Horror Aficionados discussion
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What is the scariest book you have ever read?
Mod
I'ed love to see the list.
Brenda wrote: "I could start next week. Do we want to shoot for August 1?"That'd be cool. What do you think is the best way to time a buddy read? Have the whole book read by a certain date or to read the first however many chapters/pages by certain days?
Jon Recluse wrote: "What are your Top Five, James?I'd love to see the list."
1-) BOY'S LIFE, by Robert R. McCammon
2-) LIGHTNING, by Dean R. Koontz
3-) CAGE OF NIGHT, by Ed Gorman
4-) THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, by Douglas Clegg
5-) CHRISTINE/THE SHINING, by Stephen King
Yeah, I cheated on that last one. Whatcha gonna do?
Gertie wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I could start next week. Do we want to shoot for August 1?"That'd be cool. What do you think is the best way to time a buddy read? Have the whole book read by a certain date or to ..."
With this book in particular, I think we'll need to read a certain number of chapters or pages. I think we may need encouragement from the other readers, or possibly enlightenment in spots. I'll take a look at it when it arrives and see what I think the best plan of attack is. :)
Brenda wrote: "Gertie wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I could start next week. Do we want to shoot for August 1?"That'd be cool. What do you think is the best way to time a buddy read? Have the whole book read by a cert..."
Really hoping my copy gets in by then - this seems like a perfect book to share collective "WTF" moments.
Mod
I'd love to see the list."
1-) BOY'S LIFE, by Robert R. McCammon
2-) LIGHTNING, by Dean R. Koontz
3-) CAGE OF NIGHT, by Ed Gorman
4-) THE C..."
Interesting...I love #1 and #3 is on my TBR. Huge Gorman fan.
Haha, collective WTFs. Yeah. This seems like an especially good book for those.Brenda, good point - and maybe someone who has read it might also be able to tell us good stopping points - like just after something dramatic happens, so we can all get together and freak out. :-P
James wrote: "Jon Recluse wrote: "What are your Top Five, James?I'd love to see the list."
1-) BOY'S LIFE, by Robert R. McCammon
2-) LIGHTNING, by Dean R. Koontz
3-) CAGE OF NIGHT, by Ed Gorman
4-) THE C..."
I've been looking for my next scary book to read.
I've read #1 and #5 so out of 2, 3 and 4 which one is the scariest book to read in your opionion?
Oh, you MUST check out THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, Eileen! Scary stuff!
Oh man, I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with The Children's Hour. I mean, really? :)I did like Goat Dance a lot, but TCH just didn't do it for me.
James wrote: "Oh, you MUST check out THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, Eileen! Scary stuff!"James, Bandit loved it and that's usually good enough for me. However it seems Charlene was so so on it. There are some pretty harsh reviews on this one a very mixed bag. All that being said I will mark it to read.
How about the book that disturbed you the most?The Lovely Bones
James wrote: "It's very rare to read something that is genuinely "scary", but one that did the trick for me is Douglas Clegg's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend you give it a..."You know, I have to agree with this, in the same way as The Bad Seed, The Crucible or Lord of the Flies. There is something so horrifying about the cruelty that children can get up to.
I also found Clockwork Orange pretty horrifying.
Don wrote: "How about the book that disturbed you the most?The Lovely Bones"
This has stuck with me for a long time and I am guilty of forgetting shortly after a read.
Not sure if I want to be distrubed, I'm looking more to being scared. I will check out The Children's Hour and let you know if it scared me.
I'd be interested in a group read for The House of Leaves :)I think The Amytiville Horror was the book that scared me the most and Survivor was the most disturbing.
Just bought The Children's Hour for my Kindle. I'm pretty hard to scare, so I'll be interested in how this one turns out for me.
Cool! Hope it doesn't disappoint, Debbie. I'm too new to the Group . . . don't want to set a bad first impression. :)
Brenda - someone told me you have this discussion going in another group. Would you mind terribly if we did our own discussion of it here in HA? (In case you want to lead the discussion.)
Edited: my hyperlink tags were wonky, causing part of my text to disappear.
Yes, FYI - There is a Buddy Read, starting today 8/1/13, for HOUSE OF LEAVES. You can find us in the Casual Readers group, under Buddy Reads.Please feel free to join us! The more the merrier! I would expect that, due to the length and intricacies of this book, we will probably be at it for at least a couple of months!
Do you mind if we do one here in Horror Aficionados for those who don't want to join another group? If you don't want to start a second discussion, I can start one up here, but I wanted to ask first since it was your idea.
Oh, no, by all means, Gertie! Please go ahead and start one, if you'd like! With this kind of book, I don't think it would hurt to have it running in two groups. Heck, we could probably get good ideas and insights from both groups! I'll keep an eye out for it! Believe me, you're not stepping on my toes!
I'll be joining both reads. I was kind of hoping we'd have one here too. Thanks for being the one to mention it. :)
James wrote: "It's very rare to read something that is genuinely "scary", but one that did the trick for me is Douglas Clegg's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend you give it a..."I started reading Clegg about a year ago. Great writer, and great guy. I recommend The Children's Hour, the Hour before Dark, and the Criminally Insane Series.
Am I the only one to really dislike House of Leaves? I didn't think it was scary in the slightest...compared to say Hell house.
Okay cool - I will start one up here! Could be fun to check in on both discussions.Okay here it is Buddy read of House of Leaves.
