The Amityville Horror question

I have a few.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The stories weren't super scary, even at a young age, it was the black and white drawings that were in the book. As a child they frightened me to no end.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

The Damnation Game by Clive Barker. I read this first when I was eleven or so. Probably a mistake to read Barker that young. Explains a lot I'm sure. ;)

The Damnation Game

Also, most of the stories by H.P. Lovecraft. That man was terrifying... and imaginative. Brilliant stuff if I may say so.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth And Other Stories Of Horror

*Edit*Now after reading Bruce's original post. I would suggest H.P. Lovecraft, good Sir, it's the tamest of the three.

When the dead speak kept me up awhile..the photos also gave me chills..

@ Bruce, given your tastes I'll skip the ones that scared me but are based on human cruelty or true stories or both (ie. the most deeply disturbing novel I've read, The Girl Next Door ) ...

5. The Ruins -- it's a bizarre horror concept, but such a page-turner!

4. Books of Blood, Volumes One to Three Clive Barker's Books of Blood are short stories, but there's enough nightmarish imagery in there to keep you going a while...

3. The Essential H.P. Lovecraft Collection speaking of nightmarish imagery, the prose of Lovecraft may be dated but his horror vision is incredible (I second the vote for The Shadow Over Innsmouth specifically, and it's in this collection.

2. 'Salem's Lot -- as a kid it made me check the windows, as an adult I appreciated the take on Dracula...

1. The Haunting of Hill House -- a classic, but really, the best ghost story ever written. You can re-read it with totally different interpretations and it all works, but it did make me gasp.

Honorable mentions: The Turn of the Screw, the original ghost novel; The Silence of the Lambs; Mo Hayder's Birdman is kind of the U.K. Silence of the Lambs in mixing police with horror; The Wolfen

I read this book when I was a kid. Could not finish it.
Thought it was true.
So I was scared.
Could not sleep.
Later in life.
I read a second time and finished reading it.

The Exorcist is of coarse scary but well written by William Peter Blatty. And the movie is so scary I peed my pants and my sisters pants too. Now that's scary.

Another vote for the Exorcist from me.

I love horror books but I very rarely find one that manages to 'scare' me.

I definitely would definitely recommend The Devil Rocked Her Cradle by David St Clair as well, I've been meaning to re-read it for ages...in fact I might make it my next read

No book has yet to actually scare me, since I don't scare easily. Amityville Horror came the closest though, with the Exorcist coming in at second.

The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby scared me silly when I read them at the time.
Phil Rickman (Curfew/ Crybbe)has written some pretty atmospheric stories.

"It", "The Exorcist", "Silence of the Lambs" and "Helter Skelter" . I read all of these a long time ago and I can still remember how they scared me so. I had to sleep with the lights on while reading "It". And "Helter Skelter" caused me to have nightmares.

I haven't read one yet. I recently read In a Dark Place after seeing some recommendations... wasn't written in a way that would scare me. But I do want to say thanks to those that mentioned it b/c I have been looking forever for Warren's books and recently found that Amazon has republished all their books in December. Woot. I will definitely have to find The Exorcist and see how that rolls with me.

In a Dark Place No other book has matched the terror that inhabits these pages.

Like many others here, I will have to go with Amityville. Despite being a huge King fan myself, I have to admit to having not read Salem's Lot. (Shame on me.)

There are a few others out there as well, but I've read so many that I'm having trouble singling one out. Hellfire by John Saul does come to the forefront. (His books are more of a "eww..." scary than a "eek!" scary to me, however.)

Bruce wrote: "I've been looking for recommendations for a truly scary, spooky, terrifying book. I don't necessarily mean gory or violent, but something that leaves you with a chill in the spine and maybe a bit r..."

a bit unconventional, but some of the creepypasta on the internet are really well written and interesting. go to ichorfalls.com, the guy stopped unfortunately but check out some of the classic ones like candle cove.

I'm a big horror fan and I loved it. good luck

Definitely The Exorcist although the second book Legion runs it pretty close. It is what Exorcist 3 is based on not the 2nd film which is truly awful. Some of the true haunting type books are bloody scary as well although some are hilariously bad.

first horror book I ever read was Thomas tryon harvest home and I was truly horrified ! the sentinel -Jeffrey konvitz was another that still makes me shudder when I think of it .
not horror in the conventional sense but famine by graham masterton was a fear inducing memorable book too.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the writings of Charles L. Grant.

Seed, by Ania Ahlborn. I couldn't/wouldn't read it before going to bed. Scary and disturbing. I read it 2 years ago and it still pops into my head sometimes. Also liked and was creeped out by a couple of Brian Blank's books, The Revenant: A Horror in Dodsville and The Haunting of Stephen Wells.

Mine was the Exorcist

Authors maybe Dean Koontz is worth a try

I would say the first half of Heart Shaped Box. Also I agree with Lovecraft, cant wait to get the new complete edition next week.

Amityville... great start! Don't muddy the waters King or Koontz, please! Try House of Leaves, Penpal, or Floating Staircase. These books kinda screw with your mind. I can tell that you, like me, are picky and need a higher quality story to provide the chills.

500 Days: Decisions and Deceptions in the Shadow of 9/11
by Kurt Eichenwald.

About this cowboy with WAY too much power who goes on a crusade in Iraq.

Actually, William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" is one of the scariest books I've ever read.

Julia: A very good ghost story, not as well-known as Ghost Story, but if you read Julia and like it, you can move on to Ghost Story, which is a more involved and challenging read.

Long Lankin Excellent first book from a new author, this novel is tense and terrifying.

The Ceremonies Very highly recommended; Klein is a very under-rated horror writer and this novel is a very subtle little creepfest.

Florence and Giles / The Turn of the Screw A great modern twist on a true classic of the genre. This novel is sort of a revenge fantasy told from the children's viewpoint.

There you go, Bruce, I hope this is helpful. I saw that you have read much of SK's work, so decided to give you a list of works by other authors.

I know it seems to be a "popular" choice, but before I saw the posts I immediately went to Salem's Lot!

Gotta go with The Shining. Such creeping, eerie dread. I first read it over 16 years ago and it still manages to be one of the few forms of media to honestly unnerve me.

Salem's Lot made me check my doors before I went to sleep. Read it as an adult.

So far the scariest book I've read is The Omen by David Seltzer...It was a very quick read...but it stayed with me long after I'd finished reading. I don't think the movie even comes close...