What book scared the pants off you? Am hankering after a scary read...

[MillyMoop]

Any suggestions?

Another vote for IT, Misery and Pet Semetary, also Birdman by Mo Hayder, if serial killer stories float your scary boat.

The Shining ...I woke up in the middle of the night screaming dp was like this and I made him throw the book away.

I have read all his others but this one really terrified me.

the woman in black. and the little stranger was bit scary too.

Pet Cemetary - the one and only Stephen King book I will ever read. I read it when I was about 15. I loved gory, spooky and scary films at the time and thought I'd give reading a scary book a go. OMG, it gave me bad dreams for ages and I still wouldn't read it again now either

Another vote for The House of Lost Souls here. So beautifully written too.

The Little Stranger was great, really atmospheric.

I am reading The City of Angels by Carlos Zafon - am halfway through, and it's gothic scary, lots of pitch black eyes and ghostly mists.

M R James - Room 13, and the one about the box tomb in the cathedral.
The Turn of the Screw

Another vote for Ramsey Campbell here, try 'Alone With the Horrors', a 'best of' short stories anthology.

Oh yeah Room 13! Love it. Also love 'Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You'. MR James is excellent and you can get cheap editions (Wordsworth Classics).

I re-read them every autumn, just about.

The Woman In Black scared me enough that I wouldn't read it without dp in the room.

1984 - read it with no preconceptions, just as another classic to tick off the list and loved it. It's generally a chilling tale but had me gasping out loud in places.

Also The Yellow Wallpaper, very short but with such a brilliant sinister twist that you'll never forget it.

I did like The Little Stranger but it didn't really scare me that much tbh

Let The Right One In - John Avjide Lindqvist (sp on both of the last names is probably wrong!)

There is a part within that book that is so bloody scary I was glad they didn't put it in the (Swedish) film version and I doubt they'll put it in the (possibly bland) US remake.

Honestly if the dark cellar setting wasn't enough what happens within is!

I've just found out about other books he has written so I'm just going to have to make an Amazon order!

Transgressions by Sarah Dunant

The Little Stranger. Not strictly a ghost story. Very atmospheric.

The Woman in Black - also the play is the scariest thing I've ever seen on stage.

The Little Stranger was a good book and I enjoyed reading it but I wasn't in the least bit scared by it (somewhat disappointed but probably quite relieved after reading the blurb on the flyleaf)

The Birds by Daphne du Maurier.

rats by dean koontz or any other of his books,I could'nt put it down even though I could'nt sleep because it was so scary.

Almost anything by Graham Masterton (not his sex guides obv... unless of course you've led a sheltered life) - particularly The Devils of D-Day, Ritual and The Manitou.

I don't get scared easily but I haven't read Pet Semetary so I looked it up on Wikepedia, just reading the plot outline gave me the creeps

If you like to books with plenty of gore then I would recommend anything by James Herbert.

I agree about some Daphne du Maurier books, the atmosphere is chilling.

Birdman is the only book to scare me.

I found 'Rosemary's Baby' seriously scary.

Another vote for the women in black - i still don't really like rocking chairs!
Also M.R. James ghost stories. The Judges House terrified me!!