The Tell Tale Heart scared me way more than I thought it would. I’d been led to believe that something supernatural was driving the whole story. Finding out that it was really more like psychological horror messed me up.
I was reminded of one today on the 2012 thread on this board … “The Forge of God” by Greg Bear. The end of that with the destruction of the Earth, really terrified me.
Another that comes to mind is the short SF story “Sandkings” by George RR Martin - I think that one was made into a Twilight Zone episode. Sheez that one scared me!
Behind the Attic Wall, by Sylvia Cassedy.
Book needs burying at a crossroads with a stake through it. :eek: The reviewers at Amazon obviously did not read the book I and other Dopers read.
I have a thing about human dolls (uncanny valley, I suppose, even from a very young age), and that book did not help at all.
Or Stephen King’s “The Dark Half”. Complete squick city.
I want to say “Thank you for scaring me” to the ones who have posted links of short stories.
That one about the purple eyed demon… I want to read more about him (the demon).
I also read crimelibrary, although I’ve learned to do so during daylight. For a woman living by herself, it is not a good thing to read at night.
I read it when I was about 15 or so and I didnt go to bed that night.
Stephen King’s Bag of Bones is another one.
Yes, thanks… he seems like an unpleasant fellow.
Another vote for Martin’s “Sandkings,” which I first read in high school. Really good stuff. The short story is far, far, far better than the TV adaptation.
Swan Song really creeped me out. Stephen King’s early stuff scared me to bits, but the one that does it the worst is The Stand.
I read The Coming Plague, so I know what you mean. But I literally had nightmares after reading Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone. I dreamed about being chased by someone who would infect me with Ebola if s/he touched me.
I totally agree about the movie The Haunting. And the book Helter Skelter – another nightmare inducer.
Anne Rice’s first vampire book scared me so badly I set it aside for years. Then years later I started reading The Witching Hour, and it damned near did the same thing. Anne Rice can write some really, really scary stuff, but then she always seems to spin off into scenarios that are just weird.
Oh yeah, that was defintely one of the freaky ones.
I read 1984 when I was about 9 or 10 years years old and it scared the crap out of me.
In the UK we still had rationing and a goodly number of bombed sites so it really wasn’t all that hard for a young sprog to envisage the dastardly Russians invading us and making 1984 a reality
I just remembered another one: Communion, by Whitley Strieber. I think at the time it was supposed to be a true story of an alien contact/abduction incident, though if I’m remember right it was later debunked. All I remember about it was that it freaked me the hell out, worse than any book I’d ever read before or since. I’m not sure why, and don’t really want to read it again to find out.
I bought this book. And I’m afraid to read it because I think it will frighten/depress me.
How lame is that??? :smack:
I don’t remember what they’re called, but there’s a couple Lovecraft short stories at my grandparents’ which gave me nightmares for weeks…
Wow, I hadn’t read that one before. Creepy. War, hell, etc.
Well…
If you’re not a soldier, a doctor, or a skilled tradesperson, you will gain the kind of persepective that nobody wants.