Whether or not you enjoy a good scare, have you ever wondered what exactly makes horror movie novelists, screenwriters, and directors tick? Call them deranged, call them genius, but definitely call them college educated — which means that your favorite horror flick might just have been inspired by an eerie encounter these creep inducers had on campus.

Check out our top 20 list of horror novelists, screenwriters, and directors (including two dynamic duos) and the classics with which they found their fame and fortune. Then see where these masters of the macabre matriculated — maybe you’re heading there yourself, if you dare.

1. William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist. Arguably one of the scariest movies of all time—audience members would faint during screenings—The Exorcist had its start as a novel by William Peter Blatty. The Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC is the main locale of this tale of demonic possession, and Blatty happens to be a graduate of Georgetown University. Props to Blatty for heeding one of the most famous pieces of advice for writers—write what you know.

2. John Carpenter, Halloween. Thanks to this graduate of both Western Kentucky University and University of Southern California film school, never has a lit jack-o-lantern been scarier than during the opening credits of the first Halloween installment. The movie, which made Jamie Lee Curtis a household name, was produced with a budget of just $320,000, hence the dearth of movie blood and the clever reuse of a spray-painted Captain Kirk mask to hide Michael Myers’ grim features. Genius.

3. Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Last House on the Left, Scream. Craven might be his name, but this horror genius is anything but timid when it comes to scaring the bejeezus out of viewers. It’s been said that Freddy Krueger is a mashup of a childhood bully and a creepy guy he once saw, but there MUST have been other people and events that spooked Craven during his time as a writing and psychology major at Wheaton College and later as a grad student at Johns Hopkins University.

4. Peter Benchley, Jaws. This Harvard grad’s novel taught us that it’s always a good idea to have a bigger boat when it comes to doing battle with a blood-thirsty shark. Of course, it didn’t hurt Benchley’s writing career that his grandfather was Robert Benchley, the famous New Yorker writer and regular of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers and critics that included Dorothy Parker.

5. Brian DePalma, Carrie. This director is known for other film classics like Scarface and Carlito’s Way, but horror fans know him for bringing Stephen King’s Carrie to life on the silver screen. DePalma actually started off as a physics undergrad at Columbia University, but moved on to graduate work in theatre and film at Sarah Lawrence, where he won a writing fellowship. Smart move, DePalma.

6. Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs. Thanks to Thomas Harris, an English major from Baylor University, we forever link chianti, fava beans, and the heebie jeebies with his most famous fictional character, Hannibal Lecter. Sir Anthony Hopkins won the Academy Award in 1992 for his turn in the film adaptation as the cannibalistic Dr. Lecter, who had a soft spot for FBI cadet Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster, who also took home an Oscar.

7. Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window. The shower used to be a safe, happy place before this British filmmaker introduced the world to innkeeper Norman Bates and his devoted mother in Psycho. In the thrilling classic Rear Window, he taught us that people should really mind their own business, especially when they have murderous neighbors. After secondary school, Hitch enrolled in the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation and was a draftsman and designer after graduation before pursuing his illustrious film career. Film fans enjoy spotting Sir Alfred’s cameos in movies—he can be seen walking his own dogs in the beginning of The Birds.

8. Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Chainsaws are creepy to begin with, but television sets took on their own brand of horror in Poltergeist, thanks to Tobe Hooper. This former college professor actually made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a cast culled from professors and students. Sure hope they got extra credit for that bloodfest!

9. Stephen King, Carrie, The Stand, The Shining, etc. Stephen King’s novels run the gamut from sheer terror in The Shining (“Heeeeere’s Johnny!”) to tear-jerking inspiration in The Green Mile. But this University of Maine alum’s initial claim to fame was his first published novel, Carrie, which told the horrifying tale of a telekinetic girl who exacted revenge on her tormentors. What many people don’t realize is that King happens to be a really funny guy (grab a copy of his On Writing memoir and see for yourself) as well as a huge Boston Red Sox Fan. Sorry, King. This baseball season must be a nightmare for you.

10. Ira Levin, Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives. The late great novelist—a graduate of NYU–brought the devil to New York City in Rosemary’s Baby and strangeness to the suburbs in The Stepford Wives, two of his most well-known works. Rosemary’s Baby enjoys additional notoriety, as the film version, starring a young Mia Farrow, was directed by the highly controversial Roman Polanski.

11. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, The Blair Witch Project. These filmmakers, who both graduated University of Central Florida in 1994, had most of us believing that three college students really did disappear into the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland. (They didn’t). Never have stick figures been so creepy and hand-held camera footage so nauseating as in The Blair Witch Project, one of the highest-grossing independent films ever. Nice job, boys.

