"Pencil Face" Short Film

There are very few things in this great big ol' world that completely creep me out. Spiders -- big or small -- do a pretty good job of getting the goose pimple factory up and running, as do most David Lynch films and people with unreasonable underbites, the latter of which I cannot readily explain. Whatever the case may be, they frighten the hell out of me. All apologies to anyone who might be offended by that statement.

As terrifying as the items listed above may be, physical peculiarities and blatant cinematic strangeness have absolutely nothing on inanimate objects equipped with, in some capacity or another, human faces. When this terrifying imagery is combined with the talent of a good filmmaker, an unsettling score, and a great special effects artist, there's a very good possibility that you can find me cowering under my bed with a flashlight and a tattered copy of "Corduroy."

Christian Simmons' 2008 short film "Pencil Face" is beyond creepy. I've watched it several times and it never fails to give me the proverbial chills. Is this due in part to a very unusual traumatic experience I suffered as a wee lad in the suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky? I'm not quite sure. While I attempt to figure the specifics of why I'm terrified of magical pencils and their special gifts, check out this odd little feature for yourself.