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[Slayven]

Lee and Carlton Mellick came to my mind first thing.

I can't even get pass some of Mellick's titles.

 

[LocoMrPollock]

I can't even get pass some of Mellick's titles.

Haunted Vagina was great.

 

[BertramCooper]

Twilight is the most horrifying book I've ever read.

It was so terrifying that I had to quit after 150 pages.

 

[Hilbert]

I can't even get pass some of Mellick's titles.

You should read apeshit. It's pretty amazing.

 

[Ultratech]

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

 

[Slayven]

You should read apeshit. It's pretty amazing.

Backlogged, I want to read his D&D homage first.

 

[Jenga]

Haunted Vagina was great.

i actually kinda wanna grab that

 

[Blue Ninja]

Some of the short stories in Stephen King's "Everything Eventual" really got me. "The Man in the Black Suit" in particular had me going. "Autopsy Room Four" got me good, too, but that wasn't so much scary as just tense. :lol

 

[JoeBoy101]

Just FYI, Horns isn't scary. It's badass and dark, but it's not scary. It's more of a twisted revenge story with a really well done but simple tragic love story at it's core.

I still recommend it completely though. As Neil Gaiman told Joe Hill on Twitter a few months ago that Horns is "perfect" with not a single "wasted word".

I actually liked Heart Shaped Box more than Horns, but both were good books. HSB had much better horror tones to it and based on both, Joe Hill may not have the issue with endings that his Dad has. Loved the finale of Horns.

Some of the short stories in Stephen King's "Everything Eventual" really got me. "The Man in the Black Suit" in particular had me going. "Autopsy Room Four" got me good, too, but that wasn't so much scary as just tense. :lol

I love the short story of 'Everything's Eventual'. Always thought it would make a good basis for a TV show.

 

[rocksteady1983]

you know what forget lovecraft, king, etc, just read this:

I'm on chapter 6 of this book. So far its entertaining. I'm still trying to get used to the 1900's style writing but its not too difficult. So far I'd say its more creepy/weird than scary; but that's just based off the first 6 chapters, so we'll see.

 

[Zombie James]

Finished House on the Borderland a couple of days ago. I liked it,

Spoiler

even though the time moving really fast/flying through outer space section went on for too long.

 

[bengraven]

I was once stuck in a car for an impromptu 4 hour drive that was so abruptly planned I didn't bring anything to entertain me. (my mother showed up at my house to announce my sister who lives 4 hours away had given birth and we decided to go immediately). It was the middle of the night and I found a half dozen paperbacks in my mom's trunk and they were all cheesy mainstream fair.

That said, I picked the least cheesy looking, "The Taking" by Dean Koontz. I fucking hate DK - I read a couple of his books in the late 90s and they were atrocious. (I had been working in an airport and only had airport novels that passengers had left behind to read some nights and that's how I read a couple DK books). That said, the only thing appealing to me as a horror fan and geek was The Taking.

I will say the first 1/2 is easily one of the scariest things I've ever read. Other than the semen-flavored rain, that is. Dean Koontz did a great job with the oppressive "are they out there in the dark?" feeling of fear. The scene where they drive to the neighbor's house, all the lights are off and they just have this feeling that they shouldn't go inside because whatever is terrifying them is already inside the house and has killed the family.

I was actually scared sitting in the passenger seat on a long, rainy drive through barren midwestern farm country.

If you were creeped out by Signs, even if you hate DK, you should check the book out. Just quit the second they get to the dog, something that's fair advice for any Koontz book.

I actually liked Heart Shaped Box more than Horns, but both were good books. HSB had much better horror tones to it and based on both, Joe Hill may not have the issue with endings that his Dad has. Loved the finale of Horns.

Yeah, Horns ended so well that it gave me man tears and my first reaction was "this is NOT a Stephen King ending". The main character didn't turn out to be an alien and no one sat down and ate an ear of corn. In fact, it actually read more like a more mature, focused and less repetitive Chuck Palahniuk book.

It's a heart-breaking and entertaining read.

