Pet Cemetary
The Haunting of Hill House by Terry Jackson
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Dracula by Bram Stoker
(I prefer the classics)
Honestly, I haven't been spooked by a book since I was a kid, however as a child I remember having nightmares from:
Flowers in the Attic
And Then There Were None
I was also an avid King fan at that time, however his books never scared me.
Fiction: The Nest
Theological: tie between The Old Testament and the Qu'ran
Non-fiction: Velikovski's "When Worlds Collide" and its partner book (one is archaeologically-based, the other anthropological; going purely on memory)
The only thing I remember reading that legitimately scared the crap out of me so I had to stop reading it was "The Colour out of Space" (Lovecraft). Which is a story, not a book. So ignore this.
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of Leaves is pretty much the only book I've ever had a nightmare about, at least that I can remember. Which is kinda weird, 'cause I love the book.
I'm sure there were more when I was a kid, I've just forgotten them.
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Salem's Lot by Stephen King, read in one day, finished at 2am while in a college dorm, mostly deserted, on a Saturday night. When I turned out the lights to go to bed, after making very sure the door was locked, I glanced out the window of my 3rd floor dorm room and saw two glowing red lights. Scared the stuffing out of me! Turned out it was the digital alarm clock's reflection. Even so, if my room mate had returned from her party that night without her key, she would have had to sleep elsewhere. I wasn't inviting anyone or anything into my room that night! ;)
Shrine by James Herbert. Not that scary really, just the circumstances at the time. I remember reading it late one night in bed and I got to a part where the stairs in a creepy old church creeked. Yep you guessed it, someone had to be walking up the stairs at the same time and the top stair creaked. Book went half way across the room and I yelled out. I was 13 at the time...no excuse I know.
Salem's Lot by Stephen King, read in one day, finished at 2am while in a college dorm, mostly deserted, on a Saturday night. When I turned out the lights to go to bed, after making very sure the door was locked, I glanced out the window of my 3rd floor dorm room and saw two glowing red lights. Scared the stuffing out of me! Turned out it was the digital alarm clock's reflection. Even so, if my room mate had returned from her party that night without her key, she would have had to sleep elsewhere. I wasn't inviting anyone or anything into my room that night! ;)
Woah. That was going to be my answer, and a similar story.
It was seventh grade, so we still had separate English and Reading classes. I picked SL off the book-cart, read it for the rest of the schoolday, read it on the busride home, read it at home, read it at the dinner table, read it some more, and, just as I finished reading it, the chimes struck midnight!
Salem's Lot begins with a naturalistic description of a small New England town. When I read it, I was living in such a town, and the portrayal was dead accurate. Then the town is slowly
A couple of Lovecraft's stories have gotten to me, especially "The Whisperer in the Darkness" set among the "domed hills of Vermont". I was living in VT at the time and could see those hills by looking out the window. Someone has already mentioned "The Colour Out of Space", another very creepy one.
I didn't find The Descent to be scary at all, but to each their own...
I don't like horror. What few horror novels I read - _Dracula_, for instance - did nothing to phase me. However, I'm reminded of one major exception by the following post...
Shrine by James Herbert. Not that scary really, just the circumstances at the time... I was 13 at the time...no excuse I know.
I was around 13 when I read _Witch's_Sister_ by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. That's right. I'm confessing to being frightened by a children's book. I was trembling when I finished it. Well, there WAS a very loud thunderstorm going on at the time.
I can't say I have ever been terrified by a book in the sense of nightmares and such, but I can think of a couple that really creeped me out, including Dracula by Bram Stoker. Still the creepiest book I have ever read.
One short story to look into: "Survivor Type," from Stephen King's Skeleton Crew short story collection. I read it in high school and have never forgotten it (shudder).
