A good scary book for a beginner?

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Hi, I've watched plenty of scary movies, but I'm sort of new to the world of horror novels. I seem to really enjoy a good "creature feature" when I read, and I also like ghost/haunted house stories a lot. I'm not too into gore, but, it's okay if there's some violence in it. Think, more like The Ring or Amityville Horror and less like Saw. Thanks! :)

[[deleted user]]

Try "Phantoms" by Dean Koontz. That was the first horror/sci-fi book I ever read, and it got me completely hooked on the genre :-)

[Jon Recluse]

[Astrid]

Hell House was one of my favorites when I first started reading horror... kinda hokey at parts (very obviously written in the70s ;) ), but I still got creeped out! It's also a shorter read.

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Heather wrote: "Try "Phantoms" by Dean Koontz. That was the first horror/sci-fi book I ever read, and it got me completely hooked on the genre :-)"

I just ordered that book online the other day! Glad to know I made a good pick, and I've already read a few Dean Koontz books and I enjoyed them a lot.

These other books look great too. Thanks for the suggestions everyone! :)

[Scott]

Its a little off the scary path...but I found Stephen King's The Long Walk terrifying.

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Scott wrote: "Its a little off the scary path...but I found Stephen King's The Long Walk terrifying."

Wow, that one looks good too! You guys are giving me perfect sugestions! Thanks! :D

[Felipe]

If you ever want to read some short stories, I would go for Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. I think The Monkey was a good one. Or Everything's eventual also by Stephen King, particularly the men in the black suit (I guess that's the English translation).

[Jaimie]

Felipe wrote: "If you ever want to read some short stories, I would go for Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. I think The Monkey was a good one. Or Everything's eventual also by Stephen King, particularly the men in t..."

Good call on Skeleton Crew. I read that about 20 years ago and The Mist has stayed with me. To this day I still look at fog suspiciously.

[Squire]

I grew up reading lovecraft, but he's pretty dense for a beginner (I struggled for a while with him). But The Shining was the breakthrough book for me. After that, I was a horror addict.

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Okay, The Skeleton Crew, The Mist, and The Shining. Got 'em! :)

[RB]

I can definitely recommend The Shining by Stephen King

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Oh, good! I put both the Long Walk and The Shining on my "to buy" shelf. :)
Thanks!

[Mehmet]

James Herberts books and Richard Laymon are also authors that introduced me to horror.
James Herbert - The rats trilogy, Magic cottage. I second Jons suggestion Haunting.
Richard Laymon - The Stake, Island and Quake.

[[deleted user]]

My first was . Not too scary.

[Mehmet]

Carrie was my first stephen king book, I watched the film many times and did enjoy the book a lot. Its true its not that scary, but quite sad.

[Astrid]

Haha, you had no idea your one good book suggestion was going to turn into an entire list, did you? ;)

[Jim]

Jonathan wrote: ""I Am Legend" (Richard Matheson), "'Salem's Lot" (King)...any of those would be a good starting point."

I will have to agree with these two, "I am Legend" was a great book, so much better than any of the three movies I know of, and a movie of a King book...

"Watchers" (Koontz) was a good book, not sure it was scary though, I actually can't think of anything I have read in some time that actually scared me, some made me think more than others.

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Amy wrote: "Haha, you had no idea your one good book suggestion was going to turn into an entire list, did you? ;)"

No I didn't, but this is so cool. You guys are going to keep me terrified for the next 2 years and I appreciate it. Keep 'em coming! lol

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Jonathan wrote: ""I Am Legend" (Richard Matheson), "Ghost Story" (Peter Straub), "'Salem's Lot" (King), "The Orchard" (Charles L. Grant)...any of those would be a good starting point."

I already ordered Ghost story. Glad to know I made another good choice.:D

I'm going to check the other books out now!

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Misty wrote: "I think this months read would be great, The Shining by Stephen King, it is one of my all time favorites and makes for a wonderful ghost story!"

Thank you! :D

[Cindy]

Bram Stoker's Dracula would be a good one to read

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Cindy wrote: "Bram Stoker's Dracula would be a good one to read"

Thanks! :)

[Kurt]

Cindy wrote: "Bram Stoker's Dracula would be a good one to read"

I was going to say the same thing. Dracula is the first horror book I always recommend to new readers of horror.

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Kurt wrote: "Cindy wrote: "Bram Stoker's Dracula would be a good one to read"

I was going to say the same thing. Dracula is the first horror book I always recommend to new readers of horror."

Okay! I already have that one so I will be reading it now. I like the idea of claasic vampires before they glittered in the sun. lol

[Bill]

These vampires don't sparkle either :)

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Bill wrote: "These vampires don't sparkle either :)

"

Yay! No sparkles! I have this thing about not reading "vampire books" because vampires are not cuddly boyfriends, but this book looks good. :D

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Misty wrote: "Scott wrote: "Its a little off the scary path...but I found Stephen King's The Long Walk terrifying."

Yes one of my favorite books and not a long read!"

I've only read one Stephen King book (terrible I know) and it wasn't even scary, but I think this is a great first read. :)

[Katie]

If you like a good ghost story, you could try The Woman in Black by Susan Hill! It's a short novel, and it's much more atmospheric than downright scary. Think good, old-fashioned English ghost story. And if you haven't seen the movie yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! No gore, but it scared the pants off of me!

For something a little more intense, there's also The White Devil by Justin Evans, which was written only a couple years ago, and takes the same Gothic, English ghost story elements and intensifies them. Genuinely spooky! Or The Good House by Tananarive Due, which takes the classic haunted house story and infuses it with elements of African voodoo.

I'm not as familiar with "monster" horror, although I read an interesting book recently called Breed by Chase Novak. It's a modern take on the transformative werewolf story, although the monsters aren't exactly werewolves, per se. If you're just starting out with monster horror, I'd probably suggest something else to start off with, but this book is still pretty good.

[Davíð]

The Keeper

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Cindy wrote: "Bram Stoker's Dracula would be a good one to read"

I agree!

[♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle)]

Thank you for the great ghost stories, Katie and Davio! :D

I will definitely be reading Dracula Lady Danielle! :D