12. Victor Miller, Friday the 13th. If a certain day on the calendar has you freaked out, blame Victor Miller for creating the characters and events at Camp Crystal Lake that kicked off the Friday the 13th saga. In all fairness, however, Miller distanced himself from the bloody franchise, since he did not approve of Jason becoming the killer (fans will remember that it was Mrs. Voorhees, Jason’s mom, who was the original stalker). Miller earned his BA in English from Yale and an MA in Theatre and Speech from Tulane. He eventually moved more towards the theatre world, becoming co-founder of the American Shakespeare Theatre’s Center for Theatre Techniques in Education.

13. Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead. Comic book fans love or loathe Sam Raimi for his direction of the Spider-Man blockbusters, but this English major from Michigan State really made his name with the 1981 gorefest The Evil Dead, in which we learned that zombies are willing to travel to secluded cabins in the woods to feast on humans. The Evil Dead is such a favorite of horror fans that Raimi was compelled to not only write sequels, but also create a remake of his own original, due out next year.

14. Anne Rice, Interview with a Vampire. Give it up for the only female to make our list! Novelist Anne Rice showed some respect for the undead with the creation of her most famous character, Lestat (played by Tom Cruise in the film adaptation) as well as reminded readers that vampires are BAD. (Hear that, Twilight fans?) Rice earned her undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University and later earned her master’s in creative writing. Sadly, Rice’s young daughter died of leukemia, and some say that it was her grief that led her to write such haunting tales.

15. George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead. This master of horror might have witnessed his classmates pull a few too many all-nighters at Carnegie Mellon University to come up with his bloody classic, Night of the Living Dead. Romero’s work is too much for some viewers, but many directors adore this guy and pay homage to his films every chance they can get.

16. Eli Roth, Cabin Fever, Hostel. While a wicked case of psoriasis in his early 20s was most likely the inspiration behind the gross display of a flesh-eating virus that is Cabin Fever, Eli Roth formally learned the art of filmmaking at New York University. (He graduated summa cum laude, so we’ll take that to mean he learned it well.) This dude likes blood and gore, as seen in Hostel and Hostel II, so it’s only right that he landed in the “Splat Pack” of Hollywood’s horror elite.

17. Steven Spielberg, Jaws, Jurassic Park. Yes, Steven Spielberg is known for non-horror masterpieces like E.T. and the Indiana Jones movies, but don’t forget that he made us afraid to go into the water and led us to believe that extinct creatures could be a credible threat. Believe it or not, USC film school turned down this film titan TWICE, so he opted for California State University Long Beach. Bonus trivia: Spielberg is a not-so-proud brother of Theta Chi fraternity, which hazed him so terribly that he is said to include some kind of reference to the brotherhood’s crest and secret ritual in each of his movies as sweet revenge.

18. M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense, Signs. You won’t be hiding your eyes from gore in any of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies, but chills still prevail. “I see dead people” will go down as one of the most famous movie lines in history, thanks to this NYU Tisch School of the Arts grad. Shyamalan was born in India but raised in a tony suburb of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania often figures prominently in his movies. Like one of his idols, Alfred Hitchcock, Shyamalan writes himself into his scripts, though unlike Hitch, Shyamalan has considerably more than a walk-on part in movies such as Signs and Lady in the Water.

19. James Wan and Leigh Whannell, Saw I—VI. The Land Down Under has exported a fair share of movie talent over the years, the latest crop of which contains the brains that launched the Saw franchise, James Wann and Leigh Whannell. These two buddies met at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the rest is box office history. To say that the Saw movies are graphic is the understatement of the century—there’s a reason that this duo is among “The Splat Pack.”

20. Rob Zombie, House of 1,000 Corpses, Devil’s Rejects, Halloween (remake). With a name like Rob Zombie, you know you’re not in for the feel-good comedy of the year. Zombie spent some time at the Pratt Institute before he launched his music career. The former frontman of the metal band White Zombie made his foray into film with the well-received House of 1,000 Corpses. These days, Zombie is into remaking classic horror films like Carpenter’s Halloween and putting his own bloody spin on them, which has earned him both praise and criticism from horror fans. Despite earning his place in Hollywood’s “Splat Pack,” Zombie claims that his favorite horror films are the virtually bloodless creations of the 1930s and 1940s.

