Home > The Book Page > Archives > 2007 > October > 20 > Entry
What book has freaked you out?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday’s Arts and Books section contains a nifty wrapup of folks talking about novels and stories that have scared them in major ways. Here are a few edited examples, gathered by free-lancer Kathy Janich, to get your synapses popping.
“The Exorcist” by William Peter Blatty “I began hearing furniture moving in our attic and we didn’t even have an attic!” said novelist Sandra Brown.
“The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris. “Hannibal Lecter is probably one of the most frightening characters in print,” said Alice Dasher of E. Shaver Booksellers in Savannah.
“American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis. “It’s the most gory writing that I’ve ever read,”said Terra McVoy, manager at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur.
Also mentioned: “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, “Pet Sematary” and “The Shining” by Stephen King, the stories of Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.
Mine? Thanks for asking. Even mediocre Stephen King novels, and God know he’s written ‘em and I’ve read ‘em, can have a single scene or motif or character that is just pure freaky. His good ones rock. “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub was pretty intense, as I recall.
But I think the story that creeped me out the most was “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. I was maybe 11 years old or so when I read it, the perfect age. I doubt it would bug me much now, but for kids, it’s great.
How about you? What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever read?
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Kate
October 20, 2007 11:03 PM | Link to this
Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall freaked me out. I did not like being inside his head at all. The violence was too random and too real.
Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe with the thumpity-thump of the guilty conscience was pretty freaky. So was Primal Fear by William Diehl (I think?).
Mostly, though, I avoid books that freak me out. I’m too squeechy. (yes, that’s a word. Look it up.)
By Hedaya
October 21, 2007 12:07 PM | Link to this
i think “Promise Not to Tell I Killed Someone Tonight” is the scariest book ever Del the potato girl was a scary character, she was a ghost.You can buy it at Costco or Borders.
By Mary T
October 21, 2007 3:13 PM | Link to this
The creepiest book I ever read was Anne Rivers Siddons‘“The House Next Door” In fact, at a book signing,someone mentioned how scared she was reading it. Anne Siddons replied, “I was terrified writing it at home alone!”
By Shura Massey
October 21, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this
The book that scared me the most was “The Other” by Thomas Tryon. The ending gave me nightmares for weeks afterward.
By jerry davis
October 21, 2007 6:49 PM | Link to this
The scariest book i have ever read was “Helter Skelter”. It was real and should send shivers up everyone’s spine because it really happened. Remember “creepy crawling”?
By GeezGuys
October 22, 2007 6:58 AM | Link to this
“The Moving Finger”, a short story by Stephen King was pretty creepy. No explanation whatsoever, just scary stuff. And word to Jerry on “Helter Skelter”. Reality is scarier than fiction.
After J.K. Rowlings announcement, you can bet wingnuts will be saying “The Harry Potter books”.
By thera
October 22, 2007 7:43 AM | Link to this
The Bible is the scariest book, ever. Revelations alone is enough to scare the most hardened of horror vets. Plagues, pillars of salt, walls tumbling down, consulting with witches, baby boys being murdered, a severed head, eyes poked out, stonings, men walking around in a furnace, people being thrown to the lions, unjust wars, famine, golden idols, a father prepared to sacrifice his own son, a brother betrayed and thrown into a pit to die, cruel kings, incest, a jealous brother killing his brother, serpants, Satan, an innocent man being nailed to a cross. That’s only the stuff I can remember right off the top of my head.
By Susan
October 22, 2007 7:54 AM | Link to this
Most anything written by Clive Barker. He has a way of conveying terror in ways that I’d never read before. He’s the master.
By Joyce
October 22, 2007 8:18 AM | Link to this
For me, it was HALLOWEEN PARTY by Agatha Christie. It was given to me for my 13th birthday. Mom picked it because the party was a 13th birthday party for a character named Joyce. After reading the first chapter, I learned that the mystery surrounded Joyce being discovered dead in the apple bobbing container. I went straight to my mother and asked, “Did you read the first chapter?” She replied, “No, honey, but I want to read it after you.” I stood there a moment, then said, “So, you didn’t know that Joyce is murdered at her party?” Mom stopped and gasped. I continued, “So, you don’t have any plans to kill me at the party tonight?” I milked that guilt for years.
By Kat
October 22, 2007 11:25 AM | Link to this
I’ve read a few of Stephen King’s books, and they creep me out. Not just the obviously scary parts, but the little everyday details that convey a feeling of normalcy with horrors lurking just below the surface of the ordinary. That man can turn a phrase in such a way that it sticks in your head.
Recently I’ve read a couple of young adult novels that were very susepenseful, and yes, actually scary. One was Acceleration by Graham McNamee. It’a about a boy who accidentally finds the diary of a serial killer. It won the Georgia Peach Book Award for teen readers last year. Another is Code Orange by Caroline Cooney. Small pox meets modern terrorism. Yikes.
By Adele Furin
October 22, 2007 1:29 PM | Link to this
The book is “The Root of All Evil”, by David Farrow, a native of Charleston S.C. Do not read this book after dark or while alone. A third murder victim is found with her heart removed and a strange, gnarly root entangled in her hair. The root is like voo-doo and is used to hex people and cause havoc. Scary stuff here.
