, the guy panics and runs back to the cabin treehouse they built for emergencies. Only to find the rope ladder completely destroyed thanks to the Fouke Monster. Realizing there's no way out, all he can do is scream out for help in the dark until the Fouke Monster approaches him roaring and carries him away off-screen! All the police can do about the missing bodies is blame them on a bear attack.

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