There are many awful and varied means to perish in a horror film, but have you ever considered how many ways there are to go by hook and hooks? Just this one implement alone, when considered, reveals a breadth of varied and creative death-modes. Join us now in yon Spooky Season as we explore a few titles that dangle deadly in the stacks, aichmophobia be damned.
One of the most interesting takes on the curved-pointy is the urban legend known as The Hook. The story usually goes something like this: a young couple is hooking up in a car out in the woods and they start to hear sounds outside. In some versions the couple is also listening to a radio broadcast talking about a man escaping from a nearby insane asylum. The guy gets out to inspect the commotion and doesn’t return. But there is a hook hanging off the door handle. Don’t believe us? Check out The Hook in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark .
Are you hooked yet? The urban legend pops up at the beginning of an early slasher from 1980 (with a very young Tom Hanks). He Knows You’re Alone starts as a movie-within-a-movie, featuring – you guessed it – a couple, a car and a hook. But wait, there is more! Another example of the trope (sans hook) can be found at the beginning of Final Exam, which was primarily filmed in western North Carolina in 1981 and features lots of local flavor. So many other horror movies include this basic scenario and it is always fascinating to observe the myriad ways it can play out though the outcome is rarely pleasant. Probably drive away and fast, okay?
By Hook or ?
Handheld fisherman hooks also figure prominently in a wide array of horror flicks, from earlier works to later tales. One of the most terrifying is the John Carpenter classic The Fog from 1980. A stellar cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, must contend with a fearful fog that contains some unhappy sailors, some of whom utilize hooks from the beyond. Several years later in 1984, and set at the NC coast, The Mutilator aka Fall Break features some college kids getting the very bad end of things while cavorting at Atlantic Beach. There’s also the 1997 hit I Know What You Did Last Summer which has more teens, more hook, and more heinous offings.
There’s also demise by actual fishing hooks. The Slayer , from 1982 and filmed at Tybee Island, GA is light on the actual slayings but big on mood. It is actually a great relief when the most annoying character is hooked away to a briny fate as bloody chum. Then leave it to Troma Studios to take the concept to the very end of the line in 1987 with a horror/comedy parody called, yes, Blood Hook. At a fishing contest in Wisconsin a madman angles for victims using his own giant hook as tackle. “Once you’re hooked, you’re dead”.
Hooks Come in … Handy?
In some versions of The Hook the killer has a hook for a hand and perhaps the most popular cinematic version of this is Candyman. In the classic 1992 original from Bernard Rose and the 2021 Candyman remake by Nia DaCosta, both based on a story by Clive Barker, gruesome fates are to be had at the hand of a hook. And please, whatever you do, DO NOT say that name three times, even in jest.
And let’s not forget death by meat hook, in the still-terrifying genre-defining classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . This nasty piece of work by Tobe Hooper remains one of the most intense and brilliant horror movies of all time, losing none of its menace and ick after 50+ years. And a big part of that staying power is owed to the character Leatherface and his adeptness with dangling meat hooks.
Finally, the soundtrack for writing this piece was provided by the group Throbbing Gristle, which seem appropriate for the topic. Several of their releases can be found here at Duke Libraries.
Be the captain of your own horror hook adventures this Halloween by casting about in Libraries catalog for any of these deadly winners, and let us know if you discover other hooked fates in your seasonal watching. Boo!
Stephen Conrad, Guest Curator
Bone-chilling postscript: the Libraries offer hundreds of streaming movies to watch (with Duke netid/password authentication) from platforms like Swank Digital Campus (“Horror” category), Projectr (“Haunted Arthouse” category), Films on Demand World Cinema (check out Roger Corman’s Bucket of Blood) and Kanopy (Horror & Thriller category) plus DVDs to borrow along with external DVD drives to play them.
Very scary!
Films and their descriptions curated by 