I still need to read Heart Shaped Box.

 

[oatmeal]

When I was ten this book freaked me the fuck out, more then any other goosebumps book. The only one in the entire series that actually scared me.

If this was the nostalgia thread, I would have lost.

That was my first book in the series, but certainly not the last. My favorite was One Day At Horrorland.

The TV series is my reason for living.

 

[devenger]

This isn't a book that will make you afraid to go to the bathroom at night, which is what I think the OT is asking for.

This is the book that will make you afraid every day, of every news report, every headline you read, every meme that someone spits out at you. I think about this damn book every day.

 

[Davedough]

I like seeing The House of Leaves recommended as its a fascinating book for anyone who enjoys reading to give a try. Its not a book for everyone and I really wouldn't put it in the "scary" category, more to the creepy side of things than anything.

I still find myself thinking about those endless staircases and the impossibly black hallways and get chills.

That being said, as others have surmised in their suggestions... it's not an easy book to get into. You really have to take your time with it due to not only the sporadic narrative, but also the insane delivery of the story. Without spoiling anything, the book's premise is to be a compilation of notes and journals found in an abandoned apartment, if I remember correctly. The author claims that they were published in the order in which they were found. This makes for a lot of flipping back and forth to keep some of the story elements straight.

 

[zeioIIDX]

Two of my all-time favorite books actually scared the shit out of me. House of Leaves and The Shining. I remember reading The Shining back in high school...I'd sit up in bed late on a school night while the rest of the house was silent. I had to have my back against the wall. I remember being so scared a few times that the only thing I could do is continue reading...out of fear of getting up to turn the lights out as well as the impending nightmares I was about to dream regarding the book.

As far as House of Leaves, I was so immersed in the thing that I remember reading it while on the Metra during my commute to DePaul in Chicago. Busy-ass train, broad daylight...you'd think that would be pretty distracting. Nope.

 

[kyubajin]

Donovan's Brain

 

[freenudemacusers]

I'm sure there are a lot of good recs in this thread, but this one takes the cake for me. Very unsettling.

HP Lovecraft is more creepy than scary, IMO. The Dunwich Horror is kind of scary, though.

 

[JoeBoy101]

Yeah, Horns ended so well that it gave me man tears and my first reaction was "this is NOT a Stephen King ending". The main character didn't turn out to be an alien and no one sat down and ate an ear of corn. In fact, it actually read more like a more mature, focused and less repetitive Chuck Palahniuk book.

It's a heart-breaking and entertaining read.

OMG! That is a perfect encapsulation of what goes wrong with Stephen King's endings! Truly, a King reader.

I still need to read Heart Shaped Box.

When the better books of getting the reader to be empathetic and cheer for a main character who is an outright dickhead asshole.

I like seeing The House of Leaves recommended as its a fascinating book for anyone who enjoys reading to give a try. Its not a book for everyone and I really wouldn't put it in the "scary" category, more to the creepy side of things than anything.

I still find myself thinking about those endless staircases and the impossibly black hallways and get chills.

That being said, as others have surmised in their suggestions... it's not an easy book to get into. You really have to take your time with it due to not only the sporadic narrative, but also the insane delivery of the story. Without spoiling anything, the book's premise is to be a compilation of notes and journals found in an abandoned apartment, if I remember correctly. The author claims that they were published in the order in which they were found. This makes for a lot of flipping back and forth to keep some of the story elements straight.

My only issue with House is that the 'margin' story with Johnny is very bland and downright silly at times, with only a few bright (good) points. Luckily, the bulk of the book is the main story about the House which is extremely good and scary. Would've liked the book much more if they presented that as the main story. As it stands, its still a good read. Really liked how they played with the margins and type later in the book.

 

[Like the hat?]

Nothing I've really read has ever left me more unsettled than the scene in The Road where

Spoiler

they go into the locked cellar and find those people that re basically being used for meat.

 

[rocksteady1983]

Finished House on the Borderland a couple of days ago. I liked it,

Spoiler

even though the time moving really fast/flying through outer space section went on for too long.

