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I want to read a really really scary book/story, any recommendations?
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Larry
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Apr 14, 2009 05:12PM
I really really feel like reading a super scary book. (I don't know why) I would like if some of the members could recommend the scariest book they have read or heard about. Please don't reccomend a book just becuz it's a classic but not really scary!!(multiple reccomendations are fine)
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"The Exorcist" and "The Shining" are classics, and they were also very scary, much more so than the movies.
I'd suggest The Books of Blood by Clive Barker, there are plenty of scary moments or if you are looking to be chilled without buckets of blood I'd suggest the short stories of MR James, EF Benson or if you like a bit of Egyptian mystery Brood of the Witch Queen by Sax Rohmer or the Jewel of the Seven Stars by Bram stoker are pretty good.
Larry, if you haven't read Ghost Story by Peter Straub, which was our group's most recent common read, I'd definitely recommend that one as scary. The fear factor builds slowly (which is characteristic of the best literature of fright --if you already have ghouls jumping out of the woodwork on page one, what's left to anticipate? :-)), but when it gets going, the tension steadily mounts. Towards the end of the book, there are places where it becomes almost unbearable.
I'd second the Books of Blood, very good collection of short stories. I was also fairly disturbed by The Unblemished by Conrad Williams.
Larry wrote: "I really really feel like reading a super scary book. (I don't know why) I would like if some of the members could recommend the scariest book they have read or heard about. Please don't reccomend ..."Pet Semetary by Stephen King. He said he scared himself while he was writing it.
Books of Blood is very good, but I think Pet Semetary is frightening to the nth degree. That story actually gave me nightmares which is hard to do.Ghost Story is another great one. It should be read by anyone and everyone that likes horror / ghost stories just to see how it should be done.
The original movie is pretty good too but still can't compare to the book.
Afraid is pretty scary (I just finished it yesterday) but I don't think it's the scariest book ever. I actually thought The Ruins was one of the creepiest books I've ever read. I had trouble sleeping afterwards.
Off Season by Jack Ketchum...scary and gruesome but a pretty tense read.Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe scared me bad and I'm pretty hard to scare.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/j...
Infected, Contagious, and Nocturnal by Scott Sigler.
The Jigsaw Man by Gord Rollo.
The Descent by Jeffrey Long.
Katie by Michael McDowell.
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Julia by Peter Straub.
The Freakshow by Bryan Smith.
I got tired of the unrelenting meanness of The Ruins. SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
It became pretty clear early on that they weren't going to make it off the hill. I didn't even read the last few pages.
I love Seattle. My brother, aunt and cousin live there. I'm in Florida but I wish I was in Seattle.
And a classics I Am Legend and Salem's Lot, I read Salems's Lot in a 150 year old house on a dark, windy night in the Berkshires. It was pretty damn scary.
Try 'Heart-shaped Box' by Joe Hill. I've just started reading it & it's pretty damn spooky so far!!
Depends on what scares you. Do you need monsters, psycho killers, demons, torture... something psychologically scary, or bump-in-the-night scary?
Christine wrote: "Afraid is pretty scary (I just finished it yesterday) but I don't think it's the scariest book ever. I actually thought The Ruins was one of the creepiest books I've ever read. I had trouble slee..."Christine, can you tell me the author of "The Ruins"?
I thought Red Dragon was pretty scary. I have a friend who is a FBI agent and she read it and ending up sleeping with her gun.
Depends on what your personal preferences are, realistic horror-suspense or supernatural variety. Everyone so far listed excellent choices, but one of my top most-frightening horror novels is Pet Semetary and probably Silence of the Lambs for horror-suspense. Some of Jack Ketchum's books are raw, gritty, viscerally disturbing, such as The Girl Next Door, based on an actual true story.
House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski scared me. Just the unnatural physics of the room in the house is enough to creep me out. It is an echo of storytelling itself and a reinforcement of Stephen King's concept that you "could get lost in there."
I have House of Leaves on my to-read list after I got chills reading the summary on the book jacket!
I don't like horrific stories based "on real life." I have enough real life of my own to contend with. I don't need new stuff that could actually happen to worry about.
Twoina, I'm with you on that one! That's why, if I'm going to read something in the horrific mold, I prefer supernatural menaces over natural ones like serial killers and child abusers; at least you know the horrors in the first category are make-believe (even if they can metaphorically symbolize various dark truths), whereas the things in the latter group are all too often the stuff of our everyday newscasts.
Brett wrote: "Books of Blood is very good, but I think Pet Semetary is frightening to the nth degree. That story actually gave me nightmares which is hard to do.Ghost Story is another great one. It should be r..."
I tried reading that book. I love Peter Straub's works but his writing is very, very compressed and tight that I felt it was like trying to eat an Italian water ice with the texture of concrete.
All I could do was to rake my teeth across the surface instead of sinking my teeth in it. But I enjoy his latest work, lost boy lost girl and feel he is a bit looser in term of writing.
I would suggest reading a NON-FICTION crimes, murder, greed, sort of book about what people are capable of doing to eachother in the real world. Just the thought of it makes me shudder. If I ever get brave enough, I find one & it makes my head all twisted & funny feeling for quite awhile.
I'm Scared just thinking about it.
I'm Scared just thinking about it.
If you like Lovecraftian Horror, Henrik S. Harksen's book Eldritch Horrors Dark Talesis a good one. I think it's 14 stories. Henrick did one & the artwork is fantastic. Each story is started with a unique, really neat, picture.Henrick just got interviewed:
http://lovecraftnewsnetwork.blogspot....
