The scariest characters in the LOTR?

[Sir Kohran]

Shelob. There's something very alien and creepy about spiders, with their eight legs and eyes and their sticky, trapping webs and their deadly poison, and Tolkien carries it off brilliantly. The thought of entering a dark, slimy, stinking tunnel filled with webs with the thought of a giant spider lurking somewhere within is quite terrifying. I remember the movie version of ROTK - at one point Frodo hears movement somewhere. He spins around, checking all possible sources of sound...completely oblivous to the giant black moster that is silently suspended just above him! Very scary.