Todd wrote: "I remember first reading Pet Sematary and The Amityville Horror while home alone and hearing sounds--in retrospect, probably just the house settling--that raised goosebumps. While the former was ..."
You're right that The Amityville Horror had some creepy parts. You may be thinking of what I do - the Jodie stuff? Where she would draw the make believe friend/pig whatever.
I read 666 by Ansen when I was a wee one but forgot everything about it. Picked up at the used bookstore a few months back
Traci L. wrote: "Without a doubt for me it's The Exorcist. I just read it for the first time this month and it definitely lived up to that fear factor. Before that? Has to be King. Pet Cemetery or The Shining."
Good grief, now I have to re-read the Exorcist now. You guys won't stop talking about it. I just skimmed it when I was a teenager.
I haven't read it yet but need to as well
Jeff wrote: "James wrote: "It's very rare to read something that is genuinely "scary", but one that did the trick for me is Douglas Clegg's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend..."You have great taste, Jeff! Yeah, he is a super-cool guy. I think the "Criminally Insane" series you refer to are the Andrew Harper books? I'm not sure if I've read all of those, but I did really like BAD KARMA. I re-read it a couple of months ago for the first time in years, in fact. "The Surgeon" was a great villainess . . . very creepy . . . .
Just replied to myself. But hopefully Jeff knows I was replying to his reply to my reply. LOL
Mod
I've got one of those on my TBR....
Jon Recluse wrote: "James wrote: "Jeff wrote: "James wrote: "It's very rare to read something that is genuinely "scary", but one that did the trick for me is Douglas Clegg's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. If you haven't read t..."Hey James, and Jon,
Actually Andrew Harper is Douglas Clegg. Not sure why the pen name for a couple books, but Clegg did Bad Karma, Red Angel, and Night Cage. I hope he actually writes another series like this, or adds another book or two to this one. The only one from Clegg that I really couldn't get into was Afterlife.
I just scrolled through the comments quickly so if I am repeating this, I apologize - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Dead by Mark Rogers - I've read this numerous timesThe Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum - read once, very disturbing
Misery by Stephen King - actually had to put the book down at one point
Pet Semetary by Stephen King - best final paragraph of any novel
The Boogeyman by Stephen King (short story) - scary as hell.
Troy
oooh i have misery by king in my collection. Must read it to test scare factor :-) he he.
My top 5 would look something like this (and are not really in any kind of order):1.) "The Call of Cthulhu" / "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft
-Something about Lovecraft's cosmic horror has terrified me since I first discovered him in college. I still have frequent nightmares about Cthulhu rising from the deep.
2.) "Penpal" by Dathan Auerbach
-While not the most eloquently written work (very vanilla prose), it's nonetheless concise and easy to read, and it scared the bejesus out of me. I read it in two sittings (in one day) and found myself looking over my should several times through the few days that followed.
3.) "The Hellbound Heart" by Clive Barker
-My parents were never too concerned about what I watched as a kid, but if there is one movie that i would say I watched too early, it was "Hellraiser" at about age 8. That movie scarred me for life. Reading "The Hellbound Heart" a good 12 years later was not quite as scarring, but still elicited those feelings of terror and disgust that the film did. Barker creates a world that feels like it could be dark fantasy, but is too horrific for a human to consider fantastical.
4.) "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
-I felt like Danieleswki must have been hugely influenced by Lovecraft while writing this book. As the family explores the house, it reminded me of the feelings I felt while reading "At the Mountains of Madness" - humanity seeing places and things it should never have known about.
5.) "'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King
-this remains the quintessential King book in my eyes - his ability to tell a story about an entire town, his ear for dialogue, his imagination for the macabre and the terrible. Just amazing stuff.
The scariest book I've read so far is probably Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite. Very gory and not for the faint of heart.
Olivia wrote: "The scariest book I've read so far is probably Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite. Very gory and not for the faint of heart."I just ordered this book from paperbackswap.com
Now I can't wait to read it!
Julissa wrote: "Olivia wrote: "The scariest book I've read so far is probably Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite. Very gory and not for the faint of heart."I just ordered this book from paperbackswap.com
Now I c..."
You won't regret it if you like over the top gore and torture scenes.
I can finally name a book that scared me...Rakasha by Robert Davis. Just finished reading it and oh my god. Gore, guts, twisted and sick raunchy horror. I read it before bed and it had me looking over my shoulder every 5 minutes. Scary vicious @$$ $h!t!
I just finished reading House of Leaves since it was suggested in this thread, but it didn't really do it for me. It had great potential for being frightening, but I was too distracted by having so many interruptions to the scary parts of the story. It was a (mostly) interesting read though, glad to have picked it up.
Think I will "unask" my question and make a new thread tomorrow instead - so I don't sidetrack this one. :-)
I'm not entirely familiar with the word ambience but if you could define it I'm sure I could recommend you a book of such.
Just substitute the word atmosphere, and that pretty much does it. Lots of feeling in the environment, so you get a real sense of what a place would feel like to be in, know what I mean?
exquisite corpse was gross not frightening.
Horror Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
The Other (other topics)The Shining (other topics)
The Rats (other topics)
Haunted (other topics)
The Jewel of Seven Stars (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen King (other topics)Julia Verlanger (other topics)
Off to pick up a copy...
I liked GOAT DANCE a lot too. So I'm pretty sure you'll really love THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. I can't wait to hear what you think, buddy.