Jump to content

Truly scary novels


Lordwalker28

Recommended Posts

I know this has been done in other posts in the past but I am getting tired of battling the search function........So

I used to read a lot of books in the horror genre, like 10 years ago. I have read most of the "classics" and the back catalogs of the big hitters like King, Barker, Koontz, Lee, Ketchum, Keene, etc. About the most recent things I've read are Joe Hill's books, which I thought were very good.

Anyway I would like to read something truly frightening that can give some genuine chills, not just a splatter book that has gore just to be "shocking". Maybe something more recent.

Could anyone give me some good leads?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember Ghost Story by Peter Straub as being pretty frightening. Also, Shirley Jackson was a very well-respected writer of novels and short stories that were decidedly sinister and frightening.

Neither of these authors were particularly gory, they just were good for satisfying chills.

ETA: And, yeah, if you haven't dabbled in Lovecraft, you really should. Beware the Old Ones! ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried the older stuff, like H.P. Lovecraft or William Hope Hodgson?

Lovecract is pretty cool. House of leaves is pretty weird and at times very annoying.

Books are rarely actually scary for me. Movies can be scary as shit, but books just can't do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ligotti is awesome, existentially scary to be sure. I think it really depends on your state of mind at the time. For instance, I read Pet Semetary when I was about 14 or so. I stayed up late into the night reading it and it scared the shit out of me. I doubt it would have the same effect on me now, or if I had read it during the day.

I suggest to the OP that you read all of your horror books at midnight, by candlelight, in a forest or cemetery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski has some frightening moments, but its not for everyone.

House of Leaves is the only book I can think of that truly creeped me out. That being said, I've read very little actual horror, so I'm not the best example. But I agree that it's definitely not for everyone. It's probably the most "experimental" novel I've ever read. But it is damn interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan was scary as fuck,especially since you had no idea what you were facing (at least I didn't, I read it blind) and unlike it's sequels it didn't descend into silliness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that while they are fantasy and not traditional horror novels, both Fellowship of the Ring and R. Scott Bakker's The Judging Eye achieved some truly frightening moments.

I will assume that no one reading this needs spoiler tags for Tolkien and that if they do, they do not deserve them.

I thought the Black Riders were awesomely frightening in a way that the more cartoonish Nazgul weren't quite so much. From the attack in Bree, to the sniffing on the road, to Weathertop...just amazing fiction, that.

And then Moria...when they were reading the book of the last stand of the dwarves w/ the whole "they are coming" and "there is no way out"....just fabulous stuff.

Then Bakker's Moria tribute was awesomely frightening.

Shit yes, the Balrog scared the crap out of me as a kid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a topic dear to my heart.

I adore classic horror, like Guy de Maupassant. He wrote some outstanding stories, like Carmilla.

I read a truly scary book recently called Those Across the River that scared me to death. It was a great read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm fairly new to the horror genre, though I've become a fan of extreme-splatter pulp writer Edward Lee. But his writings are more like black comedy/satire to me than actually scary.

I've never read Stephen King, but I was thinking of reading Salem's Lot. Should I?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Start with The Shining, then if you like it read IT.

Urgh, but I don't want to read the Shining because the movie has spoilt it for me. I could do IT I suppose--I like the premise--but I think I read a lot of spoilers about it already.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...