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Here’s the Top 25 Most Popular Horror Villain GIFS Ranked By Search Experts

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Our annual horror google search expert friends over at Go.Frontier have a new scientifically measured list on the most popular horror icons this October; and either some of you are gonna be really mad or your inner child is going to laugh your ass off. Either way- good times are to be had and hey, this is ranked off OUR internet searches. So we can only be mad at ourselves if that’s the case.

In which case, I’ll add one to the google search engines myself!

Last year, the team put together a list of the most searched horror icons by state, (you can visit that again here). This time around in light of the fact text communication is at an all-time high in 2020 and with such, we all use GIFS to get our point across in both light-hearted and sometimes angry ways; the Frontier team has consulted seven different sources to determine the twenty-five most popular villains, and then ranked them in popularity based on the number of GIFs present on giphy.com in July 2020. The GIF-making site, Tenor, is included as one of the seven sources because it provided valuable data about the GIFs. Tenor was used to find the frequency of each villain searched and the dates it was most/least popular.

Are we ready for this? Here you go!

1. Scar

King of the GIFs will have to suffice for this wannabe King of the Jungle. 

Amount of GIFs: 15,720

2. Michael Myers

Knife-wielding maniac Myers will have to set aside his feud with Laurie to claim his silver medal.

 Amount of GIFs: 13,336

3. Wicked Witch of the West

This witch may not have gotten the ruby slippers, but she did nab 3rd place in the most popular GIF list.  

Amount of GIFs: 10,013

4. Jason Voorhees

Camp Crystal Lake is missing an occupant while Jason gains popularity as the 4th GIF on the list. 

Amount of GIFs: 8,349

5. Agent Smith

The matrix collides with the real world as Agent Smith laughs his way to 5th place. 

Amount of GIFs: 8,139

6. Patrick Bateman

Turns out money can’t buy you happiness or the top spot for the list of popular villain GIF. 

Amount of GIFs: 6,809

7. Jack Torrance

Jack Torrance shines in his 7th place spot for top most popular villain GIFs.  

Amount of GIFs: 6,493

8. Tony Montana

Say hello to our 8th most popular GIF villain—just be sure to leave the cannolis. 

Amount of GIFs: 6,242

9. Pennywise

We all float too but only Pennywise makes it into the top ten GIFs.

Amount of GIFs: 5,606

10. Sauron

This ring-welding fiend may have had his eye set to first place but comes in at 10th instead. 

Amount of GIFs: 5,064

11. Saruman

It doesn’t take a Palantiri to see that this villain makes for a classic 11th place GIF. 

Amount of GIFs: 5,055

12. Norman Bates

We don’t want to shower this motel owner with too much praise, but we hope he enjoys his stay at 12th place. 

Amount of GIFs: 3,047

13. Lord Voldemort

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named casts a spell over our list of top 25 villain GIFs as unlucky number 13. 

Amount of GIFs: 2,731

14. The Joker

This villain may have many faces, but one thing stays the same—people love a good Joker GIF.

Amount of GIFs: 2,690

15. Hans Landa

Egotistical Hans Landa may have set his sights on the top 10, but his ambition can only get him so far. 

Amount of GIFs: 1,862

16. Hans Gruber

This famous villain may be more popular at Christmas time but it doesn’t stop him from the top 25 most popular villain GIF list.

Amount of GIFs: 1,833

17. Freddy Krueger

Nightmares really do come true as Freddy leaves Elm’s Street to snatch a spot in the top 25. 

Amount of GIFs: 1,602

18. Darth Vader

The GIF force is strong with our 18th place winner. 

Amount of GIFs: 1,246

19. Thanos

It’s going to take more than a snap to get this Titan to first place.

Amount of GIFs: 660

20. Loki

The god of mischief reigns as number 20 on our popular villains GIF list.

Amount of GIFs: 540

21. Bane

Bane may have been born in the dark but he’s living large as the 21st contender for top villain GIFs. 

Amount of GIFs: 505

22. Hannibal Lecter

Hello Clarice, if you’re looking for Hannibal you can find him lurking on our 22nd spot. 

Amount of GIFs: 444

23. Palpatine

Good, good…Palpatine’s journey to 23rd place on the top 25 most popular villain GIFs list is complete. 

Amount of GIFs: 393

24. The Grinch

What does Christmas Eve and the Grinch have in common? They both come in on the 24th.  

Amount of GIFs: 373

25. Gollum

The precious final spot in this GIF list is taken by none other than this tricksy villain who only has eyes for the One Ring.

Amount of GIFs: 225

Yep. With 14% of all used villain GIFs, The Lion King’s Scar reigns supreme. I mean, I suppose the sourpuss third-in-line to the throne would be giddy to finally be on top for once-legitimately.

Some fun facts via the research:

  • The least popular villain is Gollum from The Lord of the Rings (225) or .2 percent of the total villain GIFs.
  • October 13, 2019 was a big day for The Shining fans. Jack Torrance was the most-searched-for villain that day.
  • Darth Vader was the most popular on May 4, 2020—possibly in celebration of the popular tribute May the 4th Be with You. 
  • It Chapter Two came out on September 6, 2019, when search volume for Pennywise GIFs peaked the highest. It then increased again on October 31, 2019 (Halloween). 
  • Although it’s still up in the air if Die Hard is a Christmas movie, Hans Gruber was one of the most searched villain GIFs on December 24, 2019, alongside the Grinch. 
  • On September 13, 2019, a Friday the 13th, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees had the most search volume. 
  • The villains with the highest search volume on Halloween were The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz and Michael Myers from Halloween.