~Barbara Bellesi

Online degree programs seem to have taken the world by storm, offering a flexible and convenient way to achieve your personal and professional goals. Critics of online colleges say that nothing can replace a traditional on-campus experience, while proponents insist that education is beneficial either in or out of the classroom. If you are on the fence deciding whether a virtual program or a brick-and-mortar program is right for you, consider the following as you make your own list of pros and cons:

1. Do you have time for college or grad school? “What do you mean?” you are probably thinking. After all, you’ve seen plenty of online college advertisements featuring students sitting at their laptops in cozy pajamas as they plug away at their degrees. And yes, there is much truth to the notion that online programs can be done at your own pace and schedule. But you do need to make time for your classes on a regular basis. Just as it is necessary to show up to class on a regular basis, you need to show up to your computer on a regular basis to read lectures, post assignments, and participate in virtual chat rooms with your classmates.

2. Are you disciplined? Yes, turning your computer on requires a lot less energy than getting into the car to drive to campus or even rolling out of bed in your dorm room and heading to class. But there is a great deal to be said for getting out of your apartment or house and sitting in a classroom for a few hours a couple of days or nights a week. Do you have the discipline to study on your own each week, even when you are just a room away from TV, dirty laundry, or adorable children? It’s not the hardest thing to work from home, but it does require concentrated effort to work through distractions, and there will be plenty of them when you study at home.

3. Can you work independently? A good online degree program offers plenty of support as you work through course after course, but in truth, nothing is quite the same as sitting down in front of an advisor or grabbing a cup of coffee with a classmate before class. Even the most independent of students find that they crave interaction from time to time, and although online colleges are getting better and better at facilitating virtual classroom environments, they still can’t match the experience of sitting in an actual classroom.

4. Are you in it for the long haul? An undergraduate degree takes four years when enrolled full time; a graduate degree around two. If you are looking for flexible degree options, then there’s a good chance that you are looking to go part time. Even if you take classes during summer or winter sessions to catch up, be prepared to have a lengthier tenure as a part-time student.

There’s no doubt that online programs offer the flexibility and convenience you are looking for, but you need to put in a little work to make sure your return to school remains flexible and convenient. With all of the options that are available to you today, invest a little time in your future and research which online programs will fit best in your life.

–Barbara Bellesi

We’re officially in the time of college graduations. Speakers are getting their inspirational speeches together, while the anxious Class of ‘09 — with or without jobs — is feeling a little uneasy at the prospect of beginning their new lives.

So you’ve made it. You’re about to graduate from college. Now what? Well, here are some tips on what to do before you join the ranks of the real world. Don’t get us wrong, you probably love that lava lamp, but are you really going to keep it around after you move your tassel?

Here, Jason Ellman presents to you his Top Five List of Money Makers and Time Savers for your last few days in college…

1. Savor the last few moments you have before entering the real world!
Graduating college is a BIG deal. It’s an occasion you want to share with your friends, family, loved ones…but all those invites and thank you notes can eat up the precious little time you have left! (Not to mention the cost!) Thanks to SendOutCards.com, you can send a few hundred announcements and never have to hand address or sign a single one. The online website lets you upload your entire address book, personalize the cards, and click send. They’ll print, stuff, stamp and send your cards for you, and for CHEAP.

2. De-clutter your bookshelves.
Because textbooks are reissued in new editions frequently, the last few weeks of a semester or quarter is the best time to sell your old books and get the most value back. Bookbyte.com is easy to use and gives college students the best bang for their buck. Best part: the site pays for your shipping and ensures you receive your payment within five business days.

3. Free Airfare Miles for making the family proud.
Other than a grad check, what else can your academic transcripts get you? According to StudentScrooge.com, help with that trip to Greece (or anywhere else, for that matter). United Airlines offers graduating students a 10,000 Mileage Plus bonus, which is roughly 40% of the way to a free domestic flight. Just send in your transcript, email address, and United Mileage Plus account number, and they’ll immediately deposit the bonus miles. See United Airlines for details.

4. Retire that lava lamp.
Or any other dorm furniture that screams “undergrad.” Facebook and other social networking sites is a great way to sell your dorm furniture to underclassmen – simply utilize Facebook’s marketplace application to post your offer. Don’t forget to take advantage of status updates and designated groups to get the word out. You may just get enough cash to fund your next rite of passage into adulthood: You’re very own, personal health insurance policy, aren’t you so proud?!

5. Counteract senioritis.
Let’s be honest, no one wants to spend their LAST month of school sorting through a daunting pile of loose notes and indecipherable scribbling for upcoming exams. With sites like MyNoteIt.com, users can organize and share notes and study tips with fellow classmates saving tons of time. Disclaimer: MyNoteIt is merely tool created to save time and is not responsible for how ‘said’ extra time is applied, be it either constructive or destructive in nature. Enjoy!

