# Scariest books ever?



## enron1982 (Aug 22, 2007)

What are the 3 scariest books you've ever read, one's that lingered after you read them? 

For me:

1. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty -Sadly the only book he ever wrote and it's ridiculously eerie and terrifying.
2. It by Stephen King-Though i don't care for the end so much and as they're older its not as scary, the first half of this book is just crazy to me.
3. Pet Sematary- by stephen King-some of the prose in this is really quite haunting. classic.


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## SFeigley (Aug 22, 2007)

Well being that King is probably the only horror writer I have ever read I guess my three would be as follows:


The Shining - It was just so ridiculously creepy.
The Dark Half - As it was said somewhere else on this forum Stark was just such a badass.
The Monkey - Short story I had on audio book as part of the skeleton crew series. Creeped me out. Probably still would.


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## Mira (Aug 22, 2007)

Pet Sematery-Stephen King

Actually thought of that before I opened the thread and read that. But that book is absolutely terrifying. Had to sleep with a light on for weeks afterwards, and still can't really think about it too much without freaking out a little.


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## boongee (Aug 23, 2007)

wow, Pet Sematary for myself as well. I didn't think it was _that_ scary, though, I just haven't really read anything scarier. Haven't read much horror at all, aside from all those Goosebumps books when I was a kid.


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## Dancer Preston (Aug 23, 2007)

The Devil Wears Prada by Laura Weisberger...scary that the thing got published...lol


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## Truth-Teller (Aug 23, 2007)

Wow. That's ironic.

Pet Semetary was the most boringest book I've ever read. I rate it up there with Insomnia.


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## Truth-Teller (Aug 23, 2007)

1. Night Shift
2. The Girl Next Door
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


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## Dancer Preston (Aug 23, 2007)

Oh yeah, Dracula by Bram Stoker-- by far one of the most scary novels I have read in recent memory.

Also, I don't dare read anything by Edgar Allan Poe at night. Truly scary!


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## Johnna (Aug 23, 2007)

Cujo made me stay awake all night after I finished it. I also couldn't read it alone; I had to sit next to someone. It was creepy. I don't know why.


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## SFeigley (Aug 23, 2007)

Just thought of another one that I thought was pretty scary and twisted:

Hop-Frog by Edgar Alan Poe

Although it's not one of my favorites by him, I thought it was particularly twisted.


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## Truth-Teller (Aug 23, 2007)

There is no such thing as Hop-Frog, in Poe's collection of short stories.


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## SFeigley (Aug 23, 2007)

That was the name I knew it by, but perhaps you knew it by the name: The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs instead?

Here's a link to it substantiating that it is known by both names:
Hop-Frog - Edgar Allan Poe

Thanks.


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## enron1982 (Aug 23, 2007)

Truth-Teller said:


> 1. Night Shift
> 2. The Girl Next Door
> 3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde



I'm reading the Girl Next Door right now.


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## boongee (Aug 23, 2007)

Jekyll & Hyde is an interesting one. I read it recently. It didn't come to mind when I came in this topic, though. It wasn't typical horror but it was still scary in a sense I guess. It would have probably been a lot better if I didn't already know the basic story before I read the book.


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## Hopeful_Author (Aug 23, 2007)

*IT* by Stephen King. - I have this unnatural fear of clowns so it just scared the bejeezuz outta me.


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## Balrog (Aug 23, 2007)

Pet Semetary:    Stephen King
Blood Crazy:     Simon Clark


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## Raging_Hopeful (Aug 23, 2007)

1. Cujo
2. Misery

Awesome.


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## little_berlios (Aug 24, 2007)

Apt Pupil in that Stephen King novella gave me chills.  The movie freaked me out too- Ian McKellen as a Nazi?  Yikes!

As an aside, the cover for my copy of Carrie is horrific- blank staring eyes with blood coating her face.  Eesh.  That movie sucked btw.


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## ClancyBoy (Aug 24, 2007)

Balrog said:


> Pet Semetary:    Stephen King
> Blood Crazy:     Simon Clark



_Sem*a*tary.  _Spell your misspellings correctly plz.And I agree.


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## Johnnyelvis (Aug 24, 2007)

Greeleys Cove by John Gideon. The most insane, fucked up, sickest book I have ever read. Damm, just thinking about it now makes my skin crawl.


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## SFeigley (Aug 24, 2007)

Johnnyelvis said:


> Greeleys Cove by John Gideon. The most insane, fucked up, sickest book I have ever read. Damm, just thinking about it now makes my skin crawl.


 
Quite an emphatic review. Makes me want to have a look for myself sometime.


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## Johnnyelvis (Aug 25, 2007)

PM me your address, I'll send you a copy for Christmas SFeigley.


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## lisajane (Aug 25, 2007)

Probably Carrie by King. I'm generally not one to read scary novels, nor be scared by any that I happen to read, but that one was unnerving...

Oh yes, and Sybil. Like the part where the mother gives Sybil a douche.


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## Michael (Aug 26, 2007)

_The Shining_ and _Pet Sematery_.  King is (was?) a master of all things creepy.


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## Athlynne (Sep 17, 2007)

"Pet Sematary" for me too.  I'm glad I'm not alone on that one.  I can't even watch the movie...and movies almost never scare me.


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## Luzici (Sep 17, 2007)

I'm thinking of _In the Penal Colony_ by Franz Kafka.


