Scariest Book You've Ever Read?

[Steve 7,527]

I know it's a book most people either love or hate, but for me House of Leaves takes the crown as the scariest book I've read. I think it's more about the presentation and the way the story is told than the actual story. Presentation goes a long way.

Whats your choice?

[Amazing Worlds 387]

Books are not scary, short stories are.

I didn’t get the hype behind House of Leaves.

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King is one for me.

[Susana Imaginário 431]

I consider The House of Leaves one of the most frustrating books I've ever come across. Tried to read it twice; didn't last ten pages. I just had no patience for all the tiny fonts, little asides, having to turn the book around and whatnot...just.. no. It's more toy than book... 
But I also have a confession to make. I was going to start a thread about it at some point, but since it fits the topic, here it goes:

Horror bores me.  😅 

I don't scare easily, for one. I always figured ghosts have better things to do than annoy the living. The decisions that most characters make in horror movies are often so stupid I immediately stop caring for them. (oh, you think there's a bogeyman in the basement so you're going to check it out with no weapon, armour, training or a light... hmm right... please give this character a Dwarkin award!) and I've learned from a young age that monsters do exist but they don't hide under our beds; they are right outside the room's door, or sitting next to you in class, or teaching the class and only wit can used against them. And don't let me start on 'ambient' horror (The Willows... wtf? never been so bored reading a book in my life...)

Only two books made me feel any sort of anxiety: The Wisdom of Crowds (you know the scene) and Atlas Shrugged. (neither are horror books, though)
As for movies/tv, I really enjoyed the first Saw movie because of the puzzle aspect (still didn't scare me of gross me out, mind) and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (not because of the plane or monster but because no one believed the guy). Only the rape scene in Irreversible got to me (perhaps because I had to watch twice (!) in an auditorium with another 200 people at the University...) and I've been avoiding underpasses ever since 😒 (but I still wouldn't call it horror either)

The point is... I find most horror stories dumb with even dumber characters... (sorry...) but I haven't given up on finding one that isn't. So, horror fans: can you recommend me a book that is both scary AND clever? I'll wait 😉

[A_FROG_IN_TIME 898]

44 minutes ago, Susana Imaginário said:

So, horror fans: can you recommend me a book that is both scary AND clever? I'll wait

I like horror, both books and films... but no, I cannot recommend a book that is scary and clever. While I enjoy them, I agree that the characters are usually prone to making the worst decisions imaginable. None of them are actually scary to me, they are more just interesting stories. Sometimes they are good at building suspense, but not scary. 
 

 

2 hours ago, Amazing Worlds said:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King is one for me.

One of my favourites is also a short Stephen King story, Crouch End. I found it in a set of short stories called New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
I also like The great God Pan by Arthur Machen. 
Neither are scary but I enjoy reading them.

[Susana Imaginário 431]

As it happens, I have The Great God Pan gathering dust on my bookshelf. I'll give it a try. Thanks!  

[Steve 7,527]

House of Leaves is definitely a divisive book, I can understand why it doesn't work for everyone. I think @Jolien Reads called it pretentious crap 😆

[Amazing Worlds 387]

@Susana Imagináriowhere do you stand in the face of the mighty H. P. Lovecraft?

[Paromita Mukherjee 1,659]

I'm lurking in this thread to put every single book on my anti-TBR list 🤣.

I didn't like House of Leaves or at least the 10% I read. Otherwise I scare easy.

It isn't horror but the Malarial Kingdom in The Scar by China Mieville freaked me out a fair bit - I felt the creepy crawlies were on me! 

[Susana Imaginário 431]

14 hours ago, Amazing Worlds said:

@Susana Imagináriowhere do you stand in the face of the mighty H. P. Lovecraft?

 

Bored... 😅I think he bores me the most. I hope my husband never reads this 😂. He loves Lovecraft. He's probably read everything he wrote as well as what others have written based on his work. And he tried, he really tried to get me into it. It's not that I hate his work, or don't appreciate the creativity behind some of his stories, but I don't care for any of his characters either... and his writing just wears me down... 🙁

[Amazing Worlds 387]

18 minutes ago, Susana Imaginário said:

Bored... 😅I think he bores me the most. I hope my husband never reads this 😂. He loves Lovecraft. He's probably read everything he wrote as well as what others have written based on his work. And he tried, he really tried to get me into it. It's not that I hate his work, or don't appreciate the creativity behind some of his stories, but I don't care for any of his characters either... and his writing just wears me down... 🙁

Where is the thumbs down button when you need it??????

[Susana Imaginário 431]

@Amazing Worlds You asked! 😜

[A_FROG_IN_TIME 898]

I am with your husband and @Amazing Worlds on this one @Susana Imaginário. Although not quite as much. I have read all of Lovecraft's work and a fair amount of the Lovecraftian circle. For me it was a natural progression from Lovecraft to Poe and then Doyle. I have a lot to thank him for.

still not scary though. More like insanity driven detective novels.

