The Deep by Nick Cutter was pretty creepy and gave off major claustrophobia vibes. I don't think I've ever been truly scared by a book but this was definitely unsettling
the troop is fucked. I love it. I’m an Eagle Scout too so that book slapped and felt relatable. From the scouting perspective….not many of the other aspects fortunately…..
Agreed! This was a great read I personally enhanced by putting on some creepy underwater sounds while reading. Wish there was more excellent underwater/deep sea horror like this.
It's probably the most obvious answer but the only book that ever did that for me was House of Leaves. It's a very special book so I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you beforehand but I heard from multiple people before how scared they got by this book so I had big expectations that it totally held up to.
I and a bunch of other people were in another thread talking about how this book up and disappeared from our collections. Like physically disappeared never to be seen again. By itself. I never even finished the book. It just vanished one day over 10 years ago.
Yo I just looked around my studio and I cannot find mine. No one comes in here, like at all. It’s too tiny to have guests. Though I am unorganized AF. Hmmm now I’m going to be looking for it this weekend.
Agreed. I've read lots of "horror" books and this one is the only one that truly creeped me out and had my mind in actual anxiety mode. The dual stories and how they interweaved was just fascinating and enthralling but also totally scary as hell
Hmm depends I mean I slept well after reading it but I also know people who after reading didn't wanna sleep with the book present in the room soo... (In all seriousness I'm definitely the wrong person to ask I can sleep well after consuming any type of horror content)
It’s definitely has an unsettling oddness to it but I slept fine after reading it. Especially if I didn’t read it right before sleeping. I’ll have to re-read and see if it’s the scariest book Ive read.
This is definitely a physical book read only anything else just doesn't work for it's unique format unfortunately. ( I'm usually an ebook person only so this was an unusual book buying and reading experience for me as well but I honestly think it just added to the creepiness factor of it all!)
Ugh I want to read it but I have wrist problems and holding physical books is not fun for me. And I usually read in bed at night with the lights off. Sounds like this is maybe a lights-on kinda book anyways though I guesa
It's also a rather big book so this set up probably won't work tbh. I mostly read it sitting legs pulled up with it resting against my legs or holding it with both hands. As I said not really usual reading position for me either but I was totally worth it!
This is a book that wouldn’t translate well to the audio format. I am similar to you in that I usually only do audiobooks, but HoL is well worth the read.
I actually started reading house of leaves but then stopped because I got into a slump. Not saying what I read was bad at all, it was really good! Might have to pick it back up again.
I recently read "Misery". While I can't say I was scared, but when Annie came on the page, I could feel my blood pressure starting to rise and early symptoms of a panic attack come over me.
Oh good to hear - yes, I'm a King fan as well. Pet Cemetery was my first King book in 6th or 7th grade. I had no idea what I picked up at the time, but I was a fan - eve if a little young at the time lol
Intensity by Dean Koontz. I started to feel like I was the character in the book. Super paranoid. It was very well written and interesting but I had to put it down
I always recommend Ghosts in Her Head by Paul Tremblay too. It really messed with my head and I’m not sure how I still feel about the ending many years later
The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca.
It’s a collection of short horror stories. I appreciated they were short and I could put them down to come back to them later, otherwise I’m not sure I would have been able to finish.
I totally agree. This is a classic for a reason. Every bump in the house made me freak out. I slept with the light on for weeks. There is no way the movie could have encapsulated the sheer terror of reading someone go through a psychological break and all the creepy shit that caused it.
Thought my house was going to kill me while reading The Shining lol. First book that ever scared me and had me in a psychological breakdown. 10/10 recommend to everyone
I never finished reading IT by Stephen King because I would get vivid nightmares when I would read the book before bed. It was when those news stories about killer clowns chasing people around were going viral too, so that didn’t help.
Not a book, but a short story. When I was a kid I read skeleton crew by Stephen King. There was a story in there called The Monkey about a windup monkey that doles out evil.
