What a long, crazy trip it's been for Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) who are about to ride off into the sunset for good as Supernatural concludes it's 15th and final season. The brothers have been to Hell and back during their seemingly neverending quest to keep mankind safe from every conceivable monster and Biblical figure determined to bring about the end of the world.
During the series' first season, Sam and Dean fight some pretty bush league baddies while searching for their dad, John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who is determined to bring down the demon that killed his wife decades earlier. But just because the siblings aren't waging war against Lucifer doesn't mean season 1 is short on thrills or chills. Here is a ranking of the 10 scariest scenes from season 1.
A Shapeshifter Sheds Its Skin ("Skin")
Sam and Dean help out a college friend of Sam's who is accused of killing his girlfriend. Soon, Sam and Dean realize they're dealing with a shapeshifter, a creature that can take on the appearance of anyone at any time. Not content to leave it up to viewers' imaginations as to how a shapeshifter transforms, the audience sees for themselves when the monster takes to the sewers to shed one skin in exchange for another. Not quite on par with An American Werewolf in London, but still pretty gruesome to watch, the scene manages to be stomach-churning and pulse-pounding at the same time.
Dean Stuck In A Hillbilly House Of Horrors ("The Benders")
Sam and Dean run across a family who enjoy hunting humans for sport. It's a toned-down version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets Wrong Turn as Dean searches for clues to his brother's whereabouts in the family's farmhouse. Adding to the tension is the sound of sawing as the patriarch of this twisted clan hacks away at the remains of their latest victim.
People keeping human remains in jars can be more disturbing than poltergeists and demons with an agenda. Thanks to Deliverance, the isolated folk who occupy rural areas strike fear into the heart of every man.
The Reaper ("Faith")
Sometimes the sight of the boogeyman himself is the stuff of nightmares. After a gravely ill Dean is saved by a faith healer named Roy Le Grange (Kevin McNulty), he and Sam discover the source of the man's gifts: his wife is harnessing the power of a reaper to take one life in exchange for another.
When Le Grange heals another man, viewers get a good long look at the soul-stealing creature as he claims his next victim. A shriveled, expressionless old man wearing a suit proves less can be more when it comes to scaring the bejesus out of people.
Supernatural season 1 is pretty low budget when it comes to special effects, but the series gets a lot of bang for its buck with this low-budget angel of death.
Little Girl Who Comes To Life ("Provenance")
Not since The Picture of Dorian Gray has a portrait instilled such fear as the antique rendering of Isaiah Merchant and his family whose owners all die at the hand of Merchant's adopted daughter.
Killer kids are a horror staple (The Omen, The Prodigy, Pet Cemetary, The Grudge, Children of the Corn) because there's something inherently terrifying about a child devoid of innocence, sweetness, and vulnerability. Dean and love interest Sarah Blake (Taylor Cole) find themselves trapped with the spirit of the young girl who holds a razor in one hand while dragging her favorite doll with her other. She may be clad in a lace dress with petticoats, but underneath is a bad seed.
Bloody Mary Climbing Out Of A Mirror ("Bloody Mary")
The guys come face-to-face with the malevolent Bloody Mary, a folklore legend. As Mary, a figure whose face is partially obstructed by long dark hair emerges from the shattered glass pf a mirror, it's impossible to ignore the similarities between this Supernatural scene and a similar one from the horror film The Ring.
Vengeful female spirits don't rest as long as they have an ax to grind. This nasty lady is child's play compared to what awaits Dean and Sam, but it's a scary showdown nonetheless.
Sam And Dean Battle A Shtriga ("Something Wicked")
Supernatural season 1 thrives on exploiting childhood fears. Things that go bump in the night, the monster in the closet and tree branches that are long, boney fingers scraping against the glass. When the children in a small Wisconsin town start getting sick, it's a witch known as a the Shtriga sucking the life force out of them by crawling through their windows at night.
The brothers take down the witch, or at least they think so until the cloaked, lifeless figure inevitably pops up for another go around. The jump scare is a standard horror tactic, but that doesn't make it any less effective. It's far scarier for Sam to find himself in the witch's clutches than having the brothers take the Shtriga out from a distance.
Dean Investigates The Scarecrow ("Scarecrow")
The idyllic town of Burkittsville, Indiana is a lovely place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit. To ensure a bountiful harvest, human sacrifices must be made. Men and women fall victim to a pagan god who inhabits a nightmare-inducing, scythe-wielding scarecrow.
The monster chasing a screaming couple through an abandoned orchard doesn't hold a candle to Dean's spine-tingling encounter with the scarecrow in broad daylight. Rarely, something so ominous in the dark is even more so during the day. The closer Dean gets to this stitched up sack of evil, the more likely it feels like it's going to come to life and take a swipe at the fearless Winchester.
The Death Of Sam And Dean's Mom ("Pilot")
When Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) sees a shadowy figure lingering by her son Sam's crib, she assumes it's John lurking in the shadows, but it turns out to be something sinister.
John rushes to Sam's room to find his wife pinned to the ceiling and bleeding. Mary is alive but unable to move. There's possibly nothing more frightening than watching a loved one suffering, dying a violent death and not having the power to stop it.
This mystical execution is an equally imaginative and terrifying way to kill a loving wife and mother. The image of Mary's death haunts the audience for the entirety of season 1.
John Faces Meg ("Salvation")
Meg (Nicki Aycox), a demon using an adorable blonde with a pixie haircut as its vessel, starts killing anyone and everyone who means something to the Winchesters as a tactic to turn over the Colt. Armed with a decoy, John faces off against Meg and another demon. Once the demons realize the Colt isn't real, John is unable to escape before being pinned to a wall by Meg's companion.
John's fate is up in the air for the entire season 1. He's either presumed dead or on a collision course with an untimely demise since the premiere. Viewers are left hanging, but a defenseless John plus a vengeful spirit seems to equal doom.
John Tries To Kill Dean ("Devil's Trap")
One minute John is a caring dad, the next he's a pit stop for a demon. It knows Dean's worst fears and darkest thoughts and attempts to use them against him and pit brother against brother. This confrontation can't possibly end well since killing the demon likely means killing John.
As the demon slowly melts Dean's insides, Sam's big brother looks petrified for the first time the entire season, begging his father, or whatever is left of the man, to save him. The situation goes from bad to much worse when Sam must decide whether to obey his dad or spare him. It's in the final few episodes that Supernatural takes a really dark turn and foreshadows some horrible choices the Winchesters will be forced to make moving forward.