Scariest books of all time

Books that will give you nightmares - but in a good way!
499

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4.06 avg rating — 109,400 ratings
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499

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4.29 avg rating — 34,488 ratings
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499

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3.80 avg rating — 352,169 ratings
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499

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3.77 avg rating — 2,866 ratings
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505

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4.07 avg rating — 1,237 ratings
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505

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3.97 avg rating — 204 ratings
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505

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2.83 avg rating — 580 ratings
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505

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4.40 avg rating — 30,798 ratings
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505

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3.38 avg rating — 1,044 ratings
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505

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3.67 avg rating — 420,999 ratings
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511

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3.68 avg rating — 114 ratings
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511

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3.92 avg rating — 22,243 ratings
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511

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4.41 avg rating — 2,201 ratings
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511

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3.90 avg rating — 50 ratings
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515

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3.19 avg rating — 18,183 ratings
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515

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3.79 avg rating — 448 ratings
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515

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3.66 avg rating — 2,993 ratings
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515

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3.73 avg rating — 7,021 ratings
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515

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4.40 avg rating — 2,243 ratings
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515

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3.71 avg rating — 55,754 ratings
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515

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3.92 avg rating — 26,234 ratings
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522

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4.39 avg rating — 2,012 ratings
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522

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4.07 avg rating — 5,209 ratings
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522

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3.21 avg rating — 4,129 ratings
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525

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3.78 avg rating — 26,978 ratings
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525

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3.51 avg rating — 6,390 ratings
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525

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4.36 avg rating — 1,704 ratings
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525

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4.27 avg rating — 2,114 ratings
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529

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9,204 ratings
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529

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3.93 avg rating — 118,899 ratings
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529

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4.34 avg rating — 1,747 ratings
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529

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2.98 avg rating — 30,377 ratings
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529

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3.90 avg rating — 968 ratings
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534

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3.60 avg rating — 10,762 ratings
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534

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4.31 avg rating — 1,758 ratings
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534

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3.58 avg rating — 850 ratings
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537

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3.91 avg rating — 66,640 ratings
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537

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4.38 avg rating — 2,232 ratings
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537

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4.57 avg rating — 20,843 ratings
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537

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4.08 avg rating — 640 ratings
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541

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3.97 avg rating — 11,717 ratings
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541

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3.91 avg rating — 13,561 ratings
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543

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3.90 avg rating — 20 ratings
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543

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4.08 avg rating — 116,309 ratings
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543

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3.71 avg rating — 336 ratings
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546

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3.65 avg rating — 80,553 ratings
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546

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3.87 avg rating — 15,135 ratings
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546

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4.26 avg rating — 31,906 ratings
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549

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3.69 avg rating — 18,193 ratings
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549

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3.65 avg rating — 958 ratings
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551

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3.74 avg rating — 57 ratings
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551

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3.63 avg rating — 6,411 ratings
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551

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4.17 avg rating — 29,538 ratings
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551

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3.78 avg rating — 411 ratings
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551

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4.22 avg rating — 6,318 ratings
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556

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3.89 avg rating — 6,490 ratings
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556

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4.16 avg rating — 9,251 ratings
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556

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3.34 avg rating — 622 ratings
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556

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3.68 avg rating — 22 ratings
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560

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3.94 avg rating — 38,406 ratings
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560

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4.20 avg rating — 5,339 ratings
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560

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3.75 avg rating — 206,332 ratings
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560

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4.19 avg rating — 7,086 ratings
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560

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3.86 avg rating — 2,329 ratings
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565

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3.80 avg rating — 2,836 ratings
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565

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4.22 avg rating — 4,886 ratings
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565

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4.15 avg rating — 74,434 ratings
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565

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3.67 avg rating — 4,733 ratings
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565

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4.14 avg rating — 14,811 ratings
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570

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3.59 avg rating — 110,080 ratings
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570

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4.28 avg rating — 3,565 ratings
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570

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3.74 avg rating — 102,794 ratings
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570

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3.90 avg rating — 31,793 ratings
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570

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4.11 avg rating — 7,657 ratings
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575

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4.30 avg rating — 3,105 ratings
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575

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4.14 avg rating — 39,890 ratings
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575