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## Linton Robinson (Sep 17, 2007)

H P Lovecraft


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## huntingtonb (Sep 18, 2007)

Salem's Lot by Steven King spooked me.


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## TWariner (Sep 22, 2007)

I'll have to read more scary books...

I have to agree that Dracula is at least dark - I love the subject.

As far as Stephen King, the books I read weren't necessarily scary, but the scariest were Carrie and Pet Sematary.  I haven't read Salem's Lot and I read Cujo so long ago I really don't remember if it was scary or not.  I thought It was alright until the end when the clown turns into a spider.  That was just tacky and uncalled for.  Why did the clown need to turn into anything?  Why couldn't it just have remained an evil clown?  And giant spiders aren't scary.

I like the children's picture book, The Bones of Fred McFee.  (I have kids).  It's a great Halloween story.

I'll have to read some Poe.  I'm interested.  I love some of his poems.


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## Robert West (Oct 2, 2007)

Though I truly love Stephen King's work, I have to give the scariest nod to the Pit and the Pendulum. Though Misery comes in a close second.


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## Mike C (Oct 2, 2007)

I'm not really a fan of horror, and King leaves me pretty cold. I like the way Koontz can manipulate your stress levels through sentence structure, but probably the scariest novels aren't about demons and monsters at all, but about what might be, books like 1984, Clockwork Orange etc. I can't be scared by things that make me laugh, but I can be scared by things that make me think.


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## Grinch (Oct 2, 2007)

Pick up some Clive Barker books.  He is truly demented.

Koontz usually pisses me off at the end.  I can't remember which books they were but I read through one in about 10 hours and when I got to the end I threw the book in frustration.  Another one did that to me as well so I stopped reading his stuff.  I may start back with him since King isn't set to release his new novel until January 2008 (Duma Key).

I've read everything by King so far and It probably is one of his creepier books.  I agree that the giant spider at the end was just plain dumb.


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## WriterDude (Oct 2, 2007)

Scariest books ever? Can't go with just the top 3, so here goes.

* H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus 1-3 (most of his short stories in three collections)
* Shaman Woods (by Morgan Fields)
* Spectre (by Stephen Laws)
* Darkfall (Dean Koontz, originally released as Darkness Comes.)
* pretty much anything by John Saul.


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## The girl left behind... (Oct 2, 2007)

I don't really get scared of books, it's the television that gets me.

The ONLY book that has scared me is:
My Physical science book....

Just to make it clear to any science teachers, i don't care what the body does! the entire book makes me sick to my stomach and freaks me out.  ewww. ewww. ewww. now i have a bad feeling.. go away.. go away.. go away....


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## WriterDude (Oct 3, 2007)

If you don't want it, I would be happy to get it. And I'm not even in school anymore.


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## kidstaple (Oct 9, 2007)

Truth-Teller said:


> Wow. That's ironic.
> 
> Pet Semetary was the most boringest book I've ever read. I rate it up there with Insomnia.


 
Amen, Brother!

My three top books that absolutely messed with my head, would have to be:

1. Mr. Hands - Gary A. Braunbeck
2. The Shining - Stephen King
3. Dracula - Bram Stoker


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## Hinducow28 (Oct 10, 2007)

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
This is the only book the really creeped me out. I was even afraid to walk around in the dark in my house a few days afterwards.
Incredible book.


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## geminye (Oct 12, 2007)

Although i used to claim King just to be a hack, i began reading his books and have to admit that "The Shining," "It," and the short story for "1408" were a bit unsettling.  I also enjoyed "The Hellbound Heart" by Barker.  But i think it is definately harder to become actually "frightened" by a book when your an adult.  I haven't read everything out there, but i'm hoping to one day find something that is so horrifying that i'm unable to finish it.


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## retrogamer88 (Oct 12, 2007)

The scariest Stephen King story would have to be Misery.  Being stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere with a psycho... great read.


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## ValianceInEnd (Oct 20, 2007)

Has anyone read Cell here? It's a newer King book, but it's good for a quick freak out.


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## HowlingMan (Oct 20, 2007)

The scariest thing I have ever read was actually a short story in the book Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, called "The Prince". I literally sat for about twenty minutes just...thinking about it all and pictured it in my head. It really scared me.


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## ClancyBoy (Oct 23, 2007)

Hinducow28 said:


> House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
> This is the only book the really creeped me out. I was even afraid to walk around in the dark in my house a few days afterwards.
> Incredible book.



Fixed.


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## Athlynne (Oct 24, 2007)

I read "Cell".  It was okay, not one of his best.


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## WriterDude (Nov 4, 2007)

retrogamer88 said:


> The scariest Stephen King story would have to be Misery. Being stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere with a psycho... great read.


 
Being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a psycho isn't so bad. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere with Kathy Bates... now that's a problem! :lol:


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## Davedurdans (Nov 7, 2007)

I read Lair when I was 12 and didnt sleep for 2 days!


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## Thoth (Nov 7, 2007)

I guess it was about 12 years ago when I read Sepulchre by James Herbert.
It was disturbing at the time.


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## Drezzal (Nov 7, 2007)

Stephen King - IT (the movie scarred me when i was younger)
Stephen King - Pet Cemetary (this was just creepy, all i can say lol)
Darren Shan - Slawter (lots of demons and gore)

I haven't really read anything that really scares me, i love being scared though 

P.S| Why was thoth banned


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