The Tingler
Pathologist Dr. Warren Chapin, a delightful role by "Master of Menace" Vincent Price, has discovered why people shiver when they are scared: all humans turn out to have a "tingler", a centipede-like parasite that feeds on fear. It clings to the spine and can eventually even kill its host. Only screaming loudly can weaken the parasite. As someone who is both deaf and mute, film theatre owner Oliver Higgins' wife cannot scream. One day, she is found dead in strange circumstances. Chapin performs an autopsy and discovers a tingler.
Director William Castle pulled out all the stops to promote his film: he hired people to scream at scary moments during the screening; though filming in black-and-white, he coloured blood red; and he attached a "Percepto!" under the seats in some theatres, a gimmick that gave audience members an unexpected jolt in the back.