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3.39 avg rating — 45,034 ratings
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575

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3.90 avg rating — 3,382 ratings
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579

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3.92 avg rating — 9,683 ratings
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579

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3.76 avg rating — 4,231 ratings
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579

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4.34 avg rating — 2,975 ratings
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579

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4.14 avg rating — 3,379,752 ratings
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579

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3.71 avg rating — 335 ratings
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584

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3.70 avg rating — 12,230 ratings
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584

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4.34 avg rating — 2,743 ratings
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584

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3.76 avg rating — 18,042 ratings
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587

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4.36 avg rating — 2,972 ratings
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587

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3.72 avg rating — 4,874 ratings
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587

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3.63 avg rating — 41 ratings
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590

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4.36 avg rating — 2,339 ratings
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591

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3.94 avg rating — 822,719 ratings
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591

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4.40 avg rating — 2,448 ratings
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593

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3.81 avg rating — 14,386 ratings
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594

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3.80 avg rating — 351 ratings
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595

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3.68 avg rating — 1,444 ratings
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596

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3.84 avg rating — 4,745 ratings
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597

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4.13 avg rating — 1,926 ratings
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597

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3.76 avg rating — 2,160 ratings
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599

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3.50 avg rating — 2,495 ratings
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599

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3.91 avg rating — 6,675 ratings
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629 books · 733 voters · list created August 6th, 2009 by TM (votes) .
160 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


TM 33 books
0 friends
Greyweather 2660 books
65 friends
Bettie 15668 books
19 friends
Robert 2756 books
303 friends
Lezlee 1467 books
84 friends
Anna 6104 books
47 friends
Sofia 1426 books
183 friends
Esmer 399 books
36 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Adam (new)

Adam Haha, look at how many of thes are Stephen King!


message 2: by Morgan (new)

Morgan F Adam/ wrote: "Haha, look at how many of thes are Stephen King!"

That's what I was thinking. I like how his name is even in the tags.


message 3: by [deleted user] (new)

He's written many books, and each has a way of getting to your mind and screw with you... guess they were bound to crop up :D
Now, this list has given me a lot more tittles to read.


message 4: by Mihaela (new)

Mihaela The Stephen King's list.
His name is so common here and of course is not without a reason.


message 5: by Aubrey (new)

Aubrey Well I can't take this list seriously, there's a Harry Potter book on here!


message 6: by Olivia (new)

Olivia Might as well call this Steven King Book List. No surprise his books are the scariest.


message 7: by Karrie (new)

Karrie What book is Harry Potter may I ask? I didn't see it.I like Blake Crouch, konrath as well as Amy Cross.


message 8: by Lynn (new)

Lynn Neering Wow- some of these title brought back memories of reading years and years ago. It reminded me of some series that I need to start again! Thanks!!


message 10: by Debbie (new)

Debbie Darnell-kielman great list when you are trying to think "now what do I want to read next?" Except for the Harry Potter book.


message 11: by Laura (last edited Jul 24, 2016 12:03PM) (new)

Laura Manory I chose harry potter out of curiosity. Even my grandkids are not into him...at all. I wanted to know what the big deal was. Then I saw the first movie of it. It is definitely for young kids. I prefer Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Laimo (the next Stephen King), Jeffrey Deaver and others of the same genre. It IS my favorite genre.


message 12: by Holly (new)

Holly This is a seriously flawed list.........lots of books here have a scare factor comparable to Scooby Doo.


message 13: by Nisus (new)

Nisus Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis and The Castle should be in this list. Kafka is the king of what one could call "absurdist horror" (sic), his main character is basically in the same situation than the "last survivor" of a horror story- he never knows if he's awake or experiencing a nightmare.

Also, Harry Potter is a children's book and does not belong anywhere in a list like this


message 14: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn There are NO good nightmares. There are good dreams but by definition a nightmare is terrifying and BAD.


message 15: by Benjamin (new)

Benjamin Holly wrote: "This is a seriously flawed list.........lots of books here have a scare factor comparable to Scooby Doo."

Can you recommend some good scary books?


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Benjamin wrote: "Can you recommend some good scary books?"

'Scary' can have different reasons... :-)


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