Please recommend some reallllllllllllllly scary novels

[Nikhar]

I love being scared. I wonder if novels could do that. So, please recommend some insanely absolutely terrifying novels, that would make you jump under your quilts with your heads beneath the pillows.

And yeah, no or minimal gore and sex.

Thanks.

[mortalterror]

100 Pliny the Younger- Letter to Sura
1200 Marie de France- Bisclavret (The Werewolf)
1764 Horace Walpole- The Castle of Otranto
1766 Pu Songling- Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
1772 Jacques Cazotte- The Devil in Love
1787 Friedrich Schiller- The Ghost-Seer
1794 Ann Radcliffe- The Mysteries of Udolpho
1796 Matthew Gregory Lewis- The Monk
1798 Samuel Taylor Coleridge- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
1816 E.T.A. Hoffman- The Sandman
1818 Mary Shelley- Frankenstein
1820 Johann Ludwig Tieck- Wake Not the Dead
1820 Charles Maturin- Melmoth the Wanderer
1820 Washington Irving- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1821 Charles Nodier- Smarra
1825 Tsuruya Nanboku IV- Yotsuya Kaidan
1835 Nikolai Gogol- Viy
1835 Nathaniel Hawthorne- Young Goodman Brown
1836 Theophile Gautier- The Dead Leman
1837 Prosper Mérimée- The Venus of Ille
1846 Edgar Allan Poe- The Cask of Amontillado
1849 Alexander Dumas, pere- One Thousand and One Ghosts
1855 Robert Browning- Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
1859 George Eliot- The Lifted Veil
1859 Edward Bulwer-Lytton- The House and the Brain
1866 Charles Dickens- The Signal Man
1872 Sheridan Le Fanu- Green Tea
1874 Paul Feval, pere- Vampire City
1876 Erckmann-Chatrian- The Man-Wolf
1885 Robert Louis Stevenson- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1887 De Maupassant- The Horla
1888 Rudyard Kipling- The Phantom Rickshaw
1890 Arthur Machen- The Great God Pan
1890 Oscar Wilde- The Picture of Dorian Gray
1892 Arthur Conan Doyle- Lot 249
1892 Charlotte Perkins Gilman- The Yellow Wallpaper
1893 Ambrose Bierce- The Death of Halpin Frayser
1895 Robert W. Chambers- The King in Yellow
1896 H.G. Wells- The Island of Dr. Moreau
1897 Bram Stoker- Dracula
1898 Henry James- The Turn of the Screw
1902 W.W. Jacobs- The Monkey's Paw
1904 M.R. James- Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
1904 Lafcadio Hearn- Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things
1907 Algernon Blackwood- The Willows
1907 Horacio Quiroga- The Feather Pillow
1908 William Hope Hodgson- The House on the Borderland
1908 Perceval Landon- Thurnley Abbey
1909 Gaston Leroux- The Phantom of the Opera
1911 Oliver Onions- The Beckoning Fair One
1914 Gustav Meyrink- The Golem
1914 S. Ansky- The Dybbuk
1923 Maurice Level- Those Who Return
1926 H.P. Lovecraft- The Call of Cthulhu
1930 William Faulkner- A Rose For Emily
1934 Isak Dinesen- Monkey
1943 Fritz Leiber- Conjure Wife
1943 Jean Ray- Malpertuis
1946 Ray Bradbury- The Small Assassin
1951 Julio Cortazar- House Taken Over
1954 Richard Matheson- I am Legend
1959 Shirley Jackson- The Haunting of Hill House
1967 Ira Levin- Rosemary's Baby
1971 William Peter Blatty- The Exorcist
1973 Anne Rice- Interview with a Vampire
1977 Stephen King- The Shining
1979 Peter Straub- Ghost Story
1988 Thomas Harris- The Silence of the Lambs
1991 Ramsey Campbell- Alone with the Horrors
1996 Thomas Ligotti- The Nightmare Factory
2006 Max Brooks- World War Z

[Emmy Castrol]

I really liked Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu.

He hits all the right chill spots and Madame de la Rougierre is one of the most sinister female characters I've come across!

[Nikhar]

Thanks MortalTerror for such an extensive list. But it would be greater if you could suggest two or three scariest of 'em all. Thanks. :)

Thanks Emmy. :)

[Lokasenna]

That's quite an extensive list, Mortalterror (you are aptly named!), though I wouldn't describe Bisclavret (or indeed anything by Marie de France) as a horror story.

One of my favourite authors is H. P. Lovecraft, who is one of the great fathers of modern horror. Short stories are his particular thing, so I'd give them a whirl.

[kasie]

M R James - do not read Whistle and I'll Come to You alone in the house at night, especially in a room with two beds in it.