Is it worth my time to continue? I'm looking for SCARY. Also, just a hunch

Spoiler

is the house, the house of satan?

 

[Turners]

When I was ten this book freaked me the fuck out, more then any other goosebumps book. The only one in the entire series that actually scared me.

This. It also freaked the fuck out of me when I was a kid. There was also another one that featured 3 stories. When I find it Ill tell you of it. Fuck, Ill give it to you for free OP

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

The author will tell you that it's a love story, and it holds up as such. But it's also unnerving on a primal level so long as you can -- and a lot of internet people struggle with this -- avoid perceiving the author's wordery as some kind of challenge to your own intellect. One of the central characters is kind of a douche, and he comes across appropriately.

It scared me when I read it years ago, and you could say that it's still scaring me these days.

I'm about 100 pages in and

Spoiler

I find the kid annoying as hell. I just wanna read about the House and find out what's going on.. It's like every time it switches back to that kids journal I find myself putting it down.

 

[Slappers Only]

Thanks, SpartanForce, for recommending The House on the Borderland. I found the first 16 chapters to be positively exhilarating. Especially when

Spoiler

the Swine-Things attack the house

. So much tension. That part kicked ass. But, man, chapters 16 through 22 can just go to jail. All that agonizing detail about the evolutionary trajectory of the cosmos felt like some sort of filibuster that was challenging me to stop reading the book. My reading OCD is the only thing that stopped me from skipping all that crap entirely. Thankfully, I’ve finally cleared that section, and I’m hoping for an interesting ending for the characters I cared about.

But yeah, this has been a great read.

 

[wolfmat]

http://books.google.com/books?id=gEoHAAAAQAAJ

 

[Mew2]

Passage to Dawn

Great book in the epic Forgotten Realms series

 

[Philia]

The first review on amazon on this book made me giggle....

"Palahniuk, during the current book tour, was reading the first story called `Guts' and to date there have been 63 people who have passed out with many people being injured falling into book cases in book stores. This book will at times, turn your stomach, but will give you an understanding of the darkest side of human nature. "

Is it really that intense? Seem's a bit extreme.

I have to admit, I read Guts and it made me really queasy and dizzy afterwards.

just literary gore porn with vapid entertainment value

like everything else palahniuk writes

It's a disgusting story and will make your stomach turn.

As for a scary book, Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill had some decently spooky scenes.

Yeah same. Just thinking about Guts makes me a bit queasy. It's not scary, though, just disgusting.


Also, I will second House of Leaves and Heart-Shaped Box. They are both great books. House of Leaves is more disturbing than scary, but I still loved it.

Guts is one of the very few written things that has made me physically sick while/after reading it. So yeah, I do not doubt the authenticity of that quote. I honestly think reading it will make you a bit worse person, because only thing you can take out of it, is some loss of faith in people.

I for one definitely passed out (first time ever!) at reading that fucking story. The mere minute I got to the swimming pool... part, my stomach just fucking sank and my legs felt just weak. I swiveled to the wastebasket feeling the urge to hurl except I seriously passed out from there. That fucking story isn't a joke to read about. Its that disgusting and harrowing... it just makes you feel your own weak mortality right then.

And to the last quote, nah. Just that some people are really disgusting, that's all I can take from it. (ie all kinds of fetish porn that exists.)

 

[Eighty Deuce]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnbYcB9ctu8

 

[Col WillieSharp]

I know I'll hear shit for this, but Fear, by L Ron Hubbard, scared the hell out of me, when I was a teenager. Disclaimer: I am not an Scientanythingologist, or a fan of cult-like behavior.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

Came to post this. It made me question darkness.

 

[adamsappel]

As has been said, don't read House of Leaves electronically, it plays with type and layout in ways I can't see being faithful on a screen.

I have always found Ramsey Campbell to be a scary writer. Nazareth Hill is good:

http://www.amazon.com/Nazareth-Hill-Ramsey- Campbell/dp/0812539303/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2