From my wife Deb:
The Haunting of Hill House - by SHIRLEY Jackson
The Shining - by Stephen King
I agree with the Descent by Jeff Long, though the sequel Deeper is not as good
The Manitou by Graham Masterton (I have read everything by Masterton and love all of his books)
The House of Lost Souls by F.G. Cottam (anything by Cottam is worth reading)
The Haunted by James Herbert (though I would recommend ALL Herbert novels)
Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (I recommend his novellas and short stories but not his full-length novels)
The Absence by Bill Hussey
Anything by Bernard Taylor - though he can be hard to find!
I don't read much horror anymore, save for the Lovecraftian circle of writers. But I read Stephen King's "Cujo" in high school and it scared the heebies out of me because our neighbors had a St. Bernard.
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THE. SCARIEST. BOOK. EVER.
Was this made into a movie a few years ago? That movie, while not great, did have its creepy moments.
About a million years ago there used to be a show on WGBH called Reading Aloud. This dude named Bill Cavness, he'd just read books, but man did that guy ever have an emotive voice. It was where I first experienced The Three Musketeers, Les Miserables, True Grit, etc.
Anyhow, one Hallowe'en he read "The Outsider" by Lovecraft, and "Hush!" and "Food to all Flesh" by Zenna Henderson; I still have nightmares...
Nixonland. And it's non-fiction.
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I wouldn't say The Descent is exactly 'scarey' but it is a great read, and the first chapter is pretty intense. The first chapter is also undeniably the inspiration for the movie of the same name, though I have not been able to find anywhere that states this as true.
Deeper, kind of went off in a very different direction. Still a good book, but not 'as' good, and not what you would expect from the first book.
A few scarey books I think are worth the read...
Mask of the Other, Gregg Stolze.
Seed, Ania Ahlborn
Heart-Shaped box, Joe Hill
About a million years ago there used to be a show on WGBH called Reading Aloud. This dude named Bill Cavness, he'd just read books, but man did that guy ever have an emotive voice. It was where I first experienced The Three Musketeers, Les Miserables, True Grit, etc.
Anyhow, one Hallowe'en he read "The Outsider" by Lovecraft, and "Hush!" and "Food to all Flesh" by Zenna Henderson; I still have nightmares...
I used to work for a public radio station and we played his program. I heard "The Outsider". Oy.
Nothing scares me.
Salem's Lot is up there. Didn't figure it would be when I started reading it.
There's also a King short story, maybe in Skeleton Crew, called The Monkey. I'm not sure it was scary but it was creepy as heck. Little cymbal-bashing monkey that foretold a death...couldn't get rid of it. It gave me bad dreams. I *hate* those monkeys.
M
Song of Kali By Dan Simmons scared the heck out of me and I am not even sure that there was anything supernatural about it. Loved Haunting of Hill House for much the same reason. The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton was psychedelic and creepy. Although thry are not novels, the collected stories of Ambrose Bierce and Algernon Blackwod are pretty terrific. I think that Ramsey Campbell's short stories are disturbing and often terrifying. Love horror stories... Just think that short stories are usually scarier. I think that Lovecraft's good stories are amazing (IMO, At the Mountains of Madness and Colour Out of Space are his finest). Collected Poe is beyond scary.
I agree with Boldstar, in that short stories are usually the scariest. "Salem's Lot" scared the socks off me. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" still creeps me out. Where Poe is concerned, "Premature Burial" and "The Cask of Amontillado" give me goosebumps just thinking about them.
Was this made into a movie a few years ago? That movie, while not great, did have its creepy moments..
THE. SCARIEST. BOOK. EVER.
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That movie is a simplistic paraphrase of chapter 1.
And it is a fun, scary movie.
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"Silence of the Lambs" was a scary read as long as it wasn't ruined by the movie. I couldn't put it down and actually jumped when the lights in the basement went out.
The Ruins by Scott Smith. Ignore the movie based on it, it is crap, but the book is one of the best horror stories I’ve ever read and I am a huge horror fan with a pretty wide experience of the genre.
