MEOW #205 Bump in the Night

[DrTom]

DUH!

In all the Halloween prep and some ongoing issues with my car I completely forgot to post nudges. Darn!
Thanks to @hoover for nudging my nudges


Hopefully this will be better late than never:


Things that go bump in the night to me has always conjured up spooky and unexplained things that make the noises that cause you (or the cat) to stare wildly into a dark hall

Given that, are there any clues/words in the GRID that conjure up scary things?

For me, at least one of them was a movie I saw when I was a kid, which left me feeling unwrapped!

Another was one that made me worry every time I felt a little pressure in my chest

Once you find the "themers" the next step is easy and rather standard

But...that seems like an odd answer, must be something he wants us to add...ah yes I see why the title helps again

[hoover]

I was moving in the right direction but I was in the wrong lane.

[DrTom]

Ok then, 38 now with hoover solving today. Totally my fault for forgetting the nudges...sorry!

38 hoover

[hcbirker]

Finally got around to this one. Cat is out!

[DrTom]

One last person frightened into solving:

39 heidi

Ok, close enough to deadline, I'm releasing the hounds, well the solution at least....

Once again I seem to have underestimated the difficulty, or perhaps just expected too much of a leap at the end.

The desired path to the meta answer was:

Recognize there were 5 "scary" things in the puzzle. I don't know about you, but:

13A Scary role for Karloff = MUMMY. As a kid that movies scared me to bits

33A Thriller with Sigourney = ALIEN. That movie STILL scares me, as does any chest pressure after watching it

37A Ominous bird = RAVEN. I still think that poem is spine tingling

42. Like the "X-Files" = EERIE. Nuff said

63A. My friend dressed as a ghost to try to ___ me = SPOOK. People jumping out at me, even if NOT dressed as a ghost, scare me

Put those all together and do the old "First letter" thing and you get MARES. Wait, what MARES? Horses can be imposing but not really universally scary. Ah but wait, what is the title, "Things that go bump in the NIGHT", a phrase often used to describe the scary things in life lends its NIGHT to the meta and we get NIGHTMARES, which too much Halloween can certainly give you. Good lateral thinking to those who answered DIABETES, ULCERS, LITTER, etc. but to all those who got NIGHTMARES from (or over) this puzzle; Thank You!

[ajk]

lol continuing my trek back in time, so doing this in March instead of October. Got to MARES right away, but then got stumped until Nudge 5 told me that I shouldn't be stumped. Only took a minute or so after that. Fun one, thanks.