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Really - and I mean truly - scary Books

tommydarascal

tommydarascal

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Hi all,

I have been scanning through forums and it has occured to me that when people are talking about the 'best horror books', they aren't always referring to the actual 'scare' factor. For example, I have seen The Stand by Stephen King voted as the best horror book ever billions of times! I have read it, it is excellent, probably the best I have read, but I just don't find it scary. Same goes with House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski: great book, a masterpiece, very inventive, scary? No. Not really. It has its moments.

The whole point I have made this post is to ask all those out there what books actually ARE scary. I would be very grateful for some suggestions.

Just to say, I already have but haven't read:

It by Stephen King
Carrie by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King

Also, just to add, I am into supernatural horror.

Thanks again.
 
Intensity by Dean Koontz, but then that's the only horror book I've ever read, so is the scariest by default. It is good though, it scared me. Quite a lot in some places. And I'm afraid I had to cheat and check the end to see that the main character was alive.
 
Honestly, probably the scariest book I could ever read would be nonfiction, not horror. Something along the lines of true crime, or maybe a book version of the movie Traffic. When it's make-believe it's a lot more ok than if you know that "this screwed-up s**t really happened."
 
KristoCat said:
Honestly, probably the scariest book I could ever read would be nonfiction, not horror. Something along the lines of true crime, or maybe a book version of the movie Traffic. When it's make-believe it's a lot more ok than if you know that "this screwed-up s**t really happened."
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I'd agree. Read one of the books about Fred West. Whenever I see a picture of him, look into those eyes, well, that's what I call scary.
 
I haven't actually read this yet, but The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is non-fiction that's suppose to be extremely scary.

And I agree, the scariest stories seem to be those that are either non-fiction or can read like non-fiction. That's why I often find Michael Crichton's novels spooky, because his description of technology makes it sound like this really could happen.
 
It's the true-crime books that freak me out. I read loads of them, and then I had to stop after a while because I found them too disturbing. I mean to read about what Jeffrey Dahmer did to his victims....... terrifying. :eek:
 
angerball said:
I mean to read about what Jeffrey Dahmer did to his victims....... terrifying. :eek:
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He only drugged them, strangled them, dumped them in a barrel of acid, and sampled a few choice cuts. Occasionally he humped a choice cut.

Dennis Nilsen is a bit more of a worry: once he killed them he would sit down to watch TV with the corpses, putting his arm around them, and snuggling. Hell, he even bathed them...until the smell wouldn't go away and then he took the same route Dahmer would later take.
 
Stewart said:
Dennis Nilsen is a bit more of a worry: once he killed them he would sit down to watch TV with the corpses, putting his arm around them, and snuggling. Hell, he even bathed them...until the smell wouldn't go away and then he took the same route Dahmer would later take.
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:eek: I've never even heard of him. :eek: Are there any books about him? I'll have to read up about him on crime library.
 
According to cnn.com...

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Stephen King's The Shining
Blatty's The Exorcist
E A Poe's Short Stories
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House
 
I just finished reading The Hot Zone and it IS scary, especially with the threat of the birdflu pandemic.

Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule scared me so much the for a few weeks, I couldn't be around men I didn;t know.

I, too, am more frightened of non-fiction than of fiction. I've not read any fiction that's scared me at all.
 
The Shining I hear is VERY scary.

And Intensity was VERY good although... it was more psychological horror.... and it wasn't really that scary to me and I'm one who scares easily. But it's usually the supernatural stuff that scares me.
 
Bountyhunter said:
The Shining I hear is VERY scary.

And Intensity was VERY good although... it was more psychological horror.... and it wasn't really that scary to me and I'm one who scares easily. But it's usually the supernatural stuff that scares me.
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The Shining film, was very scary, I thought (the Kubrick one), and it is the only film (other than Cujo, 'cause I'm terrified of dogs) to scare me so badly, I think.

I get scared by psychological films, ones where the killer (villain) can get into the minds of his victims, and change them, etc. Like Saw. That's why I thought Intensity was scary, because
he was so normal, and he made Chyna do things she wouldn't normally do, and that poor Ariel. Plus, I'm scared of dogs.
 
steffee said:
The Shining film, was very scary, I thought (the Kubrick one), and it is the only film (other than Cujo, 'cause I'm terrified of dogs) to scare me so badly, I think.

I get scared by psychological films, ones where the killer (villain) can get into the minds of his victims, and change them, etc. Like Saw. That's why I thought Intensity was scary, because
he was so normal, and he made Chyna do things she wouldn't normally do, and that poor Ariel. Plus, I'm scared of dogs.
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Well really...
Well, in a way... he helped Chyna over come her fear through the WORST fear, if that makes any sense.

And I LOVE psychological horrors... Saw was awesome.
 
Bountyhunter said:
Well really...
Well, in a way... he helped Chyna over come her fear through the WORST fear, if that makes any sense.

And I LOVE psychological horrors... Saw was awesome.
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I was very impressed by Saw, not so much Saw 2.

I agree
the ending of Intensity was good, but still a little shocking that it took that to help her.
 
hi!

thanks for all your wonderful suggestions ...

... these are books that will make you hide under the covers and wet your bed at night though, right?

thanks
 
lol!

No, it takes a lot to scare me, that's why I am asking for really scary books lol. I am starting to get bored of reading the same old books that promise to be absolutely terrifying and turn out to be the same old hype over nothing.

:mad:

It really gets me mad!
 
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