Superseded by Gateway Horror for Brave Beginners

I was terrified of horror for a long time, and there was always in my mind a list of films I wanted to watch that I thought would be too traumatic to view. This list is the order that I was watching them about two years ago. Each film was a milestone for something I was afraid of seeing. So this is the approximate sequence of film levels—I felt very accomplished after each and could have fun with horror that was more horror each time.

The thing is. this order really doesn't correspond to how frightening the film is. It is how frightening I imagined it was. Normal people do not rank Hellraiser and Saw above Antichrist and Irreversible, but I guess in my mind I did. You can probably see why I was worried to watch this stuff at all! I figured all horror was the bedroom scene from Terrifier 2 for 90 minutes. I forgot the people are trying to make entertainment that sells tickets and makes people happy. I had thought the point was to inflict maximum trauma on the viewer. That was the difference, really.

The first four were very easy. The Witch is almost not horror. Hill House was great practice for jump scares and such a great narrative. Two Storms blew me away. Hereditary I had to watch the last part with the screen shrunk and without sound once before I could make it through. Midsommar was just beautiful. I've shuffled the order to better match what happened.

These are based on my blind fear before I watched horror or when I was first watching, ranked from tame to terrifying. The list order has nothing to do with what is objectively frightening. It is just my journey.

Things that influence the list that I am particularly uncomfortable seeing:
1. Torture and maiming, protracted, with intentional cruelty—and especially if anything like it has actually ever happened.
2. Disemboweled corpses or quickly disemboweled people or people with their organs removed.
3. People having their organs / intestines removed while alive, particularly as part of torture, or still living with any of a variety of organs out of their body.
4. Eye-based horror
5. Brain-based horror
6. Impaling people
7. Skinning alive
8. Bisecting or quartering of humans

My triggers are/were mostly gore and non-supernatural realistic human cruelty. Psychological horror is all good always.

Notes: 1) The last three films I am not sure I will ever watch. I just don't think I need to experience that, even if I can. The rest I will 100% watch at some point. Making good progress. 2) My initial list ended after Martyrs with Men Behind the Sun as a never-watch. Consequently, I Spit on your Grave ("Day of the Woman") is a step down in fear. But I want to respect my original list sequence.