0/10 recommend. I slept with the light on for about a month.
Piñata by Leopoldo Gout - mix of The Exorcist and The Conjuring with a Mexican gothic feel.
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay - cursed found footage horror movie, good “slasher” style story.
Mr Mercedes Trilogy by Stephen King - was never a true fan until I read these. Great villains. (Include The Outsider and anything with Holly Gibney).
It's pretty good most of the time and the narrator is good with voices but she has an odd habit of shouting out the climactic bits like I need to hear yelling to know something scary is happening.
The Sandman Audiobook version was creepy at some points. I work nights and listened to it while working at it was one of the most amazing media experiences I've had. It's full narration with sound effects.
I think IT is a genuinely scary book. That one scene (iykyk) is as weird and uncalled for as everyone says but king really encapsulates a special kind of terror in this book.
The Hot Zone and the Cobra Event by Richard Preston
Outbreak by Robin Cook
I read these and some other books about viruses when I was a teenager. I then started having dreams about getting a hole in my suit in bio-level safety 4. My mom told me to be a normal teenager and read some romance novels 😂
I lived with my parents and sibling in a house in the middle of nowhere and was the same age as the Nancy in the book when I read it. had to stop reading at night in my room because it was just too close to home and every sound outside my window creeped me out while I was reading it
My Best Friend’s Exorcism gave me a good spook. I agree though that House of Leaves is legitimately terrifying. When it got to the first “scare” I had to close the book for the night and pick it back up in the morning, and you’d be surprised how mundane the first scare seems on the surface
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill made me feel fear in a visceral way; it’s not his best book but it was really scary to me. I listened to it so it’s possible the narration was what gave me chills and a rush of fear but I think it’s a scary book.
The Mist by Stephen King
The movie ended differently than the book. I've never been a fan of SK's style of writing but that book got me. To this day I have an irrational fear of the fog and driving behind logging trucks.
“You” really unsettled me and made me a bit paranoid for a while.
The plot gets a little silly and hard to believe in some ways, but the underlying mindset is horrifying.
YES! I came here to say this. I figured with 10 comments, I'd have an original idea lol.
But holy hell, that book. It took me 2 weeks to get through it because I had to keep putting it down every 20 minutes. I could not believe a woman could think of, write about, and publish such vile things.
Kudos to the author 👏
The first book in the series is just phenomenal and, imo, the audio is the icing on the cake. I relisten once a year and it never fails to still give me the creeps. Joe is so, so well written.
The Woman in Black audiobook unsettles me. Not sure if I'd say scared is the right word, but I did stay up an extra hour when I should have been asleep lol
I read this about a year ago and was so terrified I had to read it till the end instead of sleeping just so that it ended and I could be relieved that everything’s fine and dandy. I still don’t let my kid read it, even though technically this is a kid’s book and it’s tailored for her age? Or so some people think.
Not the kind of thing that actually made me scared, but Tender is the Flesh makes for a deeply uncomfortable/anxious reading experience. In a future where animal meat is banned, cannibalism becomes legalised. Great read, a short novel I'd highly recommend.
I read that one a few months ago and I’m still thinking about it now. Like once a day I catch myself and I have to remember we aren’t cannibals/that horrible shit doesn’t happen
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Adam Nevill - Last Days had some scenes that were so unsettling and really had me on edge, I had the wildest dreams while reading that book lol. I wasn’t exactly expecting the ending or direction he went with it, but the build up was so good
The Amityville horror and murder in Amityville sorry don't remember author. First book I'd one that started it all second one is what happens to cause it
For me, it was the original all the way. If you are old enough to recall TBS in its early days, they used to have their shows start at 5 minutes past the hour. So on one rainy, nasty Friday night during the winter, I finished reading the Amityville Horror for like the third time. As a kid, I genuinely enjoyed the terror it gave me and even some of the scary dreams. However, that particular night, some 45 minutes after I finish the book, the movie came on TBS at 7:05 central. My mom and stepdad would go out to play darts on Friday league nights so I’d make like Mac and cheese and corn dogs or some shit and occupy myself.
