Can anyone help me find a very very scary book?

[Bishalisha]

Hey! I’m struggling to find what I’m after. I am very fussy though

• Id like to to be ‘can’t open my eyes in the night in case there’s a ghost/demon standing next to me’ kind of scary
• set in current time period +\- 20 years
• not sci fi, post apocalyptic or dystopian
• easy to read
• doesn’t involve violence or torture against children (I liked the sound of Naomi’s House until I read an Amazon review that said it was a bit much)

Thank you

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. So deeply unsettling and terrifying.

The Haunted Book by Jeremy Dyson. It's a collection of stories that become more and more disturbing as they go along and there was something that the end that gave me shivers.

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Michelle Paver - Dark Matter and Thin Air are both scary.

Nocturnes by John Connolly is a book of short stories which I found very unsettling and some quite scary/spooky.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It's a Dracula story from a different perspective and creepy as anything, I struggled to have the lights out. Brilliant read though.

I read Marianne Dreams as a girl and remember the dread 😆

I also found The Woman in Black terrifying. It’s too old for your criteria, but I still like In a Glass Darkly as a short story collection. The stories are well creepy.

I must try Amityville Horror. That film scared me so much! I lived in a place once that had the same kind of quarter circle windows at the edge of a central window, and I always ‘saw’ them as pink slits when I walked up in the dark, with the hideous ‘Laala laala’ kiddy singing in the background.

I read all the (then published) Stephen King, John Saul, Herbert books as a teenager, the scariest though for me was always The Omen series. Still freaked out when people talk with voices not their own (even drippy Prof Trelawney in HP gives me the heebs because she does it!)

Dark Matter left me wondering when the scary bit was going to happen (I've read so much love for it in these threads but it just left me a bit meh-sorry! As did The Silent Companions, also heavily recommended on scary-book threads)

Yes, second The Woman in Black. The film starring Daniel Radciffe made an absolute hash of it-don't be misled-read the book-very scary!

That said, the original film sticks very closely to the book and is super.

OP here after a name change.

Ok I see why no one recommended Dr Sleep by Stephen King but it was the only one in the library by him. I am slightly traumatised desperate to read the shining now though!

I’m going to need to order the books I’d like to read as my local library doesn’t seem to have any of the recommended ones. Damn overdraft!

Ooh I need to revisit James Herbert
I found the orphan choir by Sophie Hannah really scary. I read it in holiday and jumped out of my skin

Another vote for The Shining, so scary when I read it years ago that I dreaded going to the bathroom....

Two people have already mentioned this one but Dark Matter by Michelle Paver is a book I literally cannot have in the bedroom, it has to be shelved elsewhere. Ideally in another building. It is very well written though.

Was coming into say Pet Semetary but can see it’s been mentioned several times.

I love scary books, and have read most of Stephen King. I recommend ‘The Long Walk’ as it’s quite short, has a very strong sense of impending doom, and really stayed with me long after finishing it.

I also recently read a book called ‘The Passengers’ by John Marrs. Now, it is set in the (quite near) future so is a bit dystopian, but it was a great idea for a story and a real page turner. And it gave me nightmares!

Loving this thread have read some but not all.i really do enjoy Stephen king but feel they sometimes peter out towards the end although to be fair think this applies to the more r3cent ones.
Can I recommend The Silent Companions so so good was my read of the year last year very scary

Thanks to whoever suggest Apartment 16! And Cold Hill House by Peter James.

Bram Stokers Dracula is the only book to ever give me nightmares

You ruled out Naomi's Room, I know, but try Whispers in the Dark by the same author, Jonathan Aycliffe. It's TERRIFYING, and not to do with kids really.

@Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies yes, yes, yes to Empty World, I made my school teacher write a warning inside the cover about it causing nightmares. It contributed to me always sleeping with the radio on as a teenager, so I knew society was still functioning.

I love Richard Laymon, the best horror writer in my opinion. But I'd say if you find certain things too much don't read his Beast House trilogy.

I didn’t find Dark Matter scary at all:( Loved her writing and it was an atmospheric well written story but not frightening or unsettling at all for me... will try some of the others but think I’m too hardened to horror. Love it though

I can read most scary stuff without getting too freaked out, however Joe Hill Heart Shaped Box really made my skin crawl. Also NOS 4R2.

Christopher Fowler is a brilliant horror writer, Nychtophobia made me not want to turn the bedside lamp off. Haunted house story in sunny Spain, only not what you expect. His other books are great, especially his short story collections.

stella47 is it a short story? I got 33 pages from it?
I didn't find it scary

I’ve just finished Haunted by James Herbert after reading this thread. Quite enjoyed it but guessed the twist pretty early on (I’m usually very slow on the uptake). It was atmospheric but the characters didn’t come to life for me and it didn’t scare me at all.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Afraid by Jack Kilborn
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
The Ruins by Scott Smith

If I think of any more I will add them.

F