The Scarecrow.
I’m not talking about your ordinary run of the mill straw man. This is the walking, talking, reach out and grab you kind of scarecrow. L. Frank Baum may have given us the bumbling but friendly variety, but there is no mistaking the inherent creep factor that the lonely scarecrow can muster.
Fashioned to look like a man with a burlap head. Given semblance of life in order to frighten. A shadowy shifting figure on a moonlit night.
There have been plenty of small stories that involve sentient scarecrows, but longer works are more difficult to locate. The movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow involves a man returned from the grave, but only dressed like a scarecrow. Dead Birds also is a nice little horror flick that has some creepy scarecrows. You can round out the trio with Husk.
Can’t go without mentioning the Batman villain with the Scarecrow moniker. He has a great design and weapon to go with it; fear gas. He is as monstrous as most of the Bat’s rogues gallery so he counts.
I have always felt a strange attachment to the scarecrow. Could be due to my slim and spindly nature, or love of the Fall season that the scarecrow is so often associated with. Whatever the reason, this is my little shout out to the scariest straw man around.
Brandon Jimison 