What is the scariest book you've ever read??

[ElektraLOL]

For me it's got to be The Shining. It's way scarier than the book! Especially the bit with the Dog Man 😨

Mr Clarinet by Nick Stone - really dark, really grim and even though its been +10 years since I read it, I can still vividly remember scenes and descriptions.

Fantastic book (if you're happy to be scared shit less!). I immediately downloaded the sequel 😂

The Lottery, We Have Always Lived In The Castle and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson are all creepy as hell. Love them.

It’s not a horror as such but The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks stayed with me for a good few weeks after I finished it.

The Ghost Stories of MR James. Terrified me as a teenager, terrified when I read them again as an adult.

Definitely 'Gerald's Game' - film was OK but didn't do the book justice, it's terrifying.

I can remember reading the 'Chain Letter' books by Christopher Pike when I was a teenager and having to sleep with the light on, haha.

Oh god Dark Matter really scared me. And Dracula. Michelle Paver has a new book out which looks proper creepy...

The shining. Bar none.
My friend read it after me on holiday and had to hide it in a crisp packet under the bed at night it scared her that much.
Cracking book.

The Shining. I was about 16 and it freaked me out so much, I never dared leaving it open to prevent some evil lurking out of it. 😀

I hated Stephen King for years after (until about The Green Mile)

Not the story but the cover of this book gave me nightmares as a kid.

This thread has made me order a copy of Point Horror 13 for my teenage dd. My mum threw away all my books at university 😡 so many of them are now out of print. But I got a copy of one from World Of Books.

I've read The Fifth Child too but it just wasn't believable for me 😐 sometimes I struggle to suspend my disbelief.

I'm definitely going to read Salem's Lot. The book ending of The Shining is so much better than the film. I wonder if Dr Sleep (the sequel) is any good?

*whilst I was at university

The Signalman by Charles Dickens

elektra I haven’t read Dr Sleep, but my cousin (total literature buff and works at BFI) speaks very highly of it!

This thread has been very inspiring so thank you OP. I have been meaning to organise my books and make time for reading. I have a really old version of Salem’s Lot that I found on the street (with a pile of other books) it’s very creepy!!

The Exorcist terrified me and just the thought of it sets off my anxiety; the part where the demon said his name was Enoonmai means I am no one backwards still petrifies me I don't know why.
As a child I remember at school having read to us 'The Upper Berth' a short story. I had sleepless nights from that. Why a teacher thought it a suitable tale for ten year olds I'll never know. Though he also read us 'There is a Happy Land' which includes a part about child rape and murder.

I used to love the point horror and Christopher Pike books as a teen, I read every one in the school and local libraries and got some others as gifts. Bet my parents still have them, I’m going to ask

@DrDreReturns..never read Carrie for the same reason. My brother used to chase me around the house with my mum's copy, still can't even look at Sissy Spacek without shitting myself!

I don't get scared by books because I'm too hard but Dark Matter has been mentioned a few times and I have to say I really appreciate its beautiful descriptions of the Arctic and the contrast of the thing getting closer in the endless night. Algernon Blackwood's short The Wendigo is similar in its depiction of natural awe inhabited by the Other that's both out there and in here too; 'oh, my feet of fire ...'

Per cemetery scared the shit out of me!

The Clive Barker Books of Blood, some Shaun Hutson and James Herbert Books, The Dark?, scary stuff!

Nyctophobia by Christopher Fowler really scared me and is one of my favourite books ever. Also love The Dark by James Herbert.

The secret of Crickley hall by James Herbert really scared me. When the series came out it seemed familiar and I realised that I'd read it 🤦🏼‍♀️ it wasn't as good as the book.
It always amazes me how a book can scare you so much and leave you on edge.
As a kid I read The hairy hands by gene kemp, it terrified me 😆 I had to keep putting it away!
At secondary school I worked my way through the point horror and Christopher pike books, could get through one an evening (I wasn't very sociable 😂).
May have to re-read them.

Silence of the Lambs way before the film came out it scared the pants off me

I couldn't understand why everyone was saying Dark Matter until I realised it's a different author. I read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch which was more unbelievable than scary!

Whoever said Naomi's Room, I agree! I read a review that said how chilling it was. Started reading it and thought meh. By the end, I was THOROUGHLY chilled to the bone. Gruesome.

Some of Mo Hayder's books are super creepy. I recall reading Poppet at home alone and having to stop til someone came home.

Empty World - John Christopher. The thought of it still makes my flesh crawl, 30+ years after reading it.

The Gerald Durrell story was The Entrance - and like him I cover up mirrors! Really scary!