Check out the website’s original list and findings here! So let’s hear from you guys. What is YOUR most used horror GIF? Mine? Definitely this one. And I for one would like to see a roaring surge in Spaulding GIFS, thank you in advance.

Cool shit to buy, Games

Deliciously Pixelated Friday the 13th Inspired Camp Sunshine Game Is Getting a Crowd-Funded Halloween Prequel: Sunshine Manor

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If you’re the kind of boil or ghoul, and I assume you are because well, you’re here, that loves retro-style games but finds them hard to play these days as our high-definition televisions don’t seem to support them that well. I mean, let’s get real: Have you ever tried playing Nintendo 64 on a 75 inch 4k flat screen?! Yesterday’s technology doesn’t seem to hold up well with today’s partner products. However, in the same breathe, today’s video game developers can bring that nostalgia home into the modern world and Fossil Games has done just that a few years ago with the 16-bit blood-soaked Horror RPG Camp Sunshine- and now with the prequel Sunshine Manor!

And… it’s set on Halloween. Could it really get any better than THAT?!

Sunshine Manor, is a horror adventure game that’s inspired by the famous horror movies of the 80s’ and serves as a prequel to Camp Sunshine- where you will discover the play of events that inspired the Camp Sunshine massacre years late . You play as Ada, whose night of trick or treating turns into a night of terror when she becomes trapped inside the old Aitken Manor. The gameplay involves using Ada’s latent psychic powers to battle all kinds of fiendish demons, solve puzzles and maybe even defeat the omni-present Shadow Man….who is watching your every move!

Per the press release, some of the features in the game include:

  • Discover and explore the ever-changing haunted Sunshine Manor.
  • Transport yourself to the Demon Realm and banish hellish fiends!
  • Beautiful hand-drawn 8-bit graphics.
  • A deadly game of Cat & Mouse where the Demon can be anywhere.
  • 80s Soundtrack written specially for this game.
  • A fantastic story-driven narrative.
  • Devious puzzles to tax your brain box.
  • Lots of scares, spooky scenes and nods to iconic horror franchises

Camp Sunshine – which sold over 100K copies worldwide on PC and is set to release on all major formats in 2021. There’s also a playable prologue chapter available of the game on Steam – so players really can play before they pledge on this very special title. At the time of writing this article, is currently being crowd-funded and has reached 70% of it’s goal. And it’s not hard to see why; beyond the cool-looking game itself, the Kickstarter has some pretty damn amazing perks!

Per the Press Release:

“We’d firstly like to say how thrilled we are to be teaming up with Hound Picked Games and Premium Edition and being able to offer our fans a Kickstarter exclusive Collector’s Edition of Camp Sunshine  and Sunshine Manor. Two games, one cart, are presented in such a unique way that our fans are going crazy for them.” Paul Dolby, developer at Fossil Games, “We’ve also teamed up with legendary horror visual artist, Graham Humphreys, who will be creating a unique cover for the Kickstarter backers which will not be available anywhere else after the campaign has finished! Love horror, love games? Then pledge on Sunshine Manor on Kickstarter – did I mention you can pet the dog?”

For more info and to officially back this deliciously retro inspired game and claim your perks, head on over to the KICKSTARTER page!

About Premium Edition Games
Premium Edition Games’ specialty is high quality releases created with the ingenuity and passion inspired by the amazing work game developers have put into game creation. We take great pride in helping preserve games physically for posterity. We highlight every release by going over all the items in detail and interview all the people who are helping make it a reality.

About Fossil Games
Fossil Games is a two-person indie games team who have a love for retro gaming, pixel art and 1980s horror movies. Having released Camp Sunshine (the first game in our Sunshine Universe trilogy) to a fantastic reception and gathering praise on all storefronts and is featured in hundreds of YouTube let’s play videos from creators such as SuperBestFriends, CinnamonToastKen and more!

About Hound Picked Games
Hound Picked Games, a subsidiary of global consultancy agency PR Hound, is a company set on helping indie studios realise their full potential releases. It specialises in hand-picking indie games that can benefit from the work of industry experts with over 50 years of experience in the business.

Home Video Releases

LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST To Premiere on Shudder in November

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I think it goes without saying that streaming service for horror fans SHUDDER, is the premiere virtual hot spot for not just October viewing, but year-round long as hey- this is a lifestyle for us am I right?! Beyond national treasures as The Last Drive-In, In Search of Darkness, Scare Me, and the all-new Sam Trick R Treat Holiday Ghoul Log, Shudder extends its exclusive content arm towards an intriguing new documentary involving the movie dubbed, of course, the scariest film of all time- THE EXORCIST premiering next month on the horror streaming service!

Actual footage of me trying to get to the TV before the children. Usually works.

From award-winning documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe, (HITCHCOCK’S SHOWER SCENE (2017), MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN (2019), and DOC OF THE DEAD (2014) LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST sets out to explore the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.

Before its premiere to the general public on Shudder, The film, which had its world premiere at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival and was an official selection of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, will also stream this weekend as part of the Nightstream Film Festival.

Per the Press Release:

“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the exceptional team at Shudder to bring LEAP OF FAITH to an audience of such savvy, passionate fans of genre cinema. Without a doubt — this is a perfect home and partnership for our film,” said Alexandre O. Philippe.

“LEAP OF FAITH continues our commitment to bringing the best programming about horror, thriller and the supernatural to our members,” said Craig Engler, Shudder General Manager. “Alexander has created an unparalleled look at one of the greatest horror films of all time, giving viewers direct access to William Friedkin in this can’t-miss documentary,”

 LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST hits the streaming platform on November 19th, 2020 in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.