[drpuffnstuff 108]

It may have been just the age or timing but the "scariest" thing I have read is also a short story and it was the Tell Tale Heart by Poe. I remember my heart beating just like the heart in the story.. I havent read it in a long time and it seems like age demystifies scary the older I get. I appreciated house of leaves though, what a nice house.

[Steve 7,527]

20 hours ago, drpuffnstuff said:

It may have been just the age or timing but the "scariest" thing I have read is also a short story and it was the Tell Tale Heart by Poe. I remember my heart beating just like the heart in the story.. I havent read it in a long time and it seems like age demystifies scary the older I get. I appreciated house of leaves though, what a nice house.

It’s basically a smart house that adapts to your needs 😂

[Jolien Reads 811]

On 5/12/2023 at 5:54 PM, Steve said:

House of Leaves is definitely a divisive book, I can understand why it doesn't work for everyone. I think @Jolien Reads called it pretentious crap 😆

I confess 🙈

 

I rarely read scary books since I scare VERY easily and I need to protect myself (  ) but I read Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill a bit over a decade ago and loved it. Creeped me out but like I said, I don't have a lot to compare to so I don't know if it's actually as scary as I think it is 

[Steve 7,527]

41 minutes ago, Jolien Reads said:

I confess 🙈

 

I rarely read scary books since I scare VERY easily and I need to protect myself (  ) but I read Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill a bit over a decade ago and loved it. Creeped me out but like I said, I don't have a lot to compare to so I don't know if it's actually as scary as I think it is 

I still laugh about that video! It’s fun hearing why people like and don’t like that book, it’s a love or hate situation 

[JannyWurts 434]

Hands down, that title goes to C J Cherryh's Voyager in Night - a slim little volume from the outer extreme edge of her Alliance/Union universe, where the strange meets the known at the verge and ships disappear without trace. The story involves one such ship - and what happens to the crew is beyond chilling. I am not a horror fan. This book is both terrifying and unforgettably haunting.

[Crystal Rhew Staley 295]

The Shining by Stephen King scares me so much! Also Patience of a Dead Man by Michael Clark has some super spooky scenes. I don’t get as scared reading books as I do watching movies but these two have some scenes that made me look around my house wondering what might be hanging in the dark spaces. 

[Frank 503]

4 hours ago, Crystal Rhew Staley said:

The Shining by Stephen King scares me so much! Also Patience of a Dead Man by Michael Clark has some super spooky scenes. I don’t get as scared reading books as I do watching movies but these two have some scenes that made me look around my house wondering what might be hanging in the dark spaces. 

I watched The Shining movie alone on a dark rainy night. Not smart. Pulling the covers over my head didn't barricade the horror. Still kinda scared to read the book.

[Crystal Rhew Staley 295]

1 hour ago, Frank said:

I watched The Shining movie alone on a dark rainy night. Not smart. Pulling the covers over my head didn't barricade the terror. Still kinda scared to read the book.

The book scared me way more than the movie!  

[Paromita Mukherjee 1,659]

@Crystal Rhew Staley and @Frank Shining added to anti-TBR and anti-TBW (w=watched)!

[Ric 500]

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

It's a slow burn ghost story about an ill-fated expedition to the Arctic, set just before WWII. It gradually ratchets up the dread in an atmosphere of isolation and helplessness. I think fear is quite hard to evoke just by writing, so I did the audiobook narrated by Jeremy Northam and it was excellent.

If I lean into horror, put myself in the character's position and I'm willing to be scared, I get the most out of it. Also, I think setting the mood (in the dark, on your own, at night, maybe in winter) helps more than with other genres.

I second @Crystal Rhew Staley's suggestion of Patience of a Dead Man and would add Home Before Dark by Riley Sager (although the ending is very Scooby Doo). It probably depends on what scares you - I don't believe in ghosts, but they really work for me in horror stories because they are unknowable and unpredictable and there's almost nothing you can do to defeat them.

[Ric 500]

I'm on Team @Susana Imaginário regarding Lovecraft. I like his ideas and use of language, but the few books I've read tell me how scared the characters are without really showing it to me.

[Susana Imaginário 431]

Forgot about one movie that freaked me out (or disgusted me to the point I almost blocked it from my memory 😂) The Fly. Good grief... I was nine when I saw it and was clearly not prepared for it. I felt sick for days. Maybe I should watch it again. The bad CGI should sort me out. Also on the 'disgusting horror' list we have Gremlins and Chucky... 

[Steve 7,527]

Shout out to Negative Space written by B.R. Yeager. Nightmare fuel.