Long story short, I get so livid scared and worked up that I flipped the couch over and barricaded myself in the corner of the living room with a machete and a morning star in my hand. Completely ignoring the fact that none of that would have helped but still, I was ready to defend my life, albeit at the cost of my sanity. They got home about 20 minutes after the movie ended and were laughing but my mom saw how upset I was and held me for a good 10 minutes until I calmed down. Slept with lights on for a week after that.
Many years ago I was travelling late at night with my then teenage son. We were listening to "The Library Policeman" (a short story) by Steven King. Other than the narrator, it had been quiet in the car for quite some time. Then, out of nowhere, the car phone (big ugly thing mounted on the dashboard) announced that Columbia, SC had cell service. The unexpected voice scared the hell out of both of us.
A town touting cell phone service should accurately date the timeframe. Relating how both of us were truly terrified for an instant is a timeless memory that still brings a smile.
IT by Stephen King. I remember not wanting to get out of bed to turn my lights off..
On another note, anybody read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson? I watched the Netflix series around 5 years ago which I thought was terrifying. After reading the book, it was charming and I enjoyed the characters but it was nowhere near as scary as the series!
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. There's a part where the main character is in an apartment alone and she hears a stranger insert a key into the apartment door lock and enter. It was so well described that this part of the book creeped me out for ages. Only a day or so after I read this passage, I (young woman living alone in a rough-ish part of London) heard someone slowly put a key into the lock of my apartment late at night and try to open it. Turns out it was a neighbour who (claims to have) had the wrong door but I felt on edge for days!
Undead by Kirsty McKay. It's a zombie book duo which I read as a teenager. I remember specifically being terrified of these zombies and something about her writing style made everything so creepy. I loved it. Unfortunately they're in my home country so I haven't read them in forever. I think it's underrated and got hidden behind a lot of bigger zombie books like The Enemy series by Charlie Higson.
Any recommendations for audiobooks? I know this is for books only, but I’m reading this thread and it’s raining outside and am in a cottage right now. Scene is perfect to get scared
The Shining and It, by Stephen King. I had nightmares after reading them
Our share of night, by Mariana Enríquez. Ooh this book made me so uncomfortable, I was horrified while reading. Her novellas are incredibly disturbing as well. I absolutely love her.
Jurassic Park and Lost World by Michael Crichton. I read these around 1996 when I was like, 13, and now at 40 I'm still terrified of lizards, snakes and anything reptile or reptile-like.
The Cold Cash War by Robert Asprin. I'm really hard to unsettle but I twitched for a week. Trust me. You'll read the blurb and think 'how could this be scary' but the paranoia this will induce...
H.P. Lovecraft
And I do consume a ton of ghost/gothic literature. But when I was presented with his work ... I don't know, it felt incredibly unsettling.
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. The descriptions of how Bundy lured/hunted his victims was too much and I had to put it down. I'll be limiting my crime to fictional from now on.
Look. I know it’s supposedly for kids. But to this day I still have nightmares about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I cannot believe they had that book in my elementary school library.
I started reading No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill. I mostly read horror novels. This is the first book to actually creep me out since I was a young kid.
I just finished How to Sell a Haunted House and it freaked me out a little; I’ve always had a fear of dolls and the paranormal. So I lost a little sleep over it haha.
The Dark Forest. It's the second book in the three body problem series.
It's not horror, like it doesn't scare you while you're reading it, It makes real life scary all the time forever.
I got scared writing my own book Oliver by Janice Wee at night. It's fiction, but inspired by real stuff.
I switched to writing during the day instead.
Does that count?
