# Scariest Book You've Read **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504 "2000-06-06T00:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![galadriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c89c15/32.png) [@galadriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galadriel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/61 "2000-06-07T02:55:12Z")
I’ve read most of Stephen King, some James Herbert, “The Silence of the Lambs”, Edgar Allen Poe, “Omen” etc etc. None of these scared me (I think I’m just sick and twisted!). The grossest scene in a book I can remember was in Herbert’s “The Rats” in the cinema when a rat is eating through a guy’s stomach while he’s just sitting there!! I can’t even think of films that have scared me - I tend to laugh - except “Candyman”; it was ages before I could look in a mirror again! ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/62 "2000-06-07T03:09:11Z")
Hands down, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. The first time I read it, I left all the lights on for weeks, and I STILL didn’t sleep much! Also the second time, and the third time, and… Scotti ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/63 "2000-06-07T04:07:30Z")
**Myron** : I thought I was the only person alive who adored Martin’s _Fevre Dream_. Agreement on Lovecraft; he was the Stephen King of his day. Agreement, selectively, w/ King; his early stuff was better in general, but some truly inspired stuff has been sprinkled along the way. He has a real gift for short stories. My “most scared” favorite: _The Haunting of Hill House_ by Shirley Jackson. Don’t judge by the movies; the 60’s version was okay; the recent Liam Neeson offering sucked. The premise is standard: 4 people of varying mental states stay in a reputedly haunted house as part of an experiment in the paranormal. But Jackson plucks nerves and makes magic out of it. (FWIW, I prefer _mind_ scared over gore.) Appropriately, the fear is all mental and emotional, where real fear comes originates. This is the genuine stuff of nightmares, where the mind resides and boundaries waver. Give it a little time; the book builds. The closing paragraph echoes the opening paragraph, but by the time you get there the whole world will shift. As a side recommendation, try her _We have always lived in the castle_. You only _think_ you know the nature of the true horror. Veb ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/64 "2000-06-07T05:26:01Z")
Well, I dont hardly ever read fiction. I read a Dean Koontz book once about people trapped in a highrise. But the scariest book I’ve ever read was called Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. Scarier cause its True. ---
**Author:** ![lablonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@lablonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lablonde)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/65 "2000-06-07T20:18:24Z")
Excellent input !!!. Dracula was great, but I read it when I was twelve. True Crime creeps me out and I won’t go there. I’m currently reading an excellent book by Dan Simmons, “Carrion Comfort”. It was his first. Has to to do with a select group of humans that have the “Ability” with which they take control of others and push them beyond natural human capability. They do this to amuse themselves. There is a creepy concentration camp people size chessboard scene. A mind-vampire thing. The book says that Khadaffy(sp?) had this ability and he thought it meant he was God! Very intricate story beginning with old Nazi’s reminiscing. Don’t let the slow start fool you… EEeeeppp! ---
**Author:** ![Rock-n-Rolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@Rock-n-Rolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rock-n-Rolga)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/66 "2000-06-07T21:20:40Z")
Peaches: You beat me to it. I was going to nominate Helter Skelter as well. That scene where one of the family (Tex, maybe? Don’t have it here with me) describes how they would “Creepy-Crawl” houses at night - brrr… For more good true crime, _Zodiac_ by Robert Graysmith is rather shiver-inducing as well. And that’s still an open case…Double yii. (The theory that [the Zodiac killer and the Unabomber are the same person](http://home.att.net/~mignarda/connect.htm) is interesting, though, from what little I’ve looked into it.) ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/67 "2000-06-08T01:16:32Z")
This is sort of off the topic but … I’ve read a lot of King’s books and I noticed that he always uses the idea of some great underlying evil controlling things … the town in IT, in The Stand the force behing Flagg, in Christine the car, in Desperation the thing in the pit (I didn’t like Desperation as much as the other ones I’ve read), in Pet Sematary the cemetery, and so on. Also in IT, The Stand, and Desperation, there was also definitely an opposing goodness controlling the characters. Hmm. Ever since I figured this out King’s books scare me less because I am always analyzing them instead of just letting them scare me. Too bad. -j-u-l-i-e- ---
**Author:** ![kiffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/68 "2000-06-08T01:41:40Z")
The creepiest novel I’ve read is Candyman which takes place in Liverpool England and played on English fears of those wild and crazy Liverpudlians. The original movie transferred the plot to Chicago and played wonderfully on our North American racism… made the story more creepy. Helter Skelter was enough to scare me off of those serial killer books forever. Real Life creepy/scary: The Coming Plague about AIDS/HIV, drug resistant TB and malaria, all those weird hemorraghic fevers like Lassa… ---
