1984 definitely - and Brave New World, it's too much of a stone's throw away
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Scariest Book Ever?
- Thread starter kasstorr
- Start date
1984 definitely - and Brave New World, it's too much of a stone's throw away
LinRobinson
New Member
The only books I ever read that I thought were actually scary were by H P Lovecraft
gonewiththewind
Member
Jack Ketchum
Just about anything by Jack Ketchum is sure to make you read with all the lights in the house on, the doors locked and the windows shut tight and locks double checked. I especially enjoyed:
The Lost
Now available as a mass-market paperback from Leisure Press.
It's 1969, and the Vietnam War is raging. A rough time for most kids. You either work like hell to stay in school or hightail it to Canada or else Uncle Sam comes knocking at your door and the next thing you know you're slogging through the rice paddies and trying not to think about all those body bags shipping back to the World every day.
Not so for Ray and Tim. They've slipped through the cracks. They're neither college kids nor grunts. They're undraftable.
But Ray and Tim have their own problems. Murder, for one.
A murder Ray committed four years ago because he felt like it. A murder to which Tim, along with Ray's sometime-girlfriend Jennifer, are accomplices. A murder which -- for at least one world-weary cop -- simply won't go away. He knows Ray did it but can't prove it. Now, on the verge of quitting his job, with nothing much to lose, he decides to have one last shot at goading Ray into blowing his arrogant cool, into doing something really stupid.
Which Ray's already doing, just by being who he is.
Things are converging. Something's going to crack. Something's going to break loose into a world of pain.
And who will be The Lost?
Jack's Website is: Jack Ketchum - main page
Just about anything by Jack Ketchum is sure to make you read with all the lights in the house on, the doors locked and the windows shut tight and locks double checked. I especially enjoyed:
The Lost
Now available as a mass-market paperback from Leisure Press.
It's 1969, and the Vietnam War is raging. A rough time for most kids. You either work like hell to stay in school or hightail it to Canada or else Uncle Sam comes knocking at your door and the next thing you know you're slogging through the rice paddies and trying not to think about all those body bags shipping back to the World every day.
Not so for Ray and Tim. They've slipped through the cracks. They're neither college kids nor grunts. They're undraftable.
But Ray and Tim have their own problems. Murder, for one.
A murder Ray committed four years ago because he felt like it. A murder to which Tim, along with Ray's sometime-girlfriend Jennifer, are accomplices. A murder which -- for at least one world-weary cop -- simply won't go away. He knows Ray did it but can't prove it. Now, on the verge of quitting his job, with nothing much to lose, he decides to have one last shot at goading Ray into blowing his arrogant cool, into doing something really stupid.
Which Ray's already doing, just by being who he is.
Things are converging. Something's going to crack. Something's going to break loose into a world of pain.
And who will be The Lost?
Jack's Website is: Jack Ketchum - main page
lenny nero
New Member
I liked The Girl Next Door and Off Season a lot better than The Lost.
Jane_Austen
New Member
I can't remember the name of the book but I think it was by Stephen King. I was reading it during a power cut by candle light at home... alone.
williamsonyy
New Member
The Scariest
The Guilt
Not because it has some big drama (others have emphasized it much more), but because of the ending which freezes you.
The Guilt
Not because it has some big drama (others have emphasized it much more), but because of the ending which freezes you.
williamsonyy
New Member
And maybe cause I've just finished it.
Snork Maiden
New Member
As a teenager I read a lot of Stephen King and most of it gave me the willies! The Shining especially *shudder*...
That said though, the most frightening thing I ever read was a non-fiction book about the West family from 25 Cromwell Street(Fred adn Rose)- Happy Like Murderers (can't remember the author, but the book had a picture of one of those acid smiley faces on the front cover). I read this book while I was a student at Exeter University and I used to be absolutely PETRIFIED of walking home on my own from classes in the evening.
That said though, the most frightening thing I ever read was a non-fiction book about the West family from 25 Cromwell Street(Fred adn Rose)- Happy Like Murderers (can't remember the author, but the book had a picture of one of those acid smiley faces on the front cover). I read this book while I was a student at Exeter University and I used to be absolutely PETRIFIED of walking home on my own from classes in the evening.
I've not read many horror books, but i've read short stories, Poe, Lovecraft, and just one of Shirley Jackson - The Lottery - i was shocked... :sad:
And was haunted by The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe, so short yet so powerful.
And also I Am Legend, i was so excited for the movie then...
smith was great, but that's was it.
And was haunted by The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe, so short yet so powerful.
And also I Am Legend, i was so excited for the movie then...
smith was great, but that's was it.
brookiedawn
Member
And also I Am Legend, i was so excited for the movie then...
smith was great, but that's was it.
Right!? How were those two stories even related? I agree with you 100%.
iamkatherine
New Member
Capote's In Cold Blood disturbed me to the core.
Reading Michael Gruber's Tropic of Night while pregnant was no easy feat either. Had to really talk myself into going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Reading Michael Gruber's Tropic of Night while pregnant was no easy feat either. Had to really talk myself into going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Kiki5435
New Member
Not many books really scare me, but there are some I do find disturbing. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is one (the only book I was not able to read in bed at night because it freaked me out so much - however it is one of my all time favourite books, so I'm not sure what that says about me)!
Another book which I thought was very disturbing was Slights by Kaaron Warren.
Another book which I thought was very disturbing was Slights by Kaaron Warren.
perzephone
kickbox
I'm a sucker for atmosphere, and things that could really happen.
In the 'things that could really happen' category:
Gerald's Game by King ruined a portion of my sex life that I will never get back (yeah, tmi, sorry, :whistling. The thought of being alone, handcuffed, in a remote place where no one around would hear you yelling for help, and unable to reach anything (like the handcuff keys) - that was freaking terrifying to me. It's the only book I had to stop reading because it scared me so bad.
In the atmosphere category:
Ghost stories & mysterious disappearances... houses where it sounds like 'there are rats in the walls', things like that. H.P. Lovecraft's creepier tales, and those influenced by them. Also, stories where people slowly go insane, where the mundane around them becomes monstrous, and no one else knows what's going on - I find the scariest stories out there to be in anthologies & collections of short stories, which is ok because it means the fright only lasts a few pages
In the 'things that could really happen' category:
Gerald's Game by King ruined a portion of my sex life that I will never get back (yeah, tmi, sorry, :whistling
. The thought of being alone, handcuffed, in a remote place where no one around would hear you yelling for help, and unable to reach anything (like the handcuff keys) - that was freaking terrifying to me. It's the only book I had to stop reading because it scared me so bad. In the atmosphere category:
Ghost stories & mysterious disappearances... houses where it sounds like 'there are rats in the walls', things like that. H.P. Lovecraft's creepier tales, and those influenced by them. Also, stories where people slowly go insane, where the mundane around them becomes monstrous, and no one else knows what's going on - I find the scariest stories out there to be in anthologies & collections of short stories, which is ok because it means the fright only lasts a few pages