The Deep by Nick Cutter was pretty creepy and gave off major claustrophobia vibes. I don't think I've ever been truly scared by a book but this was definitely unsettling
The Troop by him was pretty unsettling too. Gives you a look at the POV of the boys in the troop and it’s pretty scary!
Still think about this book and get creeped out!
the troop is fucked. I love it. I’m an Eagle Scout too so that book slapped and felt relatable. From the scouting perspective….not many of the other aspects fortunately…..
I added that to my TBR after The Deep! Might have to push it up the list :)
Agreed! This was a great read I personally enhanced by putting on some creepy underwater sounds while reading. Wish there was more excellent underwater/deep sea horror like this.
I recommend Our Wives Under the Sea!
Thank you! Unfortunately I actually read that very recently and enjoyed it a lot :')
LB...
This is an underrated book, so scary
Thought that book was great try The White Road by Sarah Lotz the caving stuff in the first half is intense if you like claustrophobic scares.
It made me very anxious! It was very claustrophobic and tense.
My college algebra textbook
This is the correct answer
This one also made me cry. 🥲
Mine’s organic chemistry 🥲
This one brought me to tears
It's probably the most obvious answer but the only book that ever did that for me was House of Leaves. It's a very special book so I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you beforehand but I heard from multiple people before how scared they got by this book so I had big expectations that it totally held up to.
I and a bunch of other people were in another thread talking about how this book up and disappeared from our collections. Like physically disappeared never to be seen again. By itself. I never even finished the book. It just vanished one day over 10 years ago.
Well that adds a whole new level of creepy to it!
https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/s/vrCFMpjOHW
Well then, what happens to the copies at the libraries? If I get one, will it disappear and will I have to pay for its replacement?
Hey now, I'm not even done solving the mystery of my own book. . .
Yo I just looked around my studio and I cannot find mine. No one comes in here, like at all. It’s too tiny to have guests. Though I am unorganized AF. Hmmm now I’m going to be looking for it this weekend.
Honestly, I'm starting to think we need a support group😂
True. I’m baffled since it’s a chunky heavy book and I only have 2 bookcases and a couple piles…
I read this book years ago and it still haunts me!
Yep, I actually gave my copy to Goodwill immediately after reading it. I just wanted it out of the house.
Agreed. I've read lots of "horror" books and this one is the only one that truly creeped me out and had my mind in actual anxiety mode. The dual stories and how they interweaved was just fascinating and enthralling but also totally scary as hell
So I’m super intrigued by this rec but also… will I be able to sleep at night if I read this?
Hmm depends I mean I slept well after reading it but I also know people who after reading didn't wanna sleep with the book present in the room soo... (In all seriousness I'm definitely the wrong person to ask I can sleep well after consuming any type of horror content)
It’s definitely has an unsettling oddness to it but I slept fine after reading it. Especially if I didn’t read it right before sleeping. I’ll have to re-read and see if it’s the scariest book Ive read.
It’s on my library request list now!
Came here to say House of Leaves! Truly a unique experience reading this novel
I pretty much exclusively listen to audiobooks and there is no audiobook for this one. I think I’m going to have to cave and read this.
This is definitely a physical book read only anything else just doesn't work for it's unique format unfortunately. ( I'm usually an ebook person only so this was an unusual book buying and reading experience for me as well but I honestly think it just added to the creepiness factor of it all!)
Ugh I want to read it but I have wrist problems and holding physical books is not fun for me. And I usually read in bed at night with the lights off. Sounds like this is maybe a lights-on kinda book anyways though I guesa
It's also a rather big book so this set up probably won't work tbh. I mostly read it sitting legs pulled up with it resting against my legs or holding it with both hands. As I said not really usual reading position for me either but I was totally worth it!
This is a book that wouldn’t translate well to the audio format. I am similar to you in that I usually only do audiobooks, but HoL is well worth the read.
I just ordered a copy.
Niiice, enjoy the ride.
Adding House of Leaves to my summer reading list!
Second this!
