The scariest elevator I've been in was in a 25 story building that is abandoned somehow has power
The thing was to get to the elevator you had to go into a family bathroom and there it is at the very end, yes very weird.
This elevator had a door on each wall and for that to happen they had 4 support beams on each corner of the elevator. You had to stand in one place only and that was the dead center (there was a in the ceiling above that you had to stand under which that is in the center as well). If you didn't stand in the center the elevator shifted to whatever side you were on, the second it hit the side it stopped abruptly and dropped 1.5 floors, leaving you in between 2 floors. After that it would continue normal operation if you stood in the center, otherwise it would stay stationary. It's that release thing that scares me and IDK why they out that there
On top of all that you have a loud sound (like an amplified mag. ballast) that vibrated the elevator and your body
I went on this elevator 2 years ago but remember is from the most exact details. So i don't know if it's still running or if the building is even up anymore
No floor numbers for the buttons, the "down" button was pushed so far in I think it fell in the shaft
This elevator was small and I mean small, If I remember correctly it was 5' X 3' X 6'9", one person was enough
I love elevators but this one was scary

I don't know about scariest, but the most interesting one I've been in is one of these, although they're becoming rarer and rarer these days, I don't think there are any left in the UK now

Cable snapped... NO not when I was in it, But I've climbed down the shaft a few times. That is one of my friends on the 3rd floor. at the abandoned factory. BTW, I found a few images of lighting in that place I've never posted... might do that soon...

Photo of the motor:

I don't know about scariest, but the most interesting one I've been in is one of these, although they're becoming rarer and rarer these days, I don't think there are any left in the UK now

Those are known as Pater Noster. I addition to being dangerous, they are a waste of electricity as they run slowly but continuously. They are, however, well suited for the Jewish community as they are forbidden to operate electrical controls on the Sabbath. They are allowed to use electrical apparatus but they must not turn them on or off. Modern elevators used mostly in Jewish establishments have a Sabbath switch that can be activated just before the beginning up to the end of that day. When activated, the elevator continuously travels up and down the shaft, stopping to cycle the doors at every floor. That way, you can still use it without operating any buttons or switches.

I don't think Paternoster lifts are all that dangerous, they do run very slowly. As for being inefficient, they are no more so than escalators, which also run continuously.

They're great fun really, especially if you stay in them when they get right to the top or bottom, which they say you're not supposed to do. When I was little, I always used to think that if you did that, you'd reappear on the other side upside down  

I don't think Paternoster lifts are all that dangerous, they do run very slowly. As for being inefficient, they are no more so than escalators, which also run continuously.

They're great fun really, especially if you stay in them when they get right to the top or bottom, which they say you're not supposed to do. When I was little, I always used to think that if you did that, you'd reappear on the other side upside down  

Why aren't you meant to stay in them?

Why aren't you meant to stay in them?

Not sure, risk of making bodily contact with the mechanism, I think.

Those paternoster ones are pretty cool aside from the danger. Like most old school things are, they count on your noggin being the number one safety factor.

The scariest and coolest lift I've been in is an antique manual control Otis elevator at the fox theater in Atlanta. Most elevators make some noises and stuff. These old Otis ones are completely silent and with the open front of the car it's quite an eerie experience. You also have to know what you're doing to operate one.

When I was a kid, I very rarely went on elevators, so they all scared me when I did. The random movements made me feel off balance and I was always worried they would get stuck. I remember once we went to an airport and my mom and aunt got off the elevator, but the doors closed before I could get out. So it moved down a floor and people kept getting on and moving to other floors. I thought I would never get back to the right floor, but it didn't scare me much. I still rarely go on them now, as they aren't common around here except when I was in college.

I remember some action movie as a kid about someone falling down an elevator shaft and there was a huge fan at the bottom and they used a pole to stop the fan so they wouldn't fall into it.

Not sure, risk of making bodily contact with the mechanism, I think.

There is not much open mechanism there, just a slit into the wall for the support pin.
Pretty common prank to scare regular people was to ride there, make there a hand stand and then pretend to the people outside the cab had flipped over there...

But I dont think Paternoster is in any way more dangerous than any other similar constantly running device (like escalators, moving walkway,...; assume all the safety equipment is installed and all machinery properly maintained). It may look scary, but if you are at least a bit physically capable, it is quite easy to "grab the concept" and enjoy the advantages it has (mainly no waitinh time for the people and high throughput at relatively low power consumption for the operator).
Of course, people with limited movement ability can not use it, but their main point is to take over the majority of the crowd (it has way higher crowd throughput capacity at very low energy consumption) and so free up the classical elevators for those that really need those (less able, with luggage, small kids,...).
The "low energy consumption" is not an error in any way, although it may look like they consume a lot of power while moving all the time. The point is, Paternosters are intended as part of an elevator system (together with one or two shafts with a classic elevator), to take over the majority of the crowd transport during peak hours (and switched off all other time). Because the mechanism is moving at constant speed, the propulsion system could be easily made way more efficient than with an elevator that needs to repetitively accelerate and stop. When there are large crowds constantly moving, the consumption is barely half towards the modern, high efficiency elevators, when compared with the same transport capacity. Of course letting it run when no or only minimum people are traveling is a waste of power, but that is not what the thing is intended for.
Plus it occupies rather small floor space for the shafts.