The Crazies (2010)
The Horror Characters: David and Judy Dutten, the local sheriff and his wife, inhabitants of the cursed township of Ogden Marsh.
The Bad Luck: Having battled their way out of Ogden Marsh (making them the only two survivors to do so), David and Judy make their way to the next town over, unaware that the military is planning for the exact same nightmare to unfold there.
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: They'd have been out of town when all the mayhem kicked off.
Who Can Kill A Child? (1976)
The Horror Character: Tom and Evelyn, a pair of English holidaymakers taking one last holiday before Evelyn gives birth.
The Bad Luck: Turns out the island they pitch up at is populated by a swarm of killer kids! This wasn't in the brochure...
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: They'd have arrived in Marbella, where the worst they'd have had to deal with would have been a few England shirts and an abundance of bars called, "The Red Lion".
The Incredible Melting Man (1977)
The Horror Character: Steve West, an astronaut charged with the distinct honour of becoming the first man to set foot on Saturn.
The Bad Luck: Sadly for Steve, he gets blasted by some sort of radiation from the planet's rings, turning him into a blob of melting flesh. Who could've seen that coming?
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: He'd have died reentering the atmosphere, marking him down as a hero in death, rather than a hideous and feared monster.
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
The Horror Character: Ash Williams, housewares department.
The Bad Luck: Poor old Ash is forced to decapitate his girlfriend, sever his own hand and fight off all manner of demonic beasties, and for what? The grand prize of being dumped back in the middle ages. Where there are even more Deadites!
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: He'd have taken a wrong turning and settled for a night in a Premiere Inn.
The Descent (2005)
The Horror Character: Sarah, a keen adventure sports fanatic with a penchant for adventure weekends with the girls.
The Bad Luck: Not only does Sarah see her husband and daughter killed in a horrific car accident, but the weekend away she takes one year on (in part to help take her mind of things) ends up with her and all her friends being set upon by cave-dwelling mutants. Then, just when she thinks she's escaped, she realises she's dreaming, and hasn't at all. Bummer.
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: She'd have discovered a money-spinning batch of unharvested diamonds, rather than a family of rabid freaks!
28 Days Later (2002)
The Horror Character: Frank, one of the survivors encountered by Jim as he flees a crowd of the infected in a London council estate.
The Bad Luck: Frank just happens to be looking upwards as a single drop of infected blood falls from above, landing directly in his eye. Anywhere else and he'd probably have been fine.
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: He'd have got it in his hair, on his nose, on his cheek… anywhere but his eye!
Night Of The Living Dead (1968)
The Horror Character: Ben, a survivor of the sudden zombie apocalypse sweeping America in George Romero's horror classic.
The Bad Luck: Having held off a swarm of zombies from his cellar-based refuge, he finally emerges into the sunlight just a posse of rednecks are passing. Not stopping to check whether he's a zombie or not, they put one in his head without a second glance.
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: He'd have been fighting zombies somewhere on the east coast rather than in the deep south…
Alien (1979)
The Horror Character: Ellen Ripley, warrant officer aboard the good ship Nostromo.
The Bad Luck: Ripley finds herself embroiled with the Xenomorph menace not once, not twice but three times, eventually having to give her life to fighting the chest-bursting beasties.
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: The Nostromo would have sailed straight past LV-426, allowing her to lead a quiet life.
The Mist (2007)
The Horror Character: David Drayton, a local artist who finds himself caught in the middle of an otherworldly event when he and his son take a trip to the local supermarket.
The Bad Luck: Having decided he and his fellow survivors can travel no further without becoming monster-food, Drayton takes the awful decision to put a bullet in the heads of his friends and son… only for the military to turn up a minute later. Urgh…
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: He'd have had just a tiny bit more gas in the tank.
The Fly (1986)
The Horror Character: Seth Brundle, the brilliant creator of a set of teleportation machines known as Telepods.
The Bad Luck: Drunkenly taking the decision to teleport himself, Brundle fails to notice that a common housefly has buzzed its way into the pod alongside him. Trouble duly ensues…
If They'd Been Carrying A Rabbit's Foot: He could have at least found himself in there with something cooler than a fly. A lizard maybe? Or a bird?