By Gothgurrl
October 22, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
THE CEREMONIES British Fantasy Society award for best novel. Praised by Stephen King. Sadly, T.E.D. KLEIN is not Stephen King, who can wonderfully plot a grocery list. A flawed masterpiece (slow middle, end forced) but the patient reader might enjoy its meticulous construction and subtle use of Lovecraftian horror. Sarr and Deborah Poroth are farmers living soberly and somberly within the ultra-religious community at Gilead, New Jersey. They love each other almost as much as they love God, though none of that belief will ultimately save them. Any more than Mother Poroth’s psychic powers will save her. Jeremy is a graduate student and teacher on sabbatical at their farm, studying Machen, Lovecraft, LeFanu, Jackson, Stoker, and other goth and weird writers. Carol, a librarian, longs for a happy relationship with him. “Rosie” Rosebottom, appears to be a kindly old grandfather type. While he is very, very old, he is not at all kindly. Under his contrivance the characters are innocently manipulated into performing The Ceremonies that will allow an innominate alien being, a sleeping elder god, to be re-born and of which the Incidents on the Poroth Farm, can only whisper malevolently. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
By Yvonne
October 23, 2007 4:26 PM | Link to this
Christmas break from college in 1974, I read Helter Skelter. I can’t imagine anything creepier than the Charles Manson and family story and the horrors of what they did.
I had a hard time going to sleep at night for weeks—imagining the scene where they would crawl around on people’s floors while the homeowners were sleeping. It still gives me chills to think about.
By Bill Means
October 26, 2007 5:40 PM | Link to this
Try the short stories of H. P. Lovecraft. His mythology of the ancient sleeping monster Cthulhu, and terrifying adventures in the howling Mountains of Madness, have to be some of the scariest stories ever written. After reading them, I recall being unable to turn out the lights and go to sleep. I was 25 at the time.
By Cathy Bowen
October 30, 2007 8:49 PM | Link to this
I truly agree that true horror is definitely the scariest. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is by far the scariest book I have ever read. In fact, on the back cover is a quote by Stephen King,”The first chapter of The Hot Zone is one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever read in my whole life…and then it gets worse.
By Jeff
October 31, 2007 8:41 AM | Link to this
Cathy:
I read The Hot Zone back around 7th grade. It was back when there was a major outbreak of Ebola-Zaire (circa 1995).
I didn’t find it to be that scary. More like fascinating. In fact, for a while I was thinking about becoming a Level 4 pathologist with USAMRIID with the intent of solving Ebola.
A far scarier application of Ebola was the airborne weaponized strain the Iranians unleashed in the US in Clancy’s Executive Orders. Much like The Sum of All Fears, I believe it portrays a relatively accurate picture of what would happen if such a weapon were ever developed.
By jc
October 31, 2007 8:54 AM | Link to this
“IT”
By Anne
October 31, 2007 9:08 AM | Link to this
Because I had been bitten by dogs several times when I was little, Cujo by Stephen King terrified me when I first read it. Then came “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis. I actually threw the book in the trash when I finished, because I didn’t want to even look at the cover! I figured one of two things about that book…..Ellis either knew someone like that….or was that person. That was pure evil!!
By dep
October 31, 2007 9:16 AM | Link to this
“The Girl in the Box” by Ouida Sebestyen is a great, creepy YA book. Jackie is kidnapped and locked in an underground room with only a thread of light, a jar of oily water, a box of old donuts and pastries, and a portable typewriter and ream of paper she happened to have in her backpack. To keep herself sane, she types—until she runs of out paper and the book ends. I read this to my 9th graders and they were absolutely enthralled by it.
And my personal choice is “The Shining.” Not the supernatural elements as much as Jack’s descent into madness. As well as King writes supernatural horror, I think his take on everyday horror is much more terrifying.
By Diogenes
October 31, 2007 9:33 AM | Link to this
King’s “Pet Cemetary.” Maybe you just have to be a parent, and love your kid so much you want to … uh … “bring them back” at all costs. That book just totally creeped me out.
By Diogenes
October 31, 2007 9:36 AM | Link to this
Or “Pet Sematary” … maybe it was spelled funny.
By Val
October 31, 2007 9:46 AM | Link to this
The John Wayne Gacy Story. I was living in Chicago at the time the murders were taking place. I remember when he would only talk about his crimes with one of our local reporters. This book was so gory, I could only read a few pages at a time, leave it alone, then continue. He was a VERY SICK man. Being a true story makes it that much Scarier.
By Racebaiter
October 31, 2007 9:46 AM | Link to this
Ever read a true crime novel? I used to think Stephen King was scary too. I read “Invisible Darkness” (the story of a real life murderers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo) a few years ago, and it’s still with me. Give it a shot.
By John Evans
October 31, 2007 10:08 AM | Link to this
Ammityville Horror kept me awake after reading!
By Hellbent
October 31, 2007 10:09 AM | Link to this
The book that really did a number on my head was by the master of horror, Stephen King. “Gerald’s Game” was so horrific that I couldn’t put it down. I read it in one sitting, and at one point got so squeamish that I had to go lay down to keep from passing out. They will probably never make a movie of this because I don’t think they could find an actress willing to go topless for 3/4 of the movie. Highly recommended reading!