#32 - Creepy

Happy Halloween!  With old traditions from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, such as people disguising themselves as ghosts and gouls, pulling pranks, and going to door to door, it's only appropriate that the English language should provide a unique word for the occasion: "creepy."

WordReference.com offers a number of definitions, but none of them quite get it right:

1. d'horreur, d'épouvante ("horrifying, terrifying")
2. qui fiche la frousse, qui fiche la trouille (slang: "to be scared stiff, to have the heebie-jeebies")
3. qui donne la chair de poule ("that gives goosebumps")
4. louche, suspect, effrayant ("shady, suspicious, scary")

Of all these, #3 is the closest.  After all, being "creepy" is not merely scary, and words like "horrifying" or "terrifying" are far too blatant.  "Shady" or "suspicious" sometimes play a part, but not always.  Lingee.fr is much closer to the mark by suggesting sinistre ("sinister") as a definition.  

In fact, "creepy" is an unnerving, disturbing kind of scary.   Merriam-Webster defines it as:

• "producing a nervous shivery apprehension; eerie" (qui produit une appréhension nerveuse et frissonante)

In fact, if you look up "eerie" on WordReference, it suggests:

• étrange, inquiétant, surnaturel ("strange, disturbing/worrying, supernatural/occult")

This is actually much closer to the real meaning of "creepy."  Gorey slasher movies may be terrifying, but they're usually way too in your face to be called creepy. 

Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, is creepy as hell.  I think his normal face might even be creepier than the creepy face mask they make him wear.

Granted, creepy can be subtle...

...or not subtle at all...

Thank you, Guillermo del Toro!

...but either way, it's that unsettling, disturbing fear that comes from being confronted with something that is twisted and unnatural in all the worst ways.

Hope you have a delightfully creepy All Hallow's Eve.