Deep down underground, lies a series of pipes, and underground passages that make up your sewage systems. Thes long dark tunnels stretch for miles in every direction, and many are completely unmapped and forgotten. Well, forgotten about by those of us who walk above. In these dark and dank labyrinths, lie terrors beyond your worst nightmare. They live in the shadows of our cities, waiting for their moment to rise and claim their prize… your pretty sweet flesh. Today we are looking at 10 Horrors that Emerged from the Sewer! They creep, they crawl and they’ll haunt your soul! 

Phantoms (1998)

The Ancient Enemy, that wipes out the resort town of Snowfield, Colorado, is an Earth-based amoebic life form that mimics its absorbed victims while gaining their knowledge. This creature leaves these “Phantoms” of its victims to lure others into it’s grasp. The creature hides down in the sewers, waiting to strike at anyone that enters the town. It has only one weakness… flushing toilets!

Vamp (1986)

Vampires are well known for their night time feeding habits, but not for their high quality of hygiene. That goes doubly so for the undoubtedly stinky vampires that appear in Vamp. Two fraternity pledges, Keith (Chris Makepeace) and AJ (Robert Rusler), travel to a sleazy bar in search of a stripper for their college friends, unaware it is occupied by vampires. However, as the sun comes up, these blood sucking fiends find security away from the sunlight, in the dark dank, neon lit, sewers below the streets. It’s from these sewers the vampires crawl from at dusk, and prey upon anyone that happens to find themselves stuck in this dingy part of town. Let’s just hope they wipe their feet before starting work!

C.H.U.D. (1984)

A police captain, who is investigate the recent flood of missing New Yorkers, discovers that the homeless community have been transformed into hideous, man-eating sewer dwellers. Toxic waste, illegally dumped in the New York drainage system, is responsible for the horrid mutations. These mutant sewer creatures of C.H.U.D (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller) are a hungry bunch of creatures that will eat just about anything with a pulse, dragging their victims down into sewers or coming up from them to feed their insatiable hunger. Next time you see beggar asking for a few spare coins, you might want to think twice about your choice… They want more than your coin!

Mimic (1997)

Guillermo del Toro’s second feature takes us deep into the underground of New York, where an infestation of giant man-eating cockroaches is pestering local scientist. The genetically altered cockroaches of the film are a result of a scientific experiment gone wrong, and the creatures grows rampant in the sewers and subways of the Big Apple. These man-eating creations has evolved to “mimic” the appearance of humans, to lure them into it’s hungry mandibles. These giant creatures can grow to six feet in length and has developed an unhealthy taste in human meat. With heavy influences from films such as !Them and C.H.U.D, Mimic is a wonderful call back to the creature features of old.

Deadly Eyes (aka Rats) (1982)

1982 Canadian horror film Deadly Eyes, features a common pest of any sewer network, Rats. But the rodents that appear here are a super-breed of rats raised on steroid-laced grain.  These tiny terrors take to Toronto’s underground infrastructure to menace and kill, where only a basketball coach, a college professor and a health department inspector can save the day. I feel safer already! These giant rats, the size of small dogs, are render less scary when you find out that they are actually small dogs. Dachshunds were dressed up as rats for the special effects, making some of the more “scarier” scenes right howlers!

Underworld (aka Transmutations) (1985)

1985 British horror film Underworld, is one of Clive Barker’s lesser known films, and clearly a precursor of his popular thriller Nightbreed, which he wrote and directed five years later. Underworld was a Barker’s first screen plays to be turned into a film, and it has all of his trademarks, young love, mutants, and bad-guys. Underworld features a bunch of underground dwelling, lumpy mutants, who are addicted to a potion created by a mad scientist. These Transmutations find themselves under attack form a drug lord eager to get his hands on the concoction. But ..oh boy did he pick the wrong bumpy mutants to mess with!

Slugs (1988)

You may just put a few slug pellets down to ward of those pesky gastropods, but in the 1988 movie, Slugs, you may well need something a little more substantial. When A rural town becomes prey to a strain of black slugs spawned from toxic waste, it’s up to the local health inspector to stop them. These little slime-balls aren’t after the local lettuce though, they prefer warm flowing blood, because these giant mutants have teeth. And in great numbers, these little garden pests are deadly. Cut off for years, they suddenly find themselves released into the dark sewers, the perfect place to be when your prey is just a few pipes away. Leaving you lid down won’t stop these creatures for invading your home .

Septic Man (2013)

Septic Man is a 2013 a Canadian horror that found itself with split reviews when it first reared its ugly head at Austin Fantastic Fest. An average sewage worker, who has been asked to investigate a water contamination in his hometown, suddenly finds himself trapped in a septic tank. The toxic sewage eventually begins to transform him into a hideous mutant Septic Man, that finally breaks free from his disgusting prison and takes revenge on those that trapped him down in the dark.

Alligator (1980)

Set in Chicago, this creature feature is the poster child for the urban legend of the baby alligator flushed down the loo. Just like in the popular legend, a bay alligator is flushed down a loo, only to grow to humongous sizes, thanks to its diet of covertly discarded pet carcasses from a science lab, illegally experimenting on animals. With an increased metabolism, and an insatiable appetite, this giant creature heads for bigger game, emerging from the sewers, to feasts on anyone it can get its jaws around.

It (2017)

The well known Stephen King, supernatural horror film IT, recently underwent a remake, with a new film directed by Andy Muschietti. Whilst there are many difference form book and film, what stays is the creepy entity known as IT or Pennywise, which lurks down in the sewers of Derry. This shapeshifting creature arrived millions of years previous and found itself woven into a growing towns sewerage system. It’s from here that emerges, every 27 years, to feed on the children. The long dark tunnels and un-mapped pathways are the perfect place for this evil creature to rest and hide from the world above, only to emerge when its hunger rises.

“Hey Horror Fans – You would not get me poking my head down into those dank and uninviting places. Does this list live up to your expectations, of should it be flushed? What’s you favorite sewer based flick? Lets get a conversation started in the comments below!

Keep Rotten”

“Morti” The Mortician