He's also here on GR & is a part of this group.
Jim, thanks for that link! That's a good, articulate interview.Henrik, congratulations on the well-deserved recognition you're getting in your field! And best wishes with all of your current and planned publishing projects.
Thanks for the plug-in on my behalf, Jim. That is very kind of you. (Btw--the book can also be purchased via Amazon.com.)Also thank you, Werner.
I apologize for my somewhat e-silence these days, but having a child, and being totally new at this parenting thing, takes up a considerable amount of time.
No need to apologize at all, Henrik! A lot of us have been through that experience ourselves, and know all about what it's like. :-) Best wishes in that exciting adventure, too!
Christine wrote: "Afraid is pretty scary (I just finished it yesterday) but I don't think it's the scariest book ever. I actually thought The Ruins was one of the creepiest books I've ever read. I had trouble slee..."I agree with you that The Ruins was very creepy.I am re-reading a lot of MR James right now and some of his stories are quite frightening.
Twoina wrote: "I love Seattle. My brother, aunt and cousin live there. I'm in Florida but I wish I was in Seattle."Hello!I live in Seattle and it is really nice.Glad to see you on Goodreads.
Jeannie
Jeannie wrote: "Christine wrote: "Afraid is pretty scary (I just finished it yesterday) but I don't think it's the scariest book ever. I actually thought The Ruins was one of the creepiest books I've ever read. ..."--I love MR James, Jeannie.
SUMMER OF NIGHT by Dan Simmons is an easy one to recommend. It's storyline will remind you a little of Stephen King's IT, but I honestly think this one was a little more effective overall (to be fair, though, IT probably has the best scary opening I've ever read). Summer of Night is about a group of kids in the 50s and the evil they encounter at their school. Simmons captures the camaraderie of the group wonderfully, and does an even better job of pulling childhood fears into the story inventively. There's a "monster in the closet" build-up that's just brilliant.
The set pieces really make this story stand out. There's a scene at about the halfway point that's definitely one of my all-time favorites. It's set in the middle of a corn field and the tension just keeps amping higher and the scene just plays with you. Check it out. You won't be sorry.
P.S. And then you might want to check out PIT-STOP by ...sorry, couldn't help the shameless plug :)
Ben wrote: "SUMMER OF NIGHT by Dan Simmons is an easy one to recommend. It's storyline will remind you a little of Stephen King's IT, but I honestly think this one was a little more effective overall (to be fa..."Summer of Night is one of my favorite 'coming of age' books and it's very scary also!
How do we find Pit-Stop?
Aw, you didn't mind my case of shameless-plugitis! I think I'm starting to recover from it now. Just look for Pit-Stop on Amazon. Thanks for asking :)
Congradulations on the book!I wish that I could write like some of my favorite authors.I will definitely check out Pit-Stop.How exciting!!!
I also liked Drude,too.I thought that it was an interesting book.
The Terror was enjoyable if a bit dense, but I liked it. Drood sounds great...definitely read it eventually.
Drude really introduces you to the life of Wilkie Collins and Dickens.
Can anyone recommend any NEW horror to read?I keep trying to read the new anthologies but just can't get into them.I much prefer the older stories.I am about to try The Books of Blood by Clive Barker hoping the stories are not too gross or offensive.
I like scary stories but not violent ones.And no more sociopaths,please!
Thanks.
Hi Jeannie. I don't know if you like YA/Children's boooks,but I read three for October that you might like:Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Whitley
Lord Loss by Darren Shan
The Devouring by Simon Holt.
You can read the reviews I posted (and other readers) and see if they're up your alley or not. I'm with you on the violent, misanthropic, human monster horror not being my cup of tea.
Thanks Danielle! I ordered the three books from the library.I'm glad we are on the same page when it comes to tastes in horror fiction.While waiting for these to come in I'll continue on with Clive Barker.I really like his imagination and I have almost all of his books so that I can re-read them.
Hope you are having a good weekend!
Jeannie wrote: "Drude really introduces you to the life of Wilkie Collins and Dickens."I really enjoyed The Terror, but I have to admit Drood felt like work. The scarier aspects were suggested without a lot of follow-through, and I got the feeling Simmons was having a hard time cramming his fictional story around biographical facts. The end just kinda puttered out. Although I will say the characterizations were very detailed and well written.
You're welcome, Jeannie. Glad I can help. If you like Barker, I think you might enjoy Lord Loss.
By Lord Loss, you mean the Demonata series, right?? I'm on Demon Thief, the first book's really freaky.
Yes, in the Demonata series. That's book 2. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series, April.
Try Mine!My name is Russell Kaine. I'm an author with a new haunting and disturbing, fast-paced supernatural horror/suspense novel, "Bumble Bee." It is awaiting print, but is currently available as an e-book cheap! A creepy sample chapter can be viewed at
www.jackofallpipes.com/kainebook.html
Other wise, I recommend the first Stephen King novel I ever picked up, "Pet Cemetary," if you haven't already read it.
-------------RK
Supernatural Fiction Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
The Silent Companions (other topics)Legion (other topics)
Amongst The Mists (other topics)
Hell: The Possession and Exorcism of Cassie Stevens (other topics)
Haunted (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Tom Lewis (other topics)Lee Mountford (other topics)
Henrik S. Harksen (other topics)
