# Scariest/Creepiest Book Ever.. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2000, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566 "2000-12-08T01:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MaryJane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MaryJane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryJane)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/21 "2000-12-09T06:04:43Z")
The movie that comes to mind is Ursula LeGuin’s “Lathe of Heaven”. This is where the protaganist’s dreams come true. If he dreams about something…it becomes a reality. It’s a real mind-bender. ---
**Author:** ![MaryJane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MaryJane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryJane)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/22 "2000-12-09T06:15:03Z")
I have to add this on. I screwed up. This was a novel before it was a movie. Sorry, didn’t mean to muddy the water ---
**Author:** ![guitarmax\_99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@guitarmax\_99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guitarmax_99)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/23 "2000-12-09T07:31:42Z")
> [@](#): > > "Dread is the first and strongest of the three types of fear. It is that tension, that waiting that comes when you know there is something to fear but you have not yet identified what it is. The fear that comes when you realize that your wife should have been home an hour ago; when you hear a strange sound in the baby’s bedroom; when you realize that a window you were sure you closed is now open, the curtains billowing, and you’re alone in the house > > - Orson Scott Card A book called “Farie Tale” by Raymond Fiest. Most horror books don’t really scare me, but this one got the better of me. Fiest really knows how to use dread in his story telling. ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/24 "2000-12-09T08:54:50Z")
**The Little Engine That Could**. Boy, a talking train with motor problems! Shivers me jeepers! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/25 "2000-12-09T09:11:51Z")
I started watching horror movies when I was five, was reading horror fiction by the time I was twelve. _The Amityville Horror_ rattled my cage pretty good. I read the entire book in a single evening. Couldn’t put it down. I think the all time freakiest book I’ve read was the _Illuminatus_ trilogy. I borrowed it from my then BF, it was a single bound volume. I read the first two books in about a week, then laid the trilogy aside.It was another full week before I screwed up the nerve to read the third. I was afraid that either it would prove anti-climactic and dissapointing, or that I would be so blown away by it that it would cause me irreversible psychological damage. Not exactly horror, but, whew. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/26 "2000-12-09T14:06:45Z")
Horror fiction is consists of two kinds: Things that could happen (King’s Misery and the Hannibal trilogy being the best examples) and things that couldn’t happen (a lot of other ones). IMHO\< the best combination of the two is Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby. It just seems so real. I’ve written an annotated version of it, and I keep finding new things. ---
**Author:** ![Anniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@Anniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anniz)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/27 "2000-12-09T15:11:37Z")
Thomas Harris, “Silence of the Lambs”. I read the book before I saw the movie and it was scaryer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/28 "2000-12-09T17:34:10Z")
Try these: Hannibal by Thomas Harris The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber I think the final line of Chapter 14 will lift you right out of your seat. Any of Michael Slade’s books about the RCMP: Headhunter, Ghoul, Cutthroat, Ripper, Evil Eye and Primal Scream. I second the motion for Clive Barker’s Books of Blood Although I have not read all of his books, I find you can rarely go wrong with Ramsey Campbell if you want shudders. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/29 "2000-12-10T00:59:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*Horror fiction is consists of two kinds: Things that could happen (King’s Misery and the Hannibal trilogy being the best examples) and things that couldn’t happen (a lot of other ones). > > IMHO\< the best combination of the two is Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby. It just seems so real. I’ve written an annotated version of it, and I keep finding new things. \*\* yeah that one DOES feel real. The people in the book seem like people you could meet. And all of Rosemary’s reactions feel like the way an average person’s…so dead on. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/30 "2000-12-10T01:15:06Z")
**Zoggie**! Get your butt over to the Guess the Book thread, okay? We’re running out of Ira Levin titles. Did you ever finish Stinger? How’d you like it? Up for more McCammon? ---
**Author:** ![afireinside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@afireinside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/afireinside)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/31 "2000-12-10T02:32:32Z")
Someone said that movies made from books were never good. I have to disagree. The movie Fight Club was made from a book, and I found it more enjoyable than the book. (It’s not scary, but still worth seeing.) As far as scary books go, there is a fairly new book out called My Favorite Horror Story. It is a collection of short horror stories chosen by horror authors. There are some great ones in there. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/32 "2000-12-10T02:58:44Z")
**afireinside** – here’s the link to a recent thread discussing that book. It’s one of the better collections published lately, I agree. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=46178](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=46178) Have you read “The Chair”? Shudder. My Laz-Y-Boy doesn’t feel quite the same since. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/33 "2000-12-10T08:08:18Z")
I’ll second the votes for Lovecraft. Start with Charles Dexter Ward first. It’s his most accessible. Try the Dunwich Horror next or The Haunter in the Dark. My reccomendation would be for anything by Kathe Koja. The most disturbing one is called Scars (I think). Enjoy, LabRat ---
**Author:** ![afireinside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@afireinside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/afireinside)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/34 "2000-12-10T17:19:45Z")
AuntiePam- Do you mean the last story in the book? I really enjoyed that one. Loved the ending. “The Animal Fair” was also great. ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/35 "2000-12-10T19:44:43Z")
IT, by Stephen King, was the first book I read that out-and-out scared the holy living crap out of me. I’m with Ankh-Too on the fear of cleaning drains - King also wrote a short story about a man who one day finds an index finger poking up out of his drain and pointing at him one day - which doesn’t help a whole lot with that. He also tapped into the whole collective soul fear of clowns. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/36 "2000-12-10T20:30:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > \*\ ***Zoggie**! Get your butt over to the Guess the Book thread, okay? We’re running out of Ira Levin titles. > > Did you ever finish Stinger? How’d you like it? Up for more McCammon? \*\* Wow…someone actually commanded me to do something. Damnit, I call sexual harassment on that, though! ::looks around, and then rubs butt:: Hmph. 🙂 Um…not quite…:o ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/37 "2000-12-10T20:59:08Z")
Lovecraft is a horror god. _Herbert West: Reanimator_ is just plain _wrong_. It’s also pretty short and quite accessible for people who have never read Lovecraft. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/38 "2000-12-10T22:40:12Z")
For guys who think they have seen or read it all, may I recommend something slightly different. Ian Banks, ‘Walking on Glass’. Some guidance follows, but no spoilers. It’s a very strange novel with three separate story threads, like a literary layer cake. The first 3 chapters kick off three (seemingly) unrelated stories, then chapter 4 picks up where chapter 1 left off to continue that story, and so on. I’m referring here to story 1, so if you want to save time you can read Ch 1 and every third chapter after that (and bypass the other two story threads altogether). This first story starts off as a fairly routine boy meets girl tale. But the way it unfolds… well, all I will say is that I think it constitutes the ultimate nightmare for any male reader, and Banks has depicted the whole thing with a deliciously literary savagery. I have recommended this book to many male friends, and all have agreed that **the** moment when Banks reveals his grand design is very powerful, very sickening, and unforgettable. I’ve read a lot of supposedly scary stuff, but this, for me, is the most sickening and scary of all - all the more so for being firmly rooted in reality and real possibility. What happens to the guy in the story could very easily happen to **you**. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/39 "2000-12-11T00:09:54Z")
As far as **Iain Banks** goes, the maggot scene in **The Wasp Factory** was pretty bad. And a second vote for **Hanibal**. The ending just creeped me out big time. ---
**Author:** ![afireinside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@afireinside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/afireinside)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566/40 "2000-12-11T21:40:43Z")
I started to read one of Iain Banks’ books (I think it was A Song Of Winter or something like that) and found his writing style a little boring. Are all of his books like this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-creepiest-book-ever/44566.md?page=3)