Unheimlich
The literal translation from German is “not-at-home-ness,” the feeling that something is very wrong, but you don’t know what or why. It’s a creeping kind of feeling, to be sure, but it’s not simply “creepy.” It’s one of the reasons I like other languages — often, they have a much better way of describing things than we do in English.
It’s tough to get that unheimlich feeling across in writing. It’s easier in film, I think, if only slightly — David Lynch has managed to do it rather well. (OK, we’ll pretend I didn’t just say that anything David Lynch has done was “easy.”) But done correctly, it can be quite a powerful experience for a reader.
I haven’t managed to do it yet, though I don’t know if I’ve ever tried. But what books, stories, films have done this kind of creeping wrongness in a way that really connected with you? Which ones have tried and failed?
The biggest creepy movie to me is “Prince of Darkeness” where they have the Devil trapped (so they think) in an old abandoned church.
I love that movie. It’s the only one ever to creep me out as an adult.