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What is the most chilling book you've ever read?

207 replies

Beatgrrl · 05/12/2019 14:50

At this time of year, I really love to snuggle up under a blanket, get all comfy and absolutely terrify myself with a great book and I could really use some recommendations. Which books have been absolutely bone-chillingly terrifying for you? Which have been the books that have left you too afraid to turn the lights out; too afraid to move? Which books have made you feel too scared to turn the page?

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Takeaway2021 · 20/09/2024 21:01

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. A dystopian cannibal horror. It stays with you and the more you think about it the more you realise it could be a reality one day.

Bbq1 · 16/09/2024 00:35

Michelle Pavers novel's are so chilling with an almost immediate growing feeling of dread and suffocation.

elQuintoConyo · 14/09/2024 17:19

Oh yes, IT. Read it at 13yo, made me scared of drains!
Poe's The Mask of the Read Death is uber creepy - in fact, anything Poe.

Alexandra2001 · 13/09/2024 19:13

Stephen King's IT i found the comments in italics which was the childrens thoughts, very chilling, the book is nothing like the film.

The Dark Half is v good too, though not as scary, but very weird.

Deecaff · 13/09/2024 19:07

Engleby by Sebastian Faulks
After the Party by Cressida Connolly
Never let me Go by Kazuo Ishuguro

BlackSwan · 13/09/2024 15:51

Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates

Pinkarsedfly · 13/09/2024 05:37

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.
A Headfull of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay.
Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson (creepy short stories).

VittysCardigan · 13/09/2024 02:28

Saucery · 06/12/2019 07:47

Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley really got under my skin.

It's been made into a film,looking forward to watching

VittysCardigan · 13/09/2024 02:22

Heart shaped box by Joe Hill is hands down the scariest ghost story i have ever read.
Dark Matter & Thin Air by Michelle Paver are great but quite similar to each other. Dark Matter is the better of the two

redtrain123 · 11/09/2024 12:10

Secret Hunters - Fiennes - set in WWII

  • not chilling in gothic or evil way, but the book haunts me because it shows how ordernary Germans were powerless to do anything to help people in trouble. They literally had to watch those going to the camps and coukdn’t do anything to intervene. ‘Boy in striped pyjamas’ also gave me a similar feeling.
Denverdoll · 08/09/2024 13:01

The whistling, by Rebecca Netley. Superb, gothic and creepy but not gory.I could really feel the place . Going to read it again this autumn with hot chocolate and log fire.

Catsmere · 08/09/2024 07:29

Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Nothing like the stupid film they made of it, it was long, complex and terrifying.

Clawdy · 04/09/2024 08:55

Meant M R James, of course!

Clawdy · 04/09/2024 08:54

Yes, definitely. Images from those stories never leave you! And yes, the tv adaptations were so true to the stories. Especially "Lost Hearts "!

Greenteandchives · 03/09/2024 17:56

The Age of Miracles by Katherine Thompson Walker.
chosen from the library at random.
it’s about the gradual slowing down of the revolution of the earth, subsequent lengthening of days and the profound effect on life on earth and attempts to cope with it.
I still think about it. Partly because it felt like something that could actually happen and be quietly catastrophic, ending life on earth.

Dappy777 · 03/09/2024 15:21

Nobody beats M. R. James. I recently re-watched the TV adaptations of his stuff from the 1970s. They're almost as good as the books.

BigDahliaFan · 03/09/2024 07:43

Iamanaubergine · 05/12/2019 15:18

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. Really creepy, set in the Arctic circle in Winter.

I was trying to remember this one. Absolutely chilling.

WindFlower92 · 08/01/2020 15:28

Forgot to add - 'The Fall of the House of Usher' by Poe. Vivid descriptions!

WindFlower92 · 08/01/2020 15:27

My contribution - think it might be called 'No Way Down' by Graham Bowley. About the climb and descent of K2. Quite haunting as it's realistic!

WindFlower92 · 08/01/2020 15:23

Place marking to go through these properly later!

mynameiswah · 08/01/2020 15:18

The Shining. So scary I still haven't been able to finish it.

SunshineCake · 08/01/2020 14:32

I haven't read he thread yet so thus may have been mentioned by what comes to mind is The Mother's Tale by Camilla Noli. I sometimes reread books but will never read this one again.

Srictlybakeoff · 05/01/2020 22:40

Katharinblum I agree . Was initially enjoying Naomi’s room, but by the end I thought it was horrible.

Katharinblum · 04/01/2020 17:39

Just read naomi's room. Started off really well but just nasty at the end.

Helocariad · 04/01/2020 10:48

The Little Stranger really unnerved me, particularly the ending, and made me go straight back to the beginning of the book.
I love Slade House too, though didn't find it too unsettling, just very gripping and well written.

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