Have you ever read a book that scared you so much you either couldnt finish reading it or just had to finish reading it?
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zookeeny (
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December 13th, 2009
I started listening to a book on talking cd called The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I cant get passed the 3rd cd because it is really creepy and unsettling. Partly it may be because it is on spoken word format but I am pretty sure that it would still deeply freak me out if I were reading it myself. It is a fantastic fantastic story but I cant handle it!! A sign of a great writer perhaps.
What book has genuinly frightend you or set you on edge? Have you ever been really stirred up by a book?
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I would think listening to it spoken plays a big role. I have never found a book I was reading scary.
Yes, Pet Semetary by Stephen King. I have read all of his books, but cannot read that one or watch the movie. Too scary for me.
I felt that way when I was reading World War Z. That book has a lot of tense, scary moments, but the worst part was the way all the world’s governments reacted to the zombie infestation, causing billions of needless deaths. It’s some dark, dark stuff.
i remember years ago, when Pet Cemetery was new on the shelves, i started to read it before i went to bed, the more i read, the more i wanted to read, until it reached a point where it became Soooo scary, i was too scared to go to bed lols – great question!
The Shining and The Stand both scared me so much, I had to stop reading, then rush to finish it. King is the Master.
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski was a creepy read, and a little rough to get through.
@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities No kidding. House of Leaves is challenging, but that makes it more engaging than a book that does more typical stuff. I liked that the pages were bigger than the cover- it’s full of quirky/ creepy details like that.
The last book to give me nightmares was My brother’s keeper, by Marcia Davenport. I must have been about sixteen. Later on, Henry James’ novel, The turn of the screw, gave me a few creepy moments.
Back in the 70’s, my husband had to go to Indiana for a week’s schooling for his job. I was left alone with two LITTLE girls. We lived out in the country. I’d been reading Helter Skelter…the Charles Manson story. I’d get the girls to bed at night & sit & read that book. One night, it really freaked me out & I had to lay it down. That dude is beyond weird. I didn’t read anymore on it until hubby came home, LOL.
I have never read any of Stephen Kings books however when I was 9 I got given one as a present. I never read it. What a strange book to give to a kid – especially one as hyper sensitive as I was!!! Maybe it was an unwanted gift for them and they just gave it to me. I am so glad I didnt even attempt to read it now! I try to avoid reading things that are so very intense and deliberatly scary and psycho mind bending yet I am always drawn in by an excellent book. Usually its the futuristic sci fi global disaster type ones that I get hooked into and freaked out by but this is the first time I have given up on one for being too freaky!
Helter Skelter! I forgot how terrified I was when I read that
When I was a kid my mom read us The Dun Cow. It kept me awake at night but I loved it. I read it two or three times on my own when I was a little older.
@Snarp I think you’re right. Hearing someone else tell the story adds something that lets in more potential fear.
Not terrifying, but so creepy I read it in one or two sittings: The Day of the Triffids. Great book!
Salem’s Lot. I read it years ago and only at night before bed. It scared me and I looked forward to reading it every night.
@filmfann Yeah…I’m not easily scared, but that one got to me! Breathing breath into a dead bird & saying it flew off….suuuure he did.
Manson seemingly making the lawyers watch stop with his stare killed me!
Certain H.P. Lovecraft stories give me the chilly-willies.
I see things out of the corners of my eyes for a while after reading “The Rats in the Walls”, for example.
No, but House of Leaves gave me strange dreams and sleep paralysis.
The Dead Zone when I was 10. I finished it, but I was upset afterward for a bit.
@aprilsimnel I think you were too young at age 10 to read that book.
Bentley Little books always freak me out as I’m reading them, but then at the end I wind up a little disappointed. I still love him, though.
@aprilsimnel: I read Misery at 10. I’ve been totally hooked on King ever since. :D
The Amityville Horror was a book that I could only read in broad daylight. As soon as it became darker, I got extremely jumpy and during the night, I would the covers up over my head. I’ve read it twice and skimmed through it a third time.
I thought Trainspotting was extremely disturbing, especially considering that it’s basically illustrating the author’s life.
Way too fun and enlightening to put down though, hell I’ve read that book like five times.
@zookeeny The Book of Lost Things is one of my favourite books, you really have to keep reading listening!
I have a horrible fear of clowns. I read “IT” to try to help overcome that fear. It didn’t help one little bit. When I got off work at 11pm I would run from the car to the house so Pennywise wouldn’t get me. I know its nuts but it really freaked me out. I finished the book, but I forced myself to.
The Shining had me almost too scared to turn the page. Few books have had that effect on me. But there was this one short story…described here.
I am now creating a list in my mind of books to avoid!! I think part of the power of a story is having the authors ‘voice’ in your head as you read. You are kind of on another plane because you sit quietly reading a book when all around you people are totally unaware of the words you are reading on the pages. Unbeknown to them you are reading all this scary stuff and remain serene as you read and unless you are reading a book at the same time as someone or have someone who knows the story to talk it over with you are ‘alone’ with the world of the book. Its like being in another dimension – sort of :) I love thinking of reading like that – total escapism!
@zookeeny I also hear the characters as I read. I like to listen to books on tape but the reader seldom sounds the way I imagine the characters do. Another dimension is a good way to describe it. I have escaped to other countries, other eras and even other worlds through books.
The Amytiville Horror is absoluting terrifying too – much more so than the films
anything by Clive Barker is naaaaaastay too :)
I would love to spend about three hours in Clive Barker’s imagination. If I managed to survive until the end of that time, I’d be permanently terrified, and I would want to get the hell out QUICKLY. But it would’ve been great fun while it lasted.
@MacBean, I have sometimes wondered what it could be like to sleep next to somebody like that—Clive Barker, Stephen King, Jeffrey Ford—and lie only inches away from their dreams.
@Jeruba Ohhh, I never thought of that. Good (bad?) thought!
@Seek_Kolinahr H.P. Lovecraft is one of my favorites. I read Rats in the Wall also and it creeped me out too.
Most of Stephen King’s book has caused me a nightmare or two, that is why I have read all of his books.
@baileysmom12
I named my cat after an H.P. Lovecraft story – “The Cats of Ulthar”.
”‘Tis the law in Ulthar, that no man may kill a cat.”
@Seek_Kolinahr Right now I am reading Shadows Over Baker Street. It is a book of short stories about Sherlock Holmes in H.P. Lovecraft settings. It is interesting. I think it is well worth the read. Love the name for the cat, I have a cockatiel named Feathers. I let my niece name her.
@MacBean Yes, it’s full of creepy crawlies and slithering things that go BOO in the night. I am so grateful to my co-worker that loaned it to me.
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