What was the scariest book you've read and why??

jhempel24 · 01-13-2011, 09:15 AM

Just curious as to this. I'm not talking about books that make you want to vomit because they have descriptive scenes of violence, but books that have shook you to your core. Can't read for more than an hour at a time because you are terrified, and can't turn the light off to go to sleep.

I think mine was Pet Semetary, but I really only think that because I was about 12 when I read it, and really haven't read it since. We were also taking a cat to be euthanized as well, so everything kind of just stuck with me.

So what made you keep the light on?

TallMomof2 · 01-13-2011, 09:37 AM

The Stand by Stephen King. My oldest was a baby and the baby hormones made it difficult to read any account of children being hurt and dying. I literally had nightmares for months afterward. The book is still vivid in my mind to this day.

jhempel24 · 01-13-2011, 10:07 AM

Oh yeah, that is a good one....I think if I had kids when I read that, I would have had the same reaction....but I was about the same age as I read Pet Semetary LOL.

DixieGal · 01-13-2011, 10:22 AM

Violence is the only thing that scares me in books. Haunted house movies scare me, but it is always sort of fun scary, you know? But violence scares me deep in my soul.

Rumpelteazer · 01-13-2011, 10:22 AM

For me it was a scene in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The scene in the bedroom where the two women share a bed because some unkown thing was in the room.

Also Susan Hill's The Woman in Black although I think mainly because I just saw the play and that was scary too (seen it 3 times now and it's still scary). Both are scary because you don't know exactly what is causing the haunting and what it's motives are.

BoiseShan · 01-13-2011, 10:38 AM

Another Steven King--Cujo.

I read it when I was in junior high and I was captivated by the fact the dog could reason. That scared the poo out of me!

arcadata · 01-13-2011, 10:44 AM

I read Stephen King's IT when I was 12 - gave me a phobia for clowns! The story hit home since the characters were kids too.

carld · 01-13-2011, 11:03 AM

I'm not sure it was the scariest book ever, but I read The Amityville Horror late at night, alone in the house, with the wind howling, freaked myself right out.

Pookeysgirl · 01-13-2011, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arcadata

I read Stephen King's IT when I was 12 - gave me a phobia for clowns! The story hit home since the characters were kids too.

Me too! My husband is always making fun of me and doing the "clown laugh" trying to scare me. I don't even like seeing them on TV...there freaking evil.

hedwig · 01-13-2011, 11:50 AM

For me it was Jonathan Nasaw's "Fear Itself". I refused to read it alone in a room and I really like scary books.

Catlady · 01-13-2011, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

For me it was a scene in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The scene in the bedroom where the two women share a bed because some unkown thing was in the room.

"Whose hand was I holding?"

I love this book because so much is left to the imagination, and what the imagination conjures is a lot more terrifying than any detailed descriptions on a page can ever be.

jhempel24 · 01-13-2011, 12:04 PM

I've never heard of fear itself I'll have to check it out. I'm reading a nightmare by robin parrish and it seems like it will be creepy.

caleb72 · 01-13-2011, 04:54 PM

The only book that elicited a completely irrational fear in me was Koko by Peter Straub. I forget the scene now, but while reading it I suddenly became convinced that someone was outside the window of my bedroom. This in itself doesn't sound too irrational except that I was on the 1st floor and there was no balcony, so my fear was ridiculous.

After Koko I was convinced that Peter Straub must be one of the greatest suspense/horror writers of all time. However, he's never actually managed to get the same response from me in his other books. Still love his stuff though.

Now - putting abject terror aside for the moment, another book to have wrung an extreme physical response from me was Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner (young adult fantasy). I'm claustraphobic and one chapter that dealt with an underground escape through a narrow crawlspace had me drenched with sweat.

Regards
Caleb

hgwlackey · 01-13-2011, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caleb72

Now - putting abject terror aside for the moment, another book to have wrung an extreme physical response from me was Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner (young adult fantasy). I'm claustraphobic and one chapter that dealt with an underground escape through a narrow crawlspace had me drenched with sweat.

I'm not claustrophobic, but there was a scene in Jim Thompson's The Getaway involving hiding out for days in very (very) small caves that you could only get to by going underwater first. It got to me pretty good. (They didn't put that bit in the movie, replacing it instead with a scene where Doc and his wife hide in a compacting garbage truck, which didn't get to me nearly as much.)

