Can anyone recommend a good scary horror

[Ridingthegravytrain]

I love horror stories but it has been a long time since one has got under my skin. I like supernatural/ghost stories not monster/vampire/thriller types.

Have read (and love) all of King. Also like some koontz/Herbert/susan hill/graham masterton to name but a few. I have tried a few more recently like cj Tudor but found the stories lacking and ooorly written. Not keen on joe hill. I'm not very good at trying new authors so if anyone has read a new (or old) really spooky book I'd really love some recommendations.

Can't go wrong with Dracula. It's marvellous.

You could try House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill. It really got under my skin and I threw it away once I'd finished it, I found it really unsettling. Not sure if that's a recommendation or not!

Catriona Ward’s books.
The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean.
The Last Days Of Jack Sparks, by Jake Arnott.
Short stories by Stephen Duffy.
Short Stories by Simon Kurt Unsworth. also his Devil’s Detective and Devil’s Evidence.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver.

Thank you I will check all these out

I seem to recall I really enjoyed The Church of Dead Girls by Stephen Dobyns and A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice.
Also give a look at Freda Warrington, she has a few book series so if you do get into it, there are sequels.

It's an oldie, but The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty is so much better than the film.

So. Totally my genre.
the watchers by a m shine
Fantastic land is amazing ( I forget the author )
The book of accidents is good.
The last days of jack sparks
if u want horror weird and ghost then try The possession and the Anomaly by Michael rutger
anything by Nick Cutter.
anything by Alex north.
anything by c j Tudor
that’s just a starting point lol!!!

If u have Instagram it the clock app. Check out baker_reads. He reads this genre. And I always trust his reviews.

Try "this house is haunted" by Guy Lyon Playfair.

It's about the Enfield Poltergeist and the author lived with the family for ages documenting all the incidents, and the experiments they did to prove/disprove.

I'm a big King fan and whilst this is classed as non-fiction it really put the shits up me.

Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell

Have you read any of MR James books? If I could spell the last word I'd recommend Ghost Stories of an antiquarian(sp?). ,as a King/join a reader, they scared the shot out of me, and hardly anything happens, really.

agree - get an MR James ghost stories compilation.
Dark Matter (and Thin Air to some extent) by Michelle Paver also a good shout.
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss is pretty chilling.

My favourites have already been recommended so just wanted to second Catriona Ward (loved Sundial), and The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig. Adam Neville is always scary, and if you don’t mind a bit of mild gore, The Hunger by Alma Katsu is really good. It’s a fictional reimagining of the Donner Party’s journey across America (which I knew nothing about beforehand, but that didn’t seem to matter) with some supernatural scariness added in. In the same vein as The Terror by Dan Simmons.

@Paranoidandroidmarvin The Anomaly is on my TBR list, it looks great! Do you have any recommendations for a first Nick Cutter? I keep wavering between The Deep (love an underwater horror!) and The Troop (love a disease-y horror!)

Michael Rutger is a pseudonym of Michael Marshall Smith. I cannot recommend his books enough (MMS) and his short stories are gloriously disturbing.

Naomi's Room is not for the faint hearted

Magic Cottage, by James Herbert?

Try some Iian Rob Wright! most of them are available for free on Kindle Unlimited. Every time I finish one I want to email him and ask 'You okay Hun?'

E. Nesbit is a surprisingly good at short story horror.

If you like audio books check out the Encrypted Horror podcast. They are mainly old stories but the narrator has a few of his own original on there too. Definitely worth a listen
https://youtube.com/c/EnCryptedClassicHorror

Trying this now, it's included on audible premium

@DuaneDibbley I hope you like it! I thought it was brilliant!

I’m sure you’ve read it but rosemarys baby

Agree with House of Small Shadows by Adam Neville. I absolutely love him. Also agree with Michelle Paver. Love these threads OP as I’ve got some new ideas for my own reading lists 😀

I second Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe
The Year of the Witching - Alexis Henderson
Watchers - Dean Koontz