# Origin of the anguished cry, "It burns! It burns!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788 "2008-05-27T17:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/41 "2008-05-29T18:44:00Z")
Now that we’ve gotten far afield, I’ll say the reason the Exorcist wasn’t particularly scary to me is that I’m more afraid of what humans are capable of doing to other humans - the supernatural doesn’t hold much suspense for me. ---
**Author:** ![ask\_questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@ask\_questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ask_questions)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/42 "2018-02-04T21:30:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > What TV show or movie first featured it? Can’t quite figure it out, and it seems to crop up in comedic contexts nowadays. I know it was used famously in The Exorcist, but I keep thinking I remember a very old sci-fi movie where the alien cries “It burns! It burns!” as it disintigrates? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/43 "2018-02-05T01:28:07Z")
Was the alien a zombie? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788.md?page=2)