What's the scariest book you've read?

Pet Semetary by Stephen King. I can smell the earthy smell, and the end just terrified me.

I read Dracula when I was a teen, and for weeks after I was so scared I couldn't even go the loo alone.
Into the Darkest Corner is seriously spooky, I guess because it's so plausible.

Ah, snot, the pressure !!!

I'm not in the UK so I imagine the postage would be expensive ...

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251803235324

House of Leaves (second hand) £3 on eBay TheEagle

Doitdoitdoit

Never thought of A Handful of Dust as 'scary' but the end really is quite something, it did upset me a lot and was definitely unexpected, compared to the rest of the book!

MR James - don't even go there. Can't read it at all. Same goes for Turn of the Screw, I'm never reading that again.

On the other hand, if you want to be a bit shaken up and spooked without being really scared, The Music on the Hill by Saki always gives me a delicious chill.

I don't watch much horror but The Shining and the Exorcist both terrified me. I can watch the Wicker Man though - it's haunting and disturbing but not so scary that I can't watch it. Or rather, it's such a good film I can't resist watching it!

Agree with Dark Matter - I really felt horror while reading it, and awful dread.

All of Adam Nevill's books - I'm reading his most recent one at the moment, and only in small instalments over dinner as am too scared to read it in the evening.

Pet Sematary - not so much the supernatural stuff, but what happens to the boy and his parents' grief. I read it when my DS was a similar age and I really wished I hadn't

The Dark by James Herbert - I found an abandoned copy on my way to the supermarket, took it home and read it. There is a horrible, horrible bit near the start with a dog. Couldn't get it out of my head for days, and again, wished I had not read it.

Also find a lot of MR James' stories terrifying, and some Lovecraft.

Film would be The Grudge. I am never ever EVER watching that again. Shudder.

Dark Matter. A great spine chilling book!

Ah I see, thanks daemon. It's also £19 which I couldn't justify at the moment!

Boo, you can't buy House of Leaves on Kindle. Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't read it

It would not work on Kindle. There are elements of it which need a physical book.

House of Leaves is very scary. And very sad- the letters in code at the end.

Scary - Peter Straub Ghost Story.

The "Man who read Dickens" chapter from Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust.

Cujo scared the living beejesus out of me, I was absolutely terrified.

I also love Mo Hayder, though I don't find them as terrifying. The Treatment scared me quite a bit, but mainly because I was living in the part of London where it was set when I read it.

I've never found supernatural stuff very scary though, purely because I know it's not real. It has to seem real to scare me.

The Survivor by James Herbert, and I'm another that kept waiting for the scary bit in Woman in Black, but then I'd finished the book and it had never materialised

Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card link

Bought it 20 years ago in Texas and have read it over and over. I read new things into it each time that I've missed before. It's nasty because it concerns children and it could happen.

Another vote here for 'House of Leaves'. It's just...uncanny. Unsettling and creepy. But FANTASTIC. Read it! But bear with it though; there's a lot of footnotes, etc. to get through which some people can find off putting.

I also found 'Lunar Park' by Bret Easton Ellis stayed with me for a while. Don't be put off by the author; it's nothing like 'American Psycho' or 'Glamorama' which are just nasty (but also good!)...'Lunar Park' is more creepy, unsettling and odd. It's great.

Haha! I'll steer clear of that and The Omen I think! Your poor Mum!

Boo, you can't buy House of Leaves on Kindle. Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't read it

TheEagle best avoid Rosemary's Baby then

My mum read it when she was expecting me and went in to labour an hour after finishing the book . She says as soon as they put me in her arms she had a quick, subtle scan for any marks that might indicate I was a devil child...

Why would you do that? WHY?

Thanks snotand! I'm suffering from a bit of pregnancy insomnia at the moment so am reading quite a lot.

Maybe I'll dip in and out of it with something light and fluffy on the side!

TheEagle - yes, it's pretty flipping scary.

But I did 'enjoy' it in a 'bit like watching Paranormal Activity' kind of way..

HTH :)

Excited to start reading some of these but I'm such a wuss I may never sleep again haha

Those who read House of Leaves - is it very scary? I read the synopsis and am sort of intrigued but also nervous of being scared out of my wits

Yes to The Woman in Black. When I was a kid I was so scared by. Roald Dahl's The Witches I made my mum throw it in the fire. My copy of Dracula has a picture of a gurning old woman sellotaped on the front to try and make me less afraid. I am aware that I'm ridiculous.

Film - can I also add Eden Lake, a British film from a few years ago starring Micheal Fassbender.
Not a horror film as such but really really horrible in that you believe every scene could happen, very tense and I found it stayed with me - especially the scene with the poor boy and the tyre (those who have seen it will remember).

Some great recommendations on here, I'm filling up my amazon wish list.

My scariest book is the shining. I was reading it on a park bench, totally engrossed, and a chap came up to me and said "that's a great book!" and I SCREAMED and threw the book in the air!

Also, Into the Darkest Corner which a pp mentioned. Just because it's something that really could happen and the heroine finds herself so totally alone in the world - that "no-one would miss me" feeling which terrified me. Scary, jumpy and well written, I must have read it six or seven times.