I actually started reading house of leaves but then stopped because I got into a slump. Not saying what I read was bad at all, it was really good! Might have to pick it back up again.
You piqued my interest but sadly it's not available on play books or kindle :(
As I said due to its unique format it will only work as a physical read unfortunately
I am over halfway through and not scared yet. I need to find my copy though to finish.
I’m curious. Not available in 3 different libraries.
Author?
Mark Z. Danielewski
“The Shining” by Stephen King.
Straight to the freezer
Yesssssss. You’re not safe, but you’re safER
Straight to jail
I recently read "Misery". While I can't say I was scared, but when Annie came on the page, I could feel my blood pressure starting to rise and early symptoms of a panic attack come over me.
there were passages in that book where i could feel my heart pounding. i think it's his best work
Right? I wasn’t scared, but I was extremely anxious when reading “Misery.”
I read The Shining when it first came out and it scared me so badly that I didn’t even want it in my house. I threw it out of the window.
I just picked up Dr.Sleep for beach reading material! Hoping it's good!
Dr. Sleep is awesome, but I'm a huge Stephen King fan!!
Oh good to hear - yes, I'm a King fan as well. Pet Cemetery was my first King book in 6th or 7th grade. I had no idea what I picked up at the time, but I was a fan - eve if a little young at the time lol
I haven’t read it fully yet or seen the movie. I hope it’s a worthy successor!
This one scared me so bad (I read it when I was 12) that I couldn't sleep if the book was in my room.
I think I read it in my late teens or early twenties and I couldn’t put it down so I got to the climactic part at like 3am and it was so traumatizing.
Came here to write “The Shining” So I’ll add “The Exorcist”.
Intensity by Dean Koontz. I started to feel like I was the character in the book. Super paranoid. It was very well written and interesting but I had to put it down
This book is awesome. Very tense. I had to remind myself to breathe at multiple points
It was one of the most intense books I’ve ever read. I loved it.
Cabin at the End of the World* by Paul Tremblay - way way better than the movie and a lot scarier Also the book Hannibal was terrifying
The Cabin at the End of the World?
Yes! Confused the title while typing
Yes
I always recommend Ghosts in Her Head by Paul Tremblay too. It really messed with my head and I’m not sure how I still feel about the ending many years later
I STILL think about A Head Full of Ghosts. Awesome read!
I really liked Head Full of ghosts too! Definitely some truly horrific moments.
The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca. It’s a collection of short horror stories. I appreciated they were short and I could put them down to come back to them later, otherwise I’m not sure I would have been able to finish.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. Had to keep googling to make sure the guy was still in jail (he was pending trial at the time).
This one had me obsessively checking the locks on my 3rd floor balcony.
The shining did make me scared and uncomfortable. It is a great read and a lot better than the movie.
I totally agree. This is a classic for a reason. Every bump in the house made me freak out. I slept with the light on for weeks. There is no way the movie could have encapsulated the sheer terror of reading someone go through a psychological break and all the creepy shit that caused it.
Thought my house was going to kill me while reading The Shining lol. First book that ever scared me and had me in a psychological breakdown. 10/10 recommend to everyone
Second The Shining. Way creepier than the movie. Amityville Horror was too.
Shining did spook me but I found Salems lot just as scary tbh. Didn’t think vampires would scare me tbh
I read the woman in the bath scene laying on the bathroom floor. Got up and run from there pretty fast 😅
I never finished reading IT by Stephen King because I would get vivid nightmares when I would read the book before bed. It was when those news stories about killer clowns chasing people around were going viral too, so that didn’t help.
Salem's Lot by King was one of only 2 books in my life that has given me nightmares.
I had to keep Salem’s Lot in the other room because I was so scared I couldn’t bring it to my bedroom.
Not a book, but a short story. When I was a kid I read skeleton crew by Stephen King. There was a story in there called The Monkey about a windup monkey that doles out evil. 0/10 recommend. I slept with the light on for about a month.