I actually thought It was really scary... For the first 500 pages. Then it became a fairly good adventure story. I just feel that maintaining terror over a 1000 pages is almost impossible.
It by Steven King, not referring to any earlier post.
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Fiction: The Nest
Do you mean the one with the super cockroaches? If so, what a blast from the past. I read that book in junior high or early high school and it was very creepy. I can't believe anyone would remember it so long ago.
My choices have mostly been mirrored here: Salem's Lot is pretty chilling. While I didn't like the climax for It, the first part of the novel was very scary.
I tend to read a lot more in the way of horror short stories than full novels (I generally find horror is much easier to pull off in short form versus long form).
However, two books that scared the crap out of me:
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
Neuropath by Robert Bakker
Both stories effectively involve people taking away someone's will and making them into virtual meat puppets. Somehow, that idea that someone else could just reach inside you and control your actions is pretty much the most terrifying thing I could imagine happen
Somehow, that idea that someone else could just reach inside you and control your actions is pretty much the most terrifying thing I could imagine happen
+1. I used to be a big fan of the "Doctor Who" television series. I heard that some children found it scary, and for the most part, I didn't understand that. I certainly never found it scary as a child... except for those stories such as "The Ark in Space" that involved someone or something possessing people. I was similarly terrified by the "Exorcist" movie. Yes, I find nothing scarier than possession.
I just finished reading "The Exorcist" for the first time, and it's rare when the movie is scarier than the source material. The book bored the soup outta me.
Ok, couple of mine are definitely dated now and considered "period" pieces, but they creeped me out as a child because I had a very good imagination. (still do)
War of the Worlds- HG Wells
The Tomb- F Paul Wilson
And just about any short story by Edgar Allen Poe. Well, the horror ones anyway. Before his life became so tragic and twisted, Mr. Poe had a flair for satire.
I was rooting for whatever was killing the people. Enough so that I quit reading it cause I figured it out pretty much from the get-go.The Ruins by Scott Smith. Ignore the movie based on it, it is crap, but the book is one of the best horror stories I’ve ever read and I am a huge horror fan with a pretty wide experience of the genre.
I am kinda confused by this statement, the characters figuring out what’s happening is only the first part of the story, not the focus. The bulk of the tale is them trying to deal with an utterly hopeless and violently insane situation they can’t escape.
I guess to clarify I’m not sure why figuring out early on in the book what was happening would stop you from reading it, especially because the way the author uses description and foreshadowing he is purposely hinting to you, the reader, what is going on, only the characters don’t know.
I guess it just seems like a odd reason to stop reading a book, unless you were hoping for a mystery book not a horror tale and felt like the foreshadowing spoiled that.
Fiction: The Nest
Do you mean the one with the super cockroaches? If so, what a blast from the past. I read that book in junior high or early high school and it was very creepy. I can't believe anyone would remember it so long ago.
My choices have mostly been mirrored here: Salem's Lot is pretty chilling. While I didn't like the climax for It, the first part of the novel was very scary.
One and the same. That book I firmly believe to be why I have a passionate hatred/fear of cockroaches - especially flying roaches.
Stephen King's The Mist is pretty chilling too. The movie adaptation is reasonably faithful to it ... until the ending. Much nastier ending in the novella because
The first few books in the Necroscope series had some scary moments. Intensity by Dean Koontz had some edge of the seat moments.
The characters were very unsympathetic. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. Even before he started really "foreshadowing". I was rooting for the "villian".
I see. From my point of view the characters were very realistically portrayed, so I liked them even though they had issues, but I can see where you are coming from. If it helps, unlike in the movie, the villain wins hands down in the book=)
Thing is, a really outstanding horror tale leaves you unsettled and off-balance. Ramsey Campbell is really good about that.
The Ruins definitely did that for me, a lot of it because the author does an excellent job of escalating the horror at what I consider just the right pace, it was very good in my opinion.
Oh yeah, Ramsey Campbell is all sorts of fun.