NNolan · 01-13-2011, 06:24 PM

The part in "Salem's Lot" where the little vampire kid is outside his buddy's house trying to talk him into opening the window really creeped me out. And I slept with the lights on for a few days while reading "Ghost Story", but that was partly because I lived near the actual town the book was set in.

01-13-2011, 09:15 AM	#1
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	What was the scariest book you've read and why?? Just curious as to this. I'm not talking about books that make you want to vomit because they have descriptive scenes of violence, but books that have shook you to your core. Can't read for more than an hour at a time because you are terrified, and can't turn the light off to go to sleep. I think mine was Pet Semetary, but I really only think that because I was about 12 when I read it, and really haven't read it since. We were also taking a cat to be euthanized as well, so everything kind of just stuck with me. So what made you keep the light on?

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01-13-2011, 09:37 AM	#2
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	The Stand by Stephen King. My oldest was a baby and the baby hormones made it difficult to read any account of children being hurt and dying. I literally had nightmares for months afterward. The book is still vivid in my mind to this day.

01-13-2011, 10:07 AM	#3
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	Oh yeah, that is a good one....I think if I had kids when I read that, I would have had the same reaction....but I was about the same age as I read Pet Semetary LOL.

01-13-2011, 10:22 AM	#4
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	Violence is the only thing that scares me in books. Haunted house movies scare me, but it is always sort of fun scary, you know? But violence scares me deep in my soul.

01-13-2011, 10:22 AM	#5
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,321 Karma: 27919658 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	For me it was a scene in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The scene in the bedroom where the two women share a bed because some unkown thing was in the room. Also Susan Hill's The Woman in Black although I think mainly because I just saw the play and that was scary too (seen it 3 times now and it's still scary). Both are scary because you don't know exactly what is causing the haunting and what it's motives are.

01-13-2011, 10:38 AM	#6
BoiseShan Connoisseur Posts: 89 Karma: 14598 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle	Another Steven King--Cujo. I read it when I was in junior high and I was captivated by the fact the dog could reason. That scared the poo out of me!

01-13-2011, 10:44 AM	#7
arcadata Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,230 Karma: 4651787 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPod Touch, Sony PRS-350	I read Stephen King's IT when I was 12 - gave me a phobia for clowns! The story hit home since the characters were kids too.

01-13-2011, 11:03 AM	#8
carld Wizard Posts: 2,698 Karma: 4748723 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I'm not sure it was the scariest book ever, but I read The Amityville Horror late at night, alone in the house, with the wind howling, freaked myself right out.

01-13-2011, 11:50 AM	#10
hedwig Book Worm Posts: 116 Karma: 158766 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad Air, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 5	For me it was Jonathan Nasaw's "Fear Itself". I refused to read it alone in a room and I really like scary books.

01-13-2011, 12:04 PM	#12
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	I've never heard of fear itself I'll have to check it out. I'm reading a nightmare by robin parrish and it seems like it will be creepy.

01-13-2011, 04:54 PM	#13
caleb72 Indie Advocate Posts: 2,863 Karma: 18794463 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kindle	The only book that elicited a completely irrational fear in me was Koko by Peter Straub. I forget the scene now, but while reading it I suddenly became convinced that someone was outside the window of my bedroom. This in itself doesn't sound too irrational except that I was on the 1st floor and there was no balcony, so my fear was ridiculous. After Koko I was convinced that Peter Straub must be one of the greatest suspense/horror writers of all time. However, he's never actually managed to get the same response from me in his other books. Still love his stuff though. Now - putting abject terror aside for the moment, another book to have wrung an extreme physical response from me was Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner (young adult fantasy). I'm claustraphobic and one chapter that dealt with an underground escape through a narrow crawlspace had me drenched with sweat. Regards Caleb

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01-13-2011, 06:24 PM	#15
NNolan Compulsive Gadget Geek Posts: 407 Karma: 4219324 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: South Central Virginia Device: One of each, and two in some cases	The part in "Salem's Lot" where the little vampire kid is outside his buddy's house trying to talk him into opening the window really creeped me out. And I slept with the lights on for a few days while reading "Ghost Story", but that was partly because I lived near the actual town the book was set in.