Books that scared the shit out of me

[octo7]

Arthur Machen - The White People
HP Lovecraft - The Colour out of Space
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper


any recommendations?

[blind2d]

Ooh, that last one was amazing! Lovecraft rocks too.
It - Stephen King
Jurassic Park - Michael Chriton (sp)
and......... The Mist - King again

[wayzim]

Arthur Machen - The White People
HP Lovecraft - The Colour out of Space
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper


any recommendations?

Stephen King's Salem's Lot had several moments that freaked me.
A cool anthology of monster tales called Monsters You Never Heard Of (Tempo Books, 1983 ) had this western legend of The Burr Woman, about a wizen creature that would attach itself to you and never let go (until you died, of course. )
The short novel ' A Stir of Echoes. ' by master scribbler Richard Matheson, in which our hypnotized hero(?) not only gains the power to see dead people, but also can see beneath the social facade to a person's true face
A truly scary scene comes from that talent.

Stephen King had a cool little tale from Skeleton Crew called Survivor Type, in which a drug peddling medical student is stranded on a tiny bit of land jutting out of the ocean.

Virtually anything by Charles Beaumont, one of Twilight Zone's best scribblers and a true master of Gothic Southern Horror. The one story which really got me(forgot the name, sorry. ) was one where a sadistic man-hating mother forces her son to pretend he's her daughter. The kid is only kept sane by a sympathetic family retainer, but when an emergency forces the servant to leave ... the nasty at the end is something even Norman Bates might balk at.

Wayne Z

[Mike70]

the bible. period.

that a book so filled with murder, rape, genocide, torture, and mutilation is held up as an example to live your life by is something i find truly scary.

[blind2d]

Mike, Mike, Mike.... you just don't get it, do you? The Bible is about love! Sure, it has all sorts of violence and nasty goings on, but those are either A) to show you how horrible godless/pagan people are, or B) to scare you into being good and obeying God's law, for he is a vengeful God. Ten Commandments are really the most important bit in the Old Testament. Jesus' speakings in the New.

[octo7]

cool i will keep my eyes peeled for some of these!

I recommend arthur machen to ANYONE who can find his books.

[Jan Kozlowski]

The creepiest book I ever read, hands down, was WHISPERS by Dean Koontz. After that on the scare meter:

Stephen King's long short story or short novella, THE MIST. I read it as an brochure like insert in men's magazine back in the late 70's, early 80's.

King's short story, GREY MATTER.

[octo7]

i'm not a huge fan of King but i do love the Mist and most of his shorts. The only koontz book i read was a comedy about a guy who could see dead people, can't remember what it was called because it was years ago but it was a great story.

[kortick]

my old high school yearbook is probably
the most horrifing thing I read recently.

its filled with creatures that defy all
that is holy.

[paulannett]

i'm not a huge fan of King but i do love the Mist and most of his shorts. The only koontz book i read was a comedy about a guy who could see dead people, can't remember what it was called because it was years ago but it was a great story.

Probably his Odd Thomas series. We mustn't have read the same novel though, I didn't find it comedic at all... :rockbrow: It is a good series though!

[zombieparanoia]

Anything in the "chicken soup for the _______ soul" series


Scary like resting my balls on a rat trap.