Scary books

[USS Firefly]

I am looking for a scary book.

What is the scariest book you have read?
I have read a lot of Stephen King but don't find them scary enough.

 

[Relayer1]

The Rats by James Herbert.

A fair bit by James Herbert to be honest.

 

[frankieteardrop]

In terms of fiction, you can't go wrong with Barker or Ligotti.

Other than that, the books that tend to keep me up at night with the lights on are usually true crime, with one exception: Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. It's easily the most unnerving experience I've ever had reading a book. Not so much due to the content, but rather the way the book is structured to mirror certain events and character experiences in the narrative; it very effectively evokes feelings of disorientation and claustrophobia.

RE: true crime, People Who Eat Darkness and I'll Be Gone in the Dark are two recent reads that really got to me.

 

[auntiehill]

The old standbys-Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. And of course, take your pick from Stephen King.

One that I think doesn't get enough attention is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. In my mind, it is THE perfect haunted house story. The various film attempts don't even come close to being in the same universe as the book.

 

[Unicron]

I always had a soft spot for Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories trilogy, but you really need the vintage illustrations.

 

[Timewalker]

Mid-Flinx, by Alan Dean Foster (it's part of the Pip & Flinx series that in turn is part of the Humanx Commonwealth series). It takes place on a planet completely covered by jungle, and all the plants are predators of some kind. There are humanoids living there who know how to survive, but drop a group of non-natives there who don't know how and don't respect the natives who are trying to tell them "don't go there, don't do that, don't move, that's not safe to eat, hold your breath, don't touch that..." and you get a novel where some characters die some very gruesome deaths.

And after you've read the book, do not try to use jungle sounds for mood music to help your insomnia. It won't work. You will also end up wondering if your house plants are secretly plotting your demise (ADF said he got the idea for Midworld from his house plants).

 

[publiusr]

“Red Goat, Black Goat” by Nadia Bulkin
“Details” by China Mieville.

From Cthulhu anthologies...

 

[Gryffindorian]

The US Federal Tax Codes is a scary book. If you want a scary novel, I would suggest Stephen King's works.

 

[USS Firefly]

The US Federal Tax Codes is a scary book. If you want a scary novel, I would suggest Stephen King's works.

I have read a lot of Stephen King, but I don't find them scary

 

[Random_Spock]

I always had a soft spot for Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories trilogy, but you really need the vintage illustrations.

Same here. Grew up on them. Lucked out and found a copy of the first book, old school vintage illustration edition, at a church sale of all places.

 

[USS Firefly]

Same here. Grew up on them. Lucked out and found a copy of the first book, old school vintage illustration edition, at a church sale of all places.

Aren't those scary books for kids?

 

[Random_Spock]

Aren't those scary books for kids?

Never. They're for kids and kids at heart. Check out the Scary Stories movie, it's pretty scary and well directed.

 

[Australis]

ADF said he got the idea for Midworld from his house plants

Sounds an awful lot like Harry Harrison's Deathworld trilogy, especially the first one, where you had to have a pistol wired to your synapse so you could react fast enough to something that was attacking you.

 

[USS Firefly]

I just finished "the haunting on hill house" by Shirley Jackson, It was ok nothing special.
Next book will be "Scary stories to tell in the dark"

 

[publiusr]

Now to find that copy of the Delamelanicon

 

[Starbreaker]

What scares you?

 

[Malicia]

I like a scary read and my earliest memory is a book from the school library when I was about 10. I have no idea what it was called but over the years of trying to find it I think it might be Black Harvest by Ann Pilling which was written in the 80s for that age group and a popular book in schools.

All I remember is a family going to a holiday home and weird events happened. I can't remember if people get killed but I doubt it as it was aimed at children but still scary at the time and I'm sure I remember a will-o'-wisp type entity. There was definitely a supernatural aspect to the theme and whatever it was that terrorised the family. The name Todd also rings a bell. I should get Black Harvest as that's the only way of knowing if that is the one.

 

[USS Firefly]

What scares you?

For me so far no books. The conjuring movies were a little bit scary, maybe because of the great camera work and acting.

I finished "Scary stories to tell in the dark", a good serie of short stories. I wished I read them when I was younger.
Next will be Stephen King's "needfull things".

All I remember is a family going to a holiday home and weird events happened. I can't remember if people get killed but I doubt it as it was aimed at children but still scary at the time and I'm sure I remember a will-o'-wisp type entity

I know the feeling.
My first scary book was when I was in highschool. It was about a man writing a story and talking to his wife, at the end he confess that he killed her. That is when you realise that he was talking to a gehost the while time.