**Author:** ![BigJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9bd4f/32.png) [@BigJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigJoe)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/69 "2000-06-08T01:55:34Z")
Ukulele Ike, Just FYI, didn’t read “The Green Man” but saw the A&E adaptation on TV. Was so impressed that I called to order a copy on tape. IIRC, it stars Albert Finey and is quite well done. Damn!!! Now I’ve got to track down the novel! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HomeSlice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9d8465/32.png) [@HomeSlice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HomeSlice)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/70 "2000-06-08T02:00:28Z")
The book Beloved by Morrison(I think) The actual book wasnt scary, it was the fact that someone got paid lots of money to write the thing that scared the hell out of me. And they made a movie out of it with Oprah, which even made the whole thing even scarier. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/71 "2000-06-08T02:50:16Z")
## Yoko Ono’s book of poetry. Let me give you an example: ``` Yes. ``` * * * Truly frightening, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/72 "2000-06-08T03:26:27Z")
**Veb** – here’s another vote for Fevre Dream. What a rich, romantic story. Martin’s **Armageddon Rag** has some nice intensity too. And it’s not horror, but his Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series has quite a following. Lucius Shepard’s **Green Eyes** is a nicely intense zombie love story with some scary moments. I think Shepard’s ashamed of it now, because it was – horrors – “popular” and he seems to want to be above that. And it’s working – hardly anyone seems to have heard of him. Tom Reamy’s **Blind Voices** was a nice take on the carnival-comes-to-town-and-the-kids-are-the-only-ones-who-see-the-evil (a’la Bradbury’s Something Wicked), and he published a very original short story collection before he died. He’s worth searching for. ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/73 "2000-06-08T04:29:02Z")
I don’t remember the title, just that it’s a Bradbury short story: A little boy with a fever becomes convinced that the virus is taking over his body, limb by limb. As in, he’s becoming a walking disease. The last image in the story, after everyone thinks he’s gotten better, is utterly creepy. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/74 "2000-06-08T04:45:10Z")
Pundit: you win. ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/75 "2000-06-08T04:45:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > All these posts, and nobody has mentioned Thomas > Harris? The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. > I can read Stephen King and fall asleep, but > Harris keeps me awake nights. > \*\* I second on Thomas Harris, but I thought that Red Dragon was more frightening than either SotL or Hannibal. ---
**Author:** ![lablonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@lablonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lablonde)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/76 "2000-06-09T12:56:59Z")
Don’t stop now !! Let’s hear from the Weekenders !! ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/77 "2000-06-09T17:58:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Title: Misery > Author: the local favorite, Stephen King > Plotline: Author crashes his car, gets stuck in remote mountain house with a crazy lady who does _not_ like how his last book ends. This book still creeps me out. It is the only book that I own that I will _never_ read again. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/78 "2000-06-09T21:47:17Z")
The Exorcist, when I was 15. It reached the climax at 3 am during a thunderstorm. The lights went out with a crash of thunder, and I about wet myself while the book hit the ceiling! The movie was tame in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/79 "2000-06-09T22:01:55Z")
When I was about ten, someone gave me a book called “Fifty Greatest Short Stories” or something like that. The one I read which was so scary was called “Christ in Concrete.” I don’t know who wrote it. It frightened me to the point that I never read it again, and even was afraid to have the book in the same room with me, because it brought that story to mind! I don’t know, relatively speaking, how scary someone else would find it. I do remember how **I** felt after reading it. It horrified me because it was fairly realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Edwardina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Edwardina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edwardina)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504/80 "2000-06-09T23:09:59Z")
I don’t usually go in for scary stuff, so I would have to say, although not technically horror, the most frightening book I think I’ve read is Frank Herbert’s White Plague. I don’t count things that leave me horrified or disgusted as scary, so most intentionally “scary” stuff does not count with me, because that’s really how I feel about it: disgusted and horrified, but not actually scared. I guess I equated “scariness” more with suspense stories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-book-youve-read/21504.md?page=5)