-Jason Ellman

Jason Ellman, 26, is the co-founder of Barnett Ellman, a PR and marketing firm focused on the millennial generation. More information on Jason and his organization can be found at http://www.barnettellman.com.

Nobody wants to get laid off. And in this economy, very few will voluntarily quit their jobs. A job is financial security, a way to feed your kids and keep a roof over their heads. But what if the unthinkable happens? What would you do?

Once the fear subsides, some people are able to see unemployment as an opportunity, a chance to explore an interest they’ve never fully pursued.

A recent Boston Globe article chronicles the plight of laid-off software engineers and financial types who are taking the time to go back to school to engage their creative side and feed their soul. They are taking courses in painting and digital photography, furniture making and graphic design. They’re pursuing passions that have lain dormant through years of analyzing spreadsheets, making marketing presentations, and navigating the corporate jungle.

[Debra] Samdperil [director of continuing education at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA)] says exploring the arts helps people in career limbo whether their interest lies in the creative or business fields. “It kind of keeps things in perspective, in terms of what’s important in their lives and also gets them to think creatively about their situation,” she says. “The skills you learn in an art environment or art class are more transferable in terms of creative thinking strategies. . . . It’s not just business skills and more practical thinking. It’s how you think about your life.”

If you don’t have a vision for something you could do besides what you’re doing now, a layoff is especially frightening. But what if you allowed yourself to dream for a bit, to think of what you’d really like to do if there were no constraints? Once you have your answer, you’d be surprised how few of those constraints are real, and how many are rooted in fear.

I have a friend whose job is moving clear across the country. If he moves his family away from their home and their friends, he gets to keep his job. If he doesn’t, then he joins the fast-growing ranks of the unemployed, desperately looking for ways to pay the mortgage.

It’s not my decision to make, of course. But I wonder what kinds of creative talents my friend has up his sleeve, talents he could use to pursue something beyond the path he’s on right now. What if he gave up his well-paying job, nice house, and 401K and decided to live on less and make a go of a new career altogether? It would probably require a return to school and a major lifestyle change. And maybe he would be happier in the end.

As for me, I’ve dreamed of running a professional counseling practice with my husband. I don’t think the time to pursue that dream has come just yet. But I hope that when my opportunity does come knocking, I’ll have the courage to open the door.

Comment up: If there were no constraints, what career would you pursue?

– Robyn Tellefsen

These days it seems that all people are talking about are lay-offs and reduced hiring rates — so much so that they ignore an important factor in every industry: the retirement rate. While many professions may reduce the amount by which they hire on a yearly basis, the truth is that a fresh crop of employees is always necessary in order to takeover the jobs of workers who have reached retirement age.

It’s an economic factor that is sometimes overlooked, but many in the media are taking notice in light of a new report on the education industry. According to the report by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit research advocacy group, a third of the country’s 3.2 million teachers may be retiring during the course of the next four years.

Unfortunately, there’s another problem that adds to this anticipated teaching shortage: the high attrition rate that occurs amongst newly hired teachers. Research has shown that a third of all new teachers choose to leave the teaching world within five years of being hired. Combined this with the cushy retirement plans that many teachers enjoy and you get a high turnover rate.

There is, however, hope for the education industry in the form of a new generation of college graduates eager to get into the teaching game and reap the perks that the profession’s hours, work demands, job security, and health benefits offer. Of course, as with any other career, you should only consider it if it coincides with your passions and goals in life – otherwise, you’ll be amongst that one third of new teachers.

*The original NYTimes article for more stats and info on the matter.

– Genevieve M. Blaber

It’s amazing what kind of job-related reads you can find online when you know where to look. Here’s where I’m looking today – a roundup of the coolest career posts in the blogosphere.

1.    30 Plus Brilliant and Creative Resumes

All I can say is WOW. These 35 resumes put my boring old Word doc to shame. My personal fave is #8 – its beauty doesn’t diminish its readability. I’ll admit that the level of resume creativity should correlate with the field you’re in. Designers have much more artistic leeway than, say, investment bankers.

2.    10 Seeeeriously Cool Workplaces

I love the opening visual on this one, with the caption: “Where would you do your best work?” If given the choice, who wouldn’t pick wide open spaces?! And a conference bike instead of a conference room! P.S. I want to work at Red Bull London so I can use the slide between floors. Awesome.