[Lokasenna]

Ooh, another one that just sprang to mind (and, unusally for me, of a modern bent) is Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. It's been quite a few years since I last read it, but I remember it being a very effective horror story. I went to see the stage play of it a wee while back, and found myself literally on the edge of my seat, even though I knew what was going to happen!

[mal4mac]

... long list


I've haven't read many on that list, and those certainly didn't have me jumping under a quilt... more stifling a yawn (Frankenstein...) or admiring the poetry (Ancient Marriner...)

So which are the scariest on that list mortalterror?

The last few chapters of "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy are horrific ... left me frozen to the chair in anguish rather than jumping under a quilt, though.

I'm still getting over "Barnaby Rudge" by Dickens (what's that noise outside :-(( ...) The chapters where the rioting gets going might have you barricading the door before you jump under a quilt... for a start, it has a talking bird that was an inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe's creature, but that's hardly the beginning of the scariness...

There's a murderer in pursuit of a single mother, several really nasty, scary rioters, two damsel's stolen into the night as their mansion burns down (bounders!), a father tied to his chair by a rioting son as his house, business, and mind are destroyed, several hangings or potential hangings... Is this Dickens greatest novel? It's surely his scariest... all in all, a riot...

[MarkBastable]

It by Stephen King is pretty terrifying.

[Veho]

I found The Fellowship of the Ring scary but maybe that's just me. Also, The Road by McCarthy.

[Blasarius '33]

I heartily second Lovecraft's short stories and novellas--beautiful prose and pretty scary, too. At the Mountains of Madness is a favorite. If you enjoy him you might also try Algernon Blackwood. Similar prose and both authors were big into letting the reader's imagination work.

Still, the book that scared me the most was Pet Sematary. It was in 1989, I was almost twenty, and I still can't believe how much it terrified me.

[Syd A]

In Gerlad's Game, Stephen King delved into psychological terror and thought processes. I can't say he did a great job, but this novel represents a higher level of writing and descriptions of terror than his older, big-bad-thing-is-after-me nonsense.

[Joe and Karen]

The Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy is the most terrifying novel I have ever read. But what I find most terrifying are books like Blood Meridian and Moby Dick--novels that suggest a universe that is uncaring or even insidious. The fear of looking up in the sky at night and realizing the endless abyss of space between the stars. It is novels that show me the irresolvable and unknowable and uncomprehending face of God and Time that scare me the most.

Great list, by the way, Mortalterror.

[Seasider]

I found The Small Assassin by Ray Bradbury very scary...put me off babies I can tell you!!

[kasie]

Ooh, another one that just sprang to mind (and, unusally for me, of a modern bent) is Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. It's been quite a few years since I last read it, but I remember it being a very effective horror story. I went to see the stage play of it a wee while back, and found myself literally on the edge of my seat, even though I knew what was going to happen!

Her novella The Man in the Picture is very creepy too.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

One of my favourite authors is H. P. Lovecraft, who is one of the great fathers of modern horror. Short stories are his particular thing, so I'd give them a whirl.
:iamwithstupid: Something about Lovecraft really creeps me out, more than any other author.

[seva]

Tell no one by Harlam Coben.
I am reading this book right now.... scaryyyy

[mortalterror]

I've haven't read many on that list, and those certainly didn't have me jumping under a quilt... more stifling a yawn (Frankenstein...) or admiring the poetry (Ancient Marriner...)

So which are the scariest on that list mortalterror?

Honestly, I'm more inclined to laugh at horror stories than to be scared by them. The kind of thing that gives me chills is true crime. Stuff that can really happen is way scarier than the wolfman. You read the bios of certain serial killers and what they did to their victims and you can have a rough night or two.

[Emmy Castrol]

Honestly, I'm more inclined to laugh at horror stories than to be scared by them. The kind of thing that gives me chills is true crime. Stuff that can really happen is way scarier than the wolfman. You read the bios of certain serial killers and what they did to their victims and you can have a rough night or two.

I have to say that I find the supernatural more terrifying than murder stories or serial killers (although Uncle Silas is not a supernatural story). The only thing scary about serial killers is the fact that they are crazy... and thought of the mentally ill will give me the same chills. But the fact that the supernatural world remains so unknown is what makes me scared.

H.P. Lovecraft is very good, I think it's the air of despair that surrounds most of his protagonists. He has grasped, better than any other horror writer, what true evil is about.

[Calidore]

Is that (no or minimal) (gore and sex) or (no or minimal gore) and sex? :-)

It was okay, but the reveal of the antagonist at the end blew it for me. That began a string of good-to-great King novels with crappy endings. As a teenager, The Shining worked for me all the way through.

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is also excellent.

seva: I've never read Tell No One, but the movie was tremendous. Have you seen it, and how does it compare with the book?

[Nikhar]

Thanks a lot to everyone for their replies. :)

I'll see if I can get any of these at the nearest book shop (very unlikely given the pathetic little collection that they have).

