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Three times I was scared when reading. The first was when I read the shining as a fourteen years old. A couple of the scenes just wouldn't leave my mind. The second was when I discovered Lovecraft - I would read the stories mostly because they were cool and had mythos stuff in them, and then find myself awake late at night, trouble in a way I could not entirely understand, and feeling threatened by the dark (which is kind of the point with those stories, but isn't all that pleasant when it actually works).
The third was a couple minutes ago. It was in a book of the Otherland series, and I was scared by the notion of answering a phone. The details are not terribly important, only the fact that what was happening was not very scary on it's own, but some... something in the writing, a certain way the words were put together just scared me enough to put the book down and take a pause to calm down.
But once I did get some mental distance from the book, I found myself thinking about what just happened in a more rational manner... and I was curious.
How do horror books work? is it evocative language? is it pacing? is it just scary ideas?
a lot of what makes a horror novel good is the same thing that makes any fiction good...strong plot, good characterization, good writing.
But I guess if you want to highlight the features specific to horror, I would say atmosphere...the ability to take normal everyday events or features, and juxtaposing them with the surreal and horrific.
Personally...the most disturbing horror novels I have ever read were Carrion Comforts by Dan Simmons and Neuropath, by Scott S. Baker (I think). Both novel very much deal with the idea of free will...and the idea that something could just get into your head and fundamentally change you and control you without you being able to do a single thing about. That gets to me way more than some ichor-covered monster or a crazy guy with an axe.
A good imagination and a good writer. If you have a good imagination, it will allow you to really get into the role of the characters in a book. A good writer will be able to work on that empathy by playing on natural fears that have evolved right along with humanity. For me it's the overall atmosphere and the pacing, and I agree that Dan Simmons is great at that.
Check out Nothing is Scarier and Fridge Horror.
Willing suspension of disbelief. To make a book mean something, you need to allow it to be real to you in some way. That sense of reality requires good writing, but it is an active process you contribute. Of course, allowing something to be real also means it can hit you.
I think the best "scary" books play on sub-conscious fears that we all have. A good storyteller has a way of tickling those fears in a way that makes it seem visceral and real.
I first read "Pigeons of Hell" by Robert E. Howard in my teens, and it still gives me the shivers more than 20 years later.
For me, personally, I can't find anything scary unless I can see things from the character's perspective. If I can't relate, or connect with the character, I don't care what happens, it won't affect me.
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I've only managed to be creeped out by books a couple of times, but the second was just yesterday while reading Pet Semetary.