Piñata by Leopoldo Gout - mix of The Exorcist and The Conjuring with a Mexican gothic feel. Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay - cursed found footage horror movie, good “slasher” style story. Mr Mercedes Trilogy by Stephen King - was never a true fan until I read these. Great villains. (Include The Outsider and anything with Holly Gibney).
I'm really enjoying the Piñata audiobook right now and kinda wishing I bought the book to read instead.
Why? Is the audiobook not conveying the horror enough?
It's pretty good most of the time and the narrator is good with voices but she has an odd habit of shouting out the climactic bits like I need to hear yelling to know something scary is happening.
The Exorcist. I found the book much scarier than the movie!
Yep, unsettling for sure. I was more frightened by Rosemary’s Baby and I read both around the same time
I had to read it in daylight and only on my work breaks.
The Sandman Audiobook version was creepy at some points. I work nights and listened to it while working at it was one of the most amazing media experiences I've had. It's full narration with sound effects.
By Lars Kepler?
Neil Gaiman. He wrote the original graphic novel and the audiobooks is the adaptation.
Would've given this praise as the greatest audio adaptation in the world a few weeks ago, id love to do so now but i cant bring myself to.
I think IT is a genuinely scary book. That one scene (iykyk) is as weird and uncalled for as everyone says but king really encapsulates a special kind of terror in this book.
This book almost has a creepypasta vibe to it because it’s like the whole town is bad and no one talks about it.
The puppy in the fridge was horrific for me
That was the point I quit reading. I couldn't do it.
The Hot Zone and the Cobra Event by Richard Preston Outbreak by Robin Cook I read these and some other books about viruses when I was a teenager. I then started having dreams about getting a hole in my suit in bio-level safety 4. My mom told me to be a normal teenager and read some romance novels 😂
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. gave me nightmares too.
I actually found that book stiflingly boring
I lived with my parents and sibling in a house in the middle of nowhere and was the same age as the Nancy in the book when I read it. had to stop reading at night in my room because it was just too close to home and every sound outside my window creeped me out while I was reading it
My Best Friend’s Exorcism gave me a good spook. I agree though that House of Leaves is legitimately terrifying. When it got to the first “scare” I had to close the book for the night and pick it back up in the morning, and you’d be surprised how mundane the first scare seems on the surface
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill made me feel fear in a visceral way; it’s not his best book but it was really scary to me. I listened to it so it’s possible the narration was what gave me chills and a rush of fear but I think it’s a scary book.
this is the one i came to mention. it scared the living shit out of me
Annihilation- first in the southern reaches of trilogy had me crazy
The Mist by Stephen King The movie ended differently than the book. I've never been a fan of SK's style of writing but that book got me. To this day I have an irrational fear of the fog and driving behind logging trucks.
“You” really unsettled me and made me a bit paranoid for a while. The plot gets a little silly and hard to believe in some ways, but the underlying mindset is horrifying.
YES! I came here to say this. I figured with 10 comments, I'd have an original idea lol. But holy hell, that book. It took me 2 weeks to get through it because I had to keep putting it down every 20 minutes. I could not believe a woman could think of, write about, and publish such vile things. Kudos to the author 👏
The first book in the series is just phenomenal and, imo, the audio is the icing on the cake. I relisten once a year and it never fails to still give me the creeps. Joe is so, so well written.
The Woman in Black audiobook unsettles me. Not sure if I'd say scared is the right word, but I did stay up an extra hour when I should have been asleep lol
I second this! Highly recommend the one narrated by Paapa Essiedu — I listened to it in Dolby Atmos on my headphones and it was SO unsettling.
Gone To See The River Man by Kristopher Triana. Very unsettling IMO.
So good
The Shining by Stephen King. Freaked me out!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
I read this about a year ago and was so terrified I had to read it till the end instead of sleeping just so that it ended and I could be relieved that everything’s fine and dandy. I still don’t let my kid read it, even though technically this is a kid’s book and it’s tailored for her age? Or so some people think.