And about the kind of terror, no, I am not talking about the terror that's injected into you when you talk of the vastness of space, your puniness, the rapid rate of technology etc etc. I found 'HitchHiker's Guide To Galaxy' scary in that regard. Though I don't think I'll have many supporters on that.

Anyways, I am talking about the fear that the supernatural would infuse into you. Something that would give you the absolute chills.

And about "It"...I wikied it yesterday and found out that one of the televesion series that scared the you-know-what out of me was a copy of the novel. I wonder how scary would the original be if the copy was sooooo terrifying.

And... any particular short story by H.P. Lovecraft?

[billl]

And about "It"...I wikied it yesterday and found out that one of the televesion series that scared the you-know-what out of me was a copy of the novel. I wonder how scary would the original be if the copy was sooooo terrifying.

The novel was great (years ago, when I was around high school/college age...), in my opinion--except for the last 10 or 20 percent, but that's normal for Stephen King, the endings are often considered weak by many of his readers. STILL, if you don't remember the TV series very well, IT is a very creepy and scary book.

But if you haven't seen The Shining, and you haven't read it, well, that's a pretty solid book by King. Extremely scary, and probably one of his strongest (if not THE strongest) from beginning to end. Again, though, this advice I'm passing on is coming from the 17-22 year-old version of me.

[Nikhar]

The novel was great (years ago, when I was around high school/college age...), in my opinion--except for the last 10 or 20 percent, but that's normal for Stephen King, the endings are often considered weak by many of his readers. STILL, if you don't remember the TV series very well, IT is a very creepy and scary book.

But if you haven't seen The Shining, and you haven't read it, well, that's a pretty solid book by King. Extremely scary, and probably one of his strongest (if not THE strongest) from beginning to end. Again, though, this advice I'm passing on is coming from the 17-22 year-old version of me.

I havent read or seen The Shining at all. And I'm hearing (or rather reading) about the awesumness of the book from many guys. So I think I'll start with 'The Shining' first.

And I'm 18.... so your advice should suit me perfect. :)

[Lokasenna]

And... any particular short story by H.P. Lovecraft?

Well, The Call of Cthulhu is probably his most famous story, but other really effective horror stories include The Color Out of Space, The Music of Eric Zann, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, At the Mountains of Madness, The Rats in the Walls and Herbert West.

[mal4mac]

... The Road by McCarthy.

I'll second that, though I thought Blood Meridian was even scarier.

Another recommendation - Nemesis by Philip Roth - he really captures the scariness of a polio outbreak before the vaccine.

I find novels scarier when they have some basis in reality. Viruses, nuclear weapons, and gunmen are scarier than vampires 'cause they actually exist and they *really* might get you...

[Lokasenna]

I find novels scarier when they have some basis in reality. Viruses, nuclear weapons, and gunmen are scarier than vampires 'cause they actually exist and they *really* might get you...

Well, that's certainly one way of looking at it. I have to say, I think one of the most effective techniques a horror writer can use is to make the reader question whether or not something exists. I think it's part of the reason why Henry James' The Turn of the Screw is one of the most famous and celebrated horror novels. We are never privy to the reality of the situation, and James never attempts to answer it.

[Caliban's Isle]

I'll second that, though I thought Blood Meridian was even scarier.

Another recommendation - Nemesis by Philip Roth - he really captures the scariness of a polio outbreak before the vaccine.

I find novels scarier when they have some basis in reality. Viruses, nuclear weapons, and gunmen are scarier than vampires 'cause they actually exist and they *really* might get you...

Going along with this line of thinking, Richard Preston's The Hot Zone is probably the most famous, and most terrifying, book about a virus outbreak. It's not great literature by any means, but it's compelling.

[optimisticnad]

Twilight is quite scary no? :ciappa:

Susan Hill's 'Woman in Black' always freaked me out.

[Propter W.]

You might like James Herbert. Dracula has some good terror/horror passages. Poe has some short stories that might strike terror into your heart.

My girlfriend just told me to mention Rosemary's baby by Ira Levin. I haven't read it myself.

[Calidore]

Except the OP requested not so much gore and sex, and Herbert puts lots of both, especially gore, in his books. However, he did write a couple of pretty good ghost novels about a kind of hard-boiled spiritual debunker. Just avoid '48, his attempt at a macho post-epidemic dystopian action novel, like the plague (sorry). It's godawful.

It the miniseries was okay, but doesn't really compare with the novel. They had to cut 1000-page+ novel down to a four-hour TV movie, so most of the character-developing side stories--King's specialty--get dumped. Also, then you get to see the actual antagonist at the end, which is even worse than reading about it. I kept expecting Graham Chapman to appear and try to stop it because "now it's got silly."

On the other hand, the out-of-work TV actors they hired as the leads were good ones, and Tim Curry as an evil clown is a major win.

