What's the scariest book you've read?

[imaginative]

My two are 'the woman in Black' by Susan Hill - sooo creepy, and much more recently, and probably frightened me a bit more - 'What Laura Saw' by Sarah King. This one has a couple of really great twists and a very sympathetic lead character.

So which books scared you the most? I am looking for another one to read alongside 'The State We're In'. I like to have a couple of books on the go depending on my mood. Thanks

[LabradorMama]

Pet Sematary by Stephen King. I read The Woman In Black twice and I've still yet to understand why people consider it scary

[lemisscared]

pet semetary by Stephen King. i read it twice as a teen and couldn't finish it the second time. i cant read scary stuff now.

[imgoodatpointless]

lightening by Dean Koontz

I was convinced someone was in the house, becuase it was lightening when i was reading the book. I went downstairs with a vase......just to check it out!!!!

[cruikshank]

I found The Stand gripping as opposed to scary, but then everyone gets scared by different things. Salem's Lot is the Stephen King book that scared me the most, which is weird because that kind of film doesn't freak me out at all, really - I enjoy the jumps and jolts and shocks, but my mind doesn't dwell on things the way it does with proper ghost stories.

The Orphanage traumatised me, big time. No way am I ever going to watch that again. Not because it was scary, but just because it was so fucking horrible and tragic.

[scotchmincepie]

Island of Dr Moreau. Read it quite young and scared me do much. Books read when young might be a factor.

[marshmallowpies]

JoyceDivision - I think the Little Stranger had a growing sense of unease that really bothered me, every time something odd happened it then got followed by something mundane and back to normal life, which kind of lulls you into a false sense of security.

Then by the ending it wasn't the sense of a big twist, or shocking ending, just a slow reveal of something that was there all along. It really left me disturbed and upset, though a bit cheated that there (SPOILER) wasn't a 'ghost' as such.

House of Leaves I'm never going to read - I read a synopsis on Wikipedia and that was enough for me!

[imaginative]

Loads here that I haven't heard of. Many thanks for all the replies. I'm going to work my way through them.

[Eliza22]

The Shining. When I was 13. REDRUM REDRUM REDDDRUMMM!

Scary.

[Layter]

Cycle of the Warewolf by Stephen King, illustrations by Berni Wrightson.

Looks like a beguiling children's book and then it bites you in the bottom.

After reading this I stopped reading horror as I now have an unholy dread of werewolves which I sort of know ARE NOT REAL!

[Cheesymonster]

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.

[Mocheenee]

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).

[HoldenCaulfield80]

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.

[TheEagle]

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

[imnottoofussed]

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

[SnotandBothered]

TheEagle - yes, it's pretty flipping scary.

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

HTH :)

[TheEagle]

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!

[SnotandBothered]

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?

[TheEagle]

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

[Skeppers]

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.

[Indantherene]

Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card <a class="break-all" href="//www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Boys-Orson-Scott-Card-ebook/dp/B00A3BO796/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422184706&sr=1-1&keywords=orson%20scott%20card%20lost%20boys&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">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.

[Whereisegg]

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

[Thurlow]

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.

[imaginative]

Supernatural stuff scares the wits out of me. I don't know if it's real or not, but it really gives me goose bumps.

[MyFriendlyDaemon]

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.

[MyFriendlyDaemon]

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.