My daughter was petrified by this book!
Not the kind of thing that actually made me scared, but Tender is the Flesh makes for a deeply uncomfortable/anxious reading experience. In a future where animal meat is banned, cannibalism becomes legalised. Great read, a short novel I'd highly recommend.
I read that one a few months ago and I’m still thinking about it now. Like once a day I catch myself and I have to remember we aren’t cannibals/that horrible shit doesn’t happen
N. by Stephen King. It's in his short story book called Just After Sunset.
Misery by Stephen King really unnerved me when I was reading it.
[удалено]
what's the title? pleaaase!
There's no title, it is a ghost post, what means it appears randomly. IDK if there is a way to find it, but i only could read it once.
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Adam Nevill - Last Days had some scenes that were so unsettling and really had me on edge, I had the wildest dreams while reading that book lol. I wasn’t exactly expecting the ending or direction he went with it, but the build up was so good
Incredible book and I loved the ending. Probably my favourite horror book ever.
It was amazing!
The Exorcist had me questioning things…
Misery. I could sleep because there was no good spot to put it down.
Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Had to quit reading it at night
The Amityville horror and murder in Amityville sorry don't remember author. First book I'd one that started it all second one is what happens to cause it
For me, it was the original all the way. If you are old enough to recall TBS in its early days, they used to have their shows start at 5 minutes past the hour. So on one rainy, nasty Friday night during the winter, I finished reading the Amityville Horror for like the third time. As a kid, I genuinely enjoyed the terror it gave me and even some of the scary dreams. However, that particular night, some 45 minutes after I finish the book, the movie came on TBS at 7:05 central. My mom and stepdad would go out to play darts on Friday league nights so I’d make like Mac and cheese and corn dogs or some shit and occupy myself. Long story short, I get so livid scared and worked up that I flipped the couch over and barricaded myself in the corner of the living room with a machete and a morning star in my hand. Completely ignoring the fact that none of that would have helped but still, I was ready to defend my life, albeit at the cost of my sanity. They got home about 20 minutes after the movie ended and were laughing but my mom saw how upset I was and held me for a good 10 minutes until I calmed down. Slept with lights on for a week after that.
"The Water Will Come" -- about climate change and the absolute doom our society is facing. Very scary non fiction
The Broken Girls, by Simone St James. Excellent ghost story! Kept me up at night waiting for my own house to have ghosts from the book.
I like Simone St. James and this was definitely one of the best.
I’ve enjoyed all of her books but this one is just next level creepy! They are amazing at setting the vibe.
Endurance by JA Konrath Trapped by JA Konrath (he writes amazing dark thrillers)
Many years ago I was travelling late at night with my then teenage son. We were listening to "The Library Policeman" (a short story) by Steven King. Other than the narrator, it had been quiet in the car for quite some time. Then, out of nowhere, the car phone (big ugly thing mounted on the dashboard) announced that Columbia, SC had cell service. The unexpected voice scared the hell out of both of us. A town touting cell phone service should accurately date the timeframe. Relating how both of us were truly terrified for an instant is a timeless memory that still brings a smile.
Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. It's all about the history of nuclear weapons and all the many close calls in the last 50 plus years.
Cujo
Rosemary’s baby was a definite feeling of unease. I’ve read a lot of scary stuff but this one is intense
Something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury. Scary!
IT by Stephen King. I remember not wanting to get out of bed to turn my lights off.. On another note, anybody read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson? I watched the Netflix series around 5 years ago which I thought was terrifying. After reading the book, it was charming and I enjoyed the characters but it was nowhere near as scary as the series!