[sparkly buttons]

Seconding the Shirley Jackson, not a novel but her "Lottery" is SO creepy... not in a scary way but just in an unsettle-you-for-days way...

[billl]

Whoa, I didn't realize about the not-so-much-gore-and-sex qualification. I can't remember how much gore and sex The Shining has in it.

[Chris 73]

Again with the Shirley Jackson. The Haunting Of Hill House. Excellent movie adaptation as well.

Salems Lot-Stephen King. Found that very creepy. My favourite by King.

Winter's Bone-Daniel Woodrell. The tension is created by the simplest of means. Create a believable and loveable central character then put her in danger. Lots of it.

[The Atheist]

In Gerlad's Game, Stephen King ...

If you're looking for one that has minimal sex, that isn't it. Aside from the paedophilic incest scenes, there are some pretty heavy BDSM scenes at the start.

Stick to It, which only has a little bit of underage sex.

:D


Seconding the Shirley Jackson, not a novel but her "Lottery" is SO creepy... not in a scary way but just in an unsettle-you-for-days way...

Seconded!

[Emmy Castrol]

Well, The Call of Cthulhu is probably his most famous story, but other really effective horror stories include The Color Out of Space, The Music of Eric Zann, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, At the Mountains of Madness, The Rats in the Walls and Herbert West.

Good selection Lokasenna. The underground grotto scene in The Rats in the Walls is one of the best horror settings ever described. I would add also The Case of Charles Dexter Ward to the selection above.

But just a word of warning about Lovecraft... I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but I come away from reading (too much) Lovecraft feeling a bit weird, as if a part of me has touched something evil that should be stayed away from. The kind of feeling one gets when they've been using a ouija board for just a bit longer than they should... I'm not saying that Lovecraft himself is evil, because if you read his work, it's evident that he's not. But he may have strayed into a realm of supernatural horror that the ordinary person should not be venturing into, only because of the strength of its power to pull one into a terrifying despair.

Not a fan of Stephen King, because he dumbs down his characters to get the horror going, it's a cheap technique he uses.

[iverson]

well, i do not like scare novel.

[Nikhar]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Thought that I'd let everyone know I've ordered 'The Shining' and 'It'....

Regarding 'The Haunting of Hill House'''....sorry but I did not feel scared. Yeah, there were moments or two but thats it...

Would see if I can get hold of 'Lottery'...

Thanks all.

[Nikhar]

Recieved my copy of 'The Shining' today! ;)

[Calidore]

Cool. Let us know what you think. Maybe the forum can do horror novels one month.

[Nikhar]

Cool. Let us know what you think. Maybe the forum can do horror novels one month.

Yeah...that would be awesome...:D

[mortalterror]

While I only saw the film version of On the Beach, it is definitely not a horror film. It's a post-apocalyptic drama about people coping with the end of life on the planet after nuclear fallout from WWIII renders the world uninhabitable. It's more about how different types of people choose to face inevitable death, rather than trying to escape or defeat a nameless doom such as the theme of horror frequently is. Many of the scenes in On the Beach weren't terrifying or hopeless at all. There were many religious people calmly accepting what will be, and others celebrating the transient gift of life with one last hurrah. It's not horrifying at all. In fact, the main protagonist of the film is downright stoic, which leads to a very somber and thoughtful viewing experience.

[Kyriakos]

Not exactly "Scary" but it could be argued to be part of the Horror Genre, at least of "weird fiction": Gustave Meyrink's "The Golem" :)

[hanzklein]

Scary? Try Beckett's novel trilogy supplemented by Waiting for Godot and Endgame. This is scary in the sense that existence itself is analyzed. Beckett comes to some grim conclusions, such as words don't have meaning, god doesn't exist, and existence itself is completely meaningless. The scary part is that he backs it up convincingly.

[ralfyman]

Also, Kafka's Metamorphosis, and for non-fiction, Ligotti's Conspiracy Against the Human Race.

[dwdean]

dracula

there is NO substitute

[silvermist]

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. I had to sleep with the lights on for 3 nights after I read it. At the time, they were saying it was based on a true story so that added to my fear.

The Exorcist also kept me awake for awhile.

[Kundan]

Salem's Lot - Stephen King
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Ghost Story - Peter Straub

[Nikhar]

i completed reading The Shining and i thought it was freakin awesummm. Yeps, I did get scared..a lot. But still I wonder if I lost a few chills coz I didnt read it as carefully as was needed and coz I read the majority of it in broad daylight and amidst all sorts of noises. Though I did manage to read the last act of the book in the dead of the night and yeah that did scare me a hell lot.

Anyways, I watched the Kubrick movie the very next day and thought it was sh** compared to the novel.

Anyways, next I'm going to read either 'It' or 'The Magus'... any suggestions?

[Tournesol]

'My Bones and My Flute' by Edgar Mittelholzer