Top Ten Scariest Childrens Book Characters
Penguin books conducted a survey in which 600 grown-up readers were asked to identify the most frightening literary characters from childrens books. The list of top 10 scary characters in kids-literature was compiled to celebrate the publication of Mr Toppit, a novel based on childrens writer Arthur Hayman. Topping the list is the White Witch from “The Chronicles of Narnia.” I remember not being able to sleep after reading “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.
The monsters scared me so much, I didn’t read it again. In fact, I have avoided reading it to my children while they are little because I don’t want them to be scared. But that is part of the fun and adventure of reading, having those intense feelings about a book and remembering those characters for the rest of your life. A sign of a great book. In fact, Spike Jonze is filming a movie version of ” Where The Wild Things Are” and just released some pictures on his website of the monsters here. They look as scary as I imagined they would and you can count on me to go see the movie and relive my childhood memories. The complete list is below. Do you remember what book scared you when you were a little?
1. White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis – 1950)
2. Captain Hook (Peter Pan by J M Barrie – 1904)
3. The Grand High Witch (The Witches by Roald Dahl – 1983)
4. Wicked Stepmother (Snow White by Brothers Grimm – 1810)
5. Cruella de Vil (The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith – 1956)
6. Voldemort (Harry Potter books by J K Rowling – 1997)
7. The Child Catcher (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming though in the1968 film not book)
8. Miss Trunchbull (Matilda by Roald Dahl – 1988)
9. The Wolf (Red Riding Hood by Brothers Grimm – 1810)
10. Long John Silver (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – 1883)
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Oh Long John Silver isn’t scary at all to me but the rest of these people are!!! The Cruella de Vil of the books especially since she’s made out to be some sort of demon (she even tastes like pepper).
The White Witch would be my number 1 too!
Great list. I remember seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the movie theater and yelling out to the children to watch out for the Child Catcher and getting a dirty look from the man in front of me. I was so engrossed in the movie and the character scared me so much that I had to warn the children and the old grouch in front of me just didn’t understand.
Jen, Was that in the book? She tastes like pepper? I didn’t remember that.
Lenore, I know, she IS scary!
LOL That is so hilarious Kathy!
I loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a book and movie, but the Child Catcher always scared me (even now as an adult!!)..Also, the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz freaked me out as a kid too!
Me too! I had to close my eyes at the monkeys ha
Ooh great post! I agree with the White Witch and Voldemort.
Oh yeah, that child catcher scared me too! His black greasy hair and long nose and chin…ick. My brother loved The Wild Thing book and bought it for his son too. He always was a little strange.
Voldemort, definitely. I’m talking about the book voldemort, not the movie one. The movies were good, but paled in comparison to the books.
Kristina, Thanks! It was fun to do
Wrighty(Deb) LOL too funny
Daisy- That picture I posted scared me. The book is always better then the movie!
Child Catcher used to give me night mares-totally agree!
And Basta-in Inkhear-t by Cornelia Funke, he wasn’t as scary in the movie, but frightening in the book.
And the Wickid Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Where is she???
Hi – can you please remove the image of Long John Silver from this page please?
http://www.bookroomreviews.com/2009/01/21/top-ten-scariest-childrens-book-characters/#comments
It is a copyright protected image belonging to Ace Murder Mystery.
regards
Ace Murder Mystery