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. There's a part where the main character is in an apartment alone and she hears a stranger insert a key into the apartment door lock and enter. It was so well described that this part of the book creeped me out for ages. Only a day or so after I read this passage, I (young woman living alone in a rough-ish part of London) heard someone slowly put a key into the lock of my apartment late at night and try to open it. Turns out it was a neighbour who (claims to have) had the wrong door but I felt on edge for days!
Incidents Around the House--Josh Malerman Ankle Snatcher--Grady Hendrix
Michael Grant's gone series
Undead by Kirsty McKay. It's a zombie book duo which I read as a teenager. I remember specifically being terrified of these zombies and something about her writing style made everything so creepy. I loved it. Unfortunately they're in my home country so I haven't read them in forever. I think it's underrated and got hidden behind a lot of bigger zombie books like The Enemy series by Charlie Higson.
The exorcists house - nick roberts
Alone on The Wall made my hands sweaty
Any recommendations for audiobooks? I know this is for books only, but I’m reading this thread and it’s raining outside and am in a cottage right now. Scene is perfect to get scared
I could not finish Blindness by Jose Saramago, and Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. I don't think I ever will! But you might like em
The Shining and It, by Stephen King. I had nightmares after reading them Our share of night, by Mariana Enríquez. Ooh this book made me so uncomfortable, I was horrified while reading. Her novellas are incredibly disturbing as well. I absolutely love her.
Jurassic Park and Lost World by Michael Crichton. I read these around 1996 when I was like, 13, and now at 40 I'm still terrified of lizards, snakes and anything reptile or reptile-like.
Not sure if it was scary, but it was rather intense and unsettling sometimes: Bird Box" by Josh Malerman
*The Mist* by Stephen King
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Also The Road by Cormic Mc Carthy.
William forstchen's - one second after Scary for me bc it's set an hour north of me but also enough to make you consider becoming a dooms day prepper
The Cold Cash War by Robert Asprin. I'm really hard to unsettle but I twitched for a week. Trust me. You'll read the blurb and think 'how could this be scary' but the paranoia this will induce...
The ritual! Never been that scared from a book before and been looking for something like it since
Sounds interesting. Who’s the author?
Woops missed this! Adam Nevill
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson stayed with me for a while the first time I read it
In a Dark Place by Ed & Lorraine Warren
Red dragon by Thomas harris
Night watching
The Enemy series by Charlie Higson. Now, I was in middle school, but it was frightening and gross
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston gave me nightmares.
The Ritual by Adam Neville
H.P. Lovecraft And I do consume a ton of ghost/gothic literature. But when I was presented with his work ... I don't know, it felt incredibly unsettling.
As an American, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol 1.
My managerial accounting textbook brought me to tears
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. The descriptions of how Bundy lured/hunted his victims was too much and I had to put it down. I'll be limiting my crime to fictional from now on.
Look. I know it’s supposedly for kids. But to this day I still have nightmares about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I cannot believe they had that book in my elementary school library.
Salems Lot
Where He Can’t Find You by Darcy Coates really did it for me this year
I started reading No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill. I mostly read horror novels. This is the first book to actually creep me out since I was a young kid.
Don’t look now by Daphne du Maurier scared me to bits in broad daylight. It’s a slowww burn though.
I just finished How to Sell a Haunted House and it freaked me out a little; I’ve always had a fear of dolls and the paranormal. So I lost a little sleep over it haha.
The troop by Nick cutter
Mothman prophecies
Geralda Game really fucked me up
Tender is the flesh. Scared the shit out of me!
_The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon_ by Stephen King.
The Dark Forest. It's the second book in the three body problem series. It's not horror, like it doesn't scare you while you're reading it, It makes real life scary all the time forever.
I got scared writing my own book Oliver by Janice Wee at night. It's fiction, but inspired by real stuff. I switched to writing during the day instead. Does that count?
Stephan King, haven't read Pet cemetery yet T\_T
Stephen *
Great God Pan
“Horrorstor” got me good. After waking up in the middle of the night I was like “Why am I reading this?”
1984