Recommend a good horror (or horrifying / disturbing) book

[makingitupaswegoon]

Any type of horror or horrifying fiction welcomed. Supranational horror (haunted houses, vampires, zombies etc), psychological horror, fantasy / sci-fi horror, crime / real life horror - you know the sort of thing.

Have read loads of Stephen King but think ‘The Long Walk’ is one of his best (maybe not horror but definitely disturbing). House of Leaves creeped me out too.I’ve read some horrifying dystopian fiction too (e.g. The Road). Loved ‘Let the Right One In’ (vampires). So I’ve got broad tastes ...

I always recommend Adam Nevill on these threads. Start with Apartment 16 or House of Small Shadows. I find his writing genuinely creepy. He’s ace

Oh, and I completely agree about The Long Walk! It’s a very underrated one of his. Duma Key is another good one that rarely gets much love.

Rachel Caine’s Stillhouse Lake series is brilliant. I love the series so much I had the 5th on preorder for when it was released.

Have you read any Graham Masterton? Walkers and Devils of D Day are my favourites, both very creepy.

Also try Ania Ahlborn, Brother is really good and I also loved Seed.

Sarah England writes quite good occult stuff.
Some of James Herbert's books are good (I really enjoyed 'the secret of Crickely Hall') but some are dire!
But I've yet to find a really good thriller!

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I really loved Dark Matter. Such a strong atmosphere that I could visualise the setting and the characters as if I was watching it on film.

I enjoyed James Herbert The Fog and others but while they also have a strong atmosphere didn’t find them remotely scary or unsettling. Still fun though.

I loved The Black House by Paul Theroux as well as The Girl On The Landing by Paul Torday. Both creepy.

These are well known but if you haven’t read them it’s worth checking them out

The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James
The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Little Stranger by Sarah Watters

For OP or anyone else who liked The Girl with All the Gifts, the author has a supernatural-horror-thriller-mystery series written before TGWATG, under the pen name Mike Carey: the Felix Castor series. The first book is called The Devil You Know.

King's "Long Walk" was originally written when he was very, very young. A teenager I think. I re-read it recently and thought it was outstanding.

@FancyPuffin

I always recommend Adam Nevill on these threads. Start with Apartment 16 or House of Small Shadows. I find his writing genuinely creepy. He’s ace

I had to throw The House of Small Shadows out when I finished it, I thought it was really disturbing!

Marking my place. I used to love Stephen king but find the apocalyptic endings a bit disappointing. Loved James Herbert too.

I lived the haunting of hill house and the little stranger.

I think the only book that scared me was pet semetary by stephen king. Read ot as a teenager, im 50 now and thinking about it disturbs me.

@FourteenthDoctor

I recently read one he did i think was called Portent?! That was quite good!

OP i presume you have read Doctor Sleep by now? That was a good read.

Edgar Allan Poe has a good collection of very macabre short stories.

Some of Roald Dahl's adult stuff is quite macabre.

HG Wells - The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau & of course War of the Worlds. All leaps and bounds better than any film adaptation of them.

@FourteenthDoctor
Yes, I enjoyed Doctor Sleep - I thought it was better than the reviews suggested. I've just bought The Outsider and I have ' The Last House on Needless Street' pre-ordered

www.amazon.co.uk/Last-House-Needless-Street-masterpiece/dp/1788166167/ref=sr_1_1?hvlocphy=9046891&hvnetw=g&keywords=the+last+house+on+needless+street&hvadid=453417374772&qid=1615798244&dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7yCBhDJARIsAMWFScPq43Gc9_vGZjjxVM_NpGY76C5yCSD-2g9oJrbGA3LzgvG5Rr8AOL8aAt96EALw_wcB&hydadcr=24461_1816156&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=kwd-939888747983&adgrpid=105226212425&hvrand=9948598964904589435&sr=8-1

I think I worked my way through dystopian fiction last year, had a wee break with classic literature over the depths of winter, and am now in full horror mode .... dread to think what it says about the stage of my mental health

Ha i love a bit of dystopian fiction
There's a picture of me reading 1984 at the kitchen table very solemnly faced aged about 12-13.
No wonder im so messed up haha!!

Fruity polos, the devils of d day is also my favourite Masterson, really creepy and I’ve read a lot of weird stuff!

I loved The Long Walk too. I read it as a teenager and it has stayed with me. I second the recommendation of Duma Key, if you haven't read it already. I found it scary, similar scariness to Dark Matter, for people that have read that.

My scariest was the book of the shining by Stephen, so you've probably read it. Thinner I love. Amityville horror book is so scary ( if you haven't seen the film)

Dark Matter was great - not sure whether Thin Air was written before or after but they did feel very similar to me - Dark Matter being the better book - really atmospheric!

I know it’s an oldie but my favourite horror is probably Watchers by Dean Koontz.

The silent companions - Laura Purcell, is quite a disturbing read.
Another one by Michelle Paver is Wakenhyrst, it's not like 'thin air' and 'dark matter', it's quite Gothic. (I made the mistake of reading those two close together, they're very similar)

For haunted house stories I like Darcy coates, they're quite light reading, more ghosts than gore but quite atmospheric and I thoroughly enjoy them.
I've just read one of hers - 'Voices in the snow' which is a bit different from her normal stuff and put me in mind of some of Dean Koontz' better books.

flavabobble. I've been wracking my brain trying to remember The Silent Companions so I could recommend it. It has a wonderful brooding feel to it. Really enjoyed it. I'm going to check out Darcy Coates. Not come across her name and like some of Dean Koontz less daft books. Also didn't realise Michelle Paver had another book apart from Thin Air and Dark Matter which are so similar as you say. Thanks for these. I'm off to look them up now

If you want a mash-up of classic and horror, have you read Rosemary's Baby (Ira Levin). Bridges the gap nicely between classic lit and disturbing horror (if you're looking for a way back from the dark side!)

Other classics but disturbing books are John Wyndham (particularly Midwich Cuckoos. Day of the Triffids etc) and John Fowles The Collector. Not out and out horror, just seriously disturbing and creepy.

I clicked on this to see if Dark Matter was mentioned because it always is ...except....I read it on the back of one of these threads and had to check I was reading the "right" Dark Matter because I didn't find it scary or atmospheric at all! Hey ho.

I didn't mind Silent Companions but found LP's Bone China much more atmospheric.

The Omen books back in the day were bloody scary.

@SOLINVICTUS
yes I nearly ordered the Dark Matter by Blake Crouch by accident!

www.fantasticfiction.com/c/simon-clark/ has some really creepy novels. I've only read his stand alone stuff but King Blood haunted me for days.

Also the Ruins freaked me out (and I say that as a horror writer 😂😂)

Deadkidsongs by Toby Litt - Unusual writing style and more on the psychological horror end of the spectrum

I bought Dark Matter and read it after seeing it on this thread. I finished it quite quickly because I am off sick at the moment so lots of time to read.

I enjoyed it and lived the atmosphere, but it wasn't scary at all which was a disappointment! It was creepy more than scary.