Yeah, this is scary as hell. I didn’t read anything about the plot or comments, just watched it. I watched it when it was getting dark out (that’s what, 4PM this time of year?), with the volume at about 70%. Then after I un-clenched all my muscles, I ended up putting on my DVD of Little Shop of Horrors (the 1986 musical) and turning on all the lights in the house, including bringing the holiday lights into the bedroom and hooking them up in there, then calling my husband to see when he’d be home.
Hi, it’s me. I’m sorry to bother you, I need to talk to someone.
It’s okay, what’s wrong?
It’s this damn phone call at 3:00 in the morning…
I dare you to watch this short film at …oh, how long is it, 9 minutes or so? 2:50 AM with the lights off and the sound up. If you watch this full or even half-screen after dark with the volume at a normal-to-high level (especially if you have headphones on) and do NOT jump at least twice, check your pulse. Either someone just snuck up and shot you with a bear tranquilizer dart, or you’re already dead. I needed to re-watch it to get a couple of screen grabs for this piece, and I had to turn the volume off and make the You Tube viewing window as small as I could. I’m going to be up late tonight doing last-minute stuff to prepare to host our holiday party, and if I catch myself getting drowsy or too cozy before I get all my various tasks done, “3:00 AM” with the sound on will come in very handy. I’m not sure about falling asleep when I’m done with wrapping gifts, though…
Why do they even make these goddamned things? Did any small child in the history of time actually go, “Wheeee!” and laugh when it popped open in their face? Were these designed and manufactured by a group of people who REALLY despised little kids? I have an early childhood memory of one of these (may even have been a Romper Room one) scaring the shit out of me and making me cry, and one of my family members telling the one who showed it to me to knock it off. Gee, I wonder why I have some issues with anxiety on and off throughout adult life …
If you are feeling brave enough to watch this alone in the dark and with the sound on, make sure you’re not sitting on some rickety or spindly chair, or one that wheels around really easily. You might end up on the floor. If the jumps don’t get you (though they probably will), the wound-tight suspense will.
This isn’t gory. This isn’t violent. It’s fucking scary.
Check out “3:00 AM,” written, directed and edited by Lee Matthews, starring Charlotte Armstrong, and produced by Rachael Groom and http://www.imwiththemproductions.com/ below.
This originally played as part of a short film festival, Celluloid Screams. Can you imagine seeing it in a dark theater with the sound cranked? I bet there was a lot of popcorn to sweep up off the floor that night. Maybe some spilled drinks, too. The atmosphere is perfect, they know how to ratchet up tension tighter and tighter until it is almost unbearable, and then they know how to give you nightmares.
Happy Holidays!
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- 16 of the Scariest Santa Pictures Ever (neatorama.com)
HORROR BOOM 
Enjoyed what you posted, it really isn’t that simple anymore to find even remotely good horror content to read (you know.. really READ and not just going through it like some uninterested flesh eating zombie before moving on), so cheers mate for really not wasting any of my time! :p