The 2018 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Most Shocking TV Moment

As we near the end of 2018, awards season begins to ramp up, and with that, another iteration of ComicBook.com's Golden Issue Awards. In an effort to celebrate the best of content released in the past 12 months, the ComicBook.com came together to determine the favorites across all platforms of entertainment including movies, anime, games, television, and comic books.

Many of our favorite TV shows pulled out all the stops when it came to surprising revelations or unexpected reveals, leading to many jaw-dropping moments in the middle of our binge-watching sessions. Of all of the scenes which left us shouting "WHAT?!" at our screens, one stood out above all others.

And the winner of Most Shocking TV Moment is...

The Bent-Neck Lady reveal from The Haunting of Hill House!

Many horror TV shows and movies don't have to do anything more than show a viewer a ghastly image of a supernatural being to instill fright, which can often be enough to startle the audience. The Haunting of Hill House's Bent-Neck Lady not only offered a horrifying visage, but also a tragic reveal.

WARNING: Spoilers below for The Haunting of Hill House.

Heading into the first episode, many viewers knew that this Netflix series would deliver some frightening sequences, which kicked off in the very first episode when 6-year-old Nell Crain was plagued by the specter of a woman with a broken neck. Her family initially dismissed these visions, only for her siblings and parents to ultimately believe her after they had all experienced bizarre encounters with the other side.

The series' fifth episode is what truly took this figure to a chilling level as we learned of its origins. Nell continued to be plagued by spirits, leading her to believe she had to confront her past by returning to her brief childhood home. While at the Hill House, Nell kills herself in a similar way to how her mother killed herself, wrapping a noose around her neck and leaping from a spiral staircase.

This was only the beginning of an emotionally devastating sequence, with the scene depicting Nell falling through her own past, witnessing herself from outside of her body, dangling by a noose and watching pivotal moments in her life. The sequence culminates with a disfigured Nell hovering over her 6-year-old self, confirming that this was a fate she was always meant to follow with the viewer finally learning the origins of the horrifying presence.

In the vein of the climax of The Sixth Sense, learning that the Bent-Neck Lady was a character we had grown to love during the series was more than just a surface-level shock, but an emotional gut-punch that the character the so unsettled us was just a disfigured version of a character we were sympathetic of.

Be sure to come back and check out the rest of the winners as they're announced throughout the week!

List of Nominees:

• Bent-Neck Lady - The Haunting of Hill House [WINNER]
• Joker Reveal - Gotham
• Man in Black Killing His Daughter - Westworld
• Mayhem Reveal - Cloak & Dagger
• Rick's Survival - The Walking Dead