3.    5 Best Things to Say When Caught Sleeping at Your Desk

This blog may not be as visually stimulating as the others, but it sure makes me laugh. Has anyone out there ever used one of these? My fave is #2: “Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?” It’s the only one I can imagine actually getting away with, aside from some kind of pregnancy/child excuse.

4.    51 Creative Business Cards That Will Make You Look Twice

Another WOW post. The 3D aspect of some of these designs is fun, but the pragmatic part of me balks at how expensive the “cards” are to make. Faves: The whoopee cushion is genius, as is the personal trainer rubber band. (Maybe I just like latex?) My inner pragmatist also loves the graphic design business card/ruler. But to be honest, this Lego business card takes the cake.

5.    15 Funniest Cartoons and Web Comics About Layoffs

A timely, humorous look at the unfortunate state of many Americans’ careers. Sometimes you’ve got to laugh, or perish. I dig #6 – will bloggers have the last laugh? Only time will tell….

Hope you find some career inspiration here – and a few laughs! Comment away…

– Robyn Tellefsen

Just a quick heads up not to miss the latest Carnival of College Admissions, hosted by Eric at DreamStrategy (a very cool financial aid resource, by the way).

Don’t miss the contributions from U.Got It? and yours truly, and share some comment love.

Enjoy!

OK, I admit it. I’m not a sports fan. It’s an unpopular position, I know – especially with a major event like the Super Bowl coming up.

I may not know a lot about sports, but I do know a lot about education. And I’m pretty impressed when athletic superstars go the distance with academics, and become fully prepared for careers beyond the field.

So in honor of the upcoming contest of the exalted pigskin, I present a roundup of super-smart and academically minded professional athletes. Let the games begin!

• Recently retired MLB starting pitcher Mike Mussina graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He completed his degree in three years and earned All-American honors for baseball.

• NFL quarterback Chad Pennington graduated from Marshall College in 1999 with a 3.83 GPA and a bachelor’s degree in journalism. In college, he was a Heisman Trophy finalist as well as a finalist for a prestigious Rhodes scholarship.

• NBA power forward/center Emeka Okafor earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Connecticut in 2004. He graduated with honors in three years, with a 3.8 GPA, as an Academic All-American.

Of course, not all professional athletes make it all the way through school. But you’ve got to give props to the ones who take the time to go back and earn their degree:

• NBA center Shaquille O’Neal left Louisiana State University to pursue his pro basketball career, but returned to school and received a bachelor’s degree in general studies in 2000.

• Football legend Joe Namath returned to the University of Alabama in 2007 – 42 years later – to earn his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies.

• NBA All-Star Vince Carter made it back to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001 to receive his bachelor’s degree in African-American studies.

Honorable mention: Myron Rolle graduated in two-and-a-half years with a pre-med degree from Florida State University. But instead of entering this year’s NFL draft, he’s pursuing a one-year master’s degree in medical anthropology as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University. The aspiring neurosurgeon plans to enter the draft in 2010.

On the flipside, if you’re interested in sports but are a disaster on the field, there are plenty of non-athletic sports careers to choose from, like sports management or broadcast journalism.

Impressive, huh? Maybe I’ll watch more than the commercials on February 1 after all.

Who’s your favorite smart sports star?

-Robyn Tellefsen

Heading out to beat the Turkey Day rush, but I didn’t want to leave without letting you know that the Turkey edition of the Carnival of College Admissions is live! It’s the perfect side dish on a slow office day, I must say.

As always, CollegeSurfing is thrilled to be in such awesome higher ed blogging company — so many thanks to my fellow Carnival contributors (don’t miss out on their informative, sometime hilarious posts!), and host, Mark Montgomery.

One more thing to be thankful for: The next Carnival of College Admissions will be hosted right here, at the CollegeSurfing Insider blog on December 10th. For details on participating, drop me a line: dawn@collegebound.net.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

In the Spirit of Veteran’s Day, I’d like to offer up an article on the military. This is a story about a man who traveled throughout the world to serve his country and still managed to take online classes to earn his degree.

You see, it is possible to earn a degree in other fields that interest you no matter what your location. Once you leave the military, then you have the skills to go out and work in another field. In the case of our friend, 1st Sgt. Mark McKaig, he has stayed in the military and encourages his men to follow in his footsteps. One hundred percent tuition assistance is pretty hard to just give up. Why not take advantage of something that is provided to you, as a member of the military?

Read McKaig’s story for inspiration and begin your search for distance education programs. You never know what doors may open for you in the future and an education is certainly a step in the right direction!

Happy Veteran’s Day to all!!

-Amanda Fornecker