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

I'm quite a hardened horror fan, but The Haunting of Hill House was....uncomfortable in a way I couldn't put my finger on. Ignore the television series.

Joe Hill is bloody good - both Heart Shaped Box and Nos4R2

He also did a most marvellous short story collection. Give The Fireman a miss though, that was dire.

The Shining is excellent. Most of SK's earlier ones are....although even his later ones are all decent reads. At his worst he is still better than 90% of authors out there. 'It' is fantastic - he writes about childhood beautifully, although I know you said about no kids etc.

I like some of James Herberts stuff but he does write really bloody cringy sex scenes, all full of throbbing members etc.

Marianne Dreams sounds like a film I watched years ago called Paperhouse. Any connection?

House of Leaves is one of the few books that has really scared me.

Yes, Marianne Dreams is the basis for the film Paper house, and also a 70s kids' TV show called Escape Into Night

@medb22 and pps, late to the party but omg yes, Marianne Dreams is creepy af even now

First time I read it I think I was about 9 and an avid, wide reader. I remember I just had a little reading lamp on and it went dark around me - I was paralysed by the time I finished

The Loney.

Buy some Tena Lady while you're out too.

I'm loving this thread.

@Supersimkin I have that one in my bookshelf waiting to be read :)

Everything Stephen King ever wrote?

Another vote for Dark Matter - suspense in spades. Never been so tense!

I'm not a Stephen King fan myself - too much reliance on gore and swearing (I know - complaint is somewhat ironic coming from me), but I second "The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill, and that old classic "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is excellent, too (I was frightened to put the light off to go to sleep!).

Also- thank you for the tip-offs, everyone. i've made up a list, and I'm checking it twice

OP here- reading the shining!!!

Thanks for the reccommendation of The Elementals - just finished it and it was excellent. I'm amazed it's not been made into a film!

I have to say that I read Dark Matter and I really liked it but I didn’t find it that scary.

Dark Matter on on BBC sounds as an audiobook atm

I didn't find Dark Matter particularly scary and it felt derivative too.

MR James ghost stories for me!

I loved scaring myself with Marianne Dreams as a child. It really haunted me. I bought it for DS1 and he wasn't bothered by it at all when he read it aged 12. He clearly has no soul.

I read Dark Matter when I was snowed in one year, omg it was amazing!!

crabonastick how you getting on with the recommendations?

I found this thread today and as someone who loves a good scare but takes a LOT to be scared, and doesn’t like kids getting hurt in books either, I was wondering if any of the suggestions have hit the spot for you?

Is there anything on here thst isn't Dark Matter, Stephen King or dean koontz??

@1wokeuplikethis I’ve discovered that I’m not a massive fan of Stephen king to be honest. He’s just not doing it for me and I feel that by the time the real action starts, the book has finished!

I’m back to studying for for foreseeable so sadly reading for pleasure is on the back burner for a bit.

I keep meaning to order Marianne dreams but I’m not sure when I’m going to get a chance to read it now!

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