What is the scariest horror book that you have ever read?

Question

It is obvious that the people of this site feel that Stephen King is the greatest writer of horror, ever. For me "the Exorcist" By William Peter Blatty was by far the greatest work of fiction horror ever written, it scared the Hell out of me. What was the title of the book that scared you?

Thank you all. To include the person that can't read and the other who doesn't read, sorry about that.

Let me put it to you this way. I was home alone, age fourteen. I couldn't pull away from "The Exorcist" and I couldn't finish it without a hatchet, butcher knives, and a shotgun next to me. This is after many searches of the house re-locking and checking all locks on windows and doors. I kept hearing movement in the house. It was one of the only books, Novel size that I finished in one sitting.

Of course; The little boy who died during the procedure in Mount Rainer, Maryland. The boy the book was based on died in his home less than two miles from my house at the time. The site is still there burnt to the ground realitors unable to sell the lot.

http://www.strangemag.com/exorcistpage1.html

Answer 1

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker. Published in 1897, Stoker's book established every vampire cliche that exists. In late 19th-century Europe, a young lawyer, Jonathon Harker, travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula. He is locked in Dracula's castle, an ominous building with a 1,000-foot drop on one side, and learns the worst: The count is a vampire, a member of the undead who survives by drinking the blood of the living.

The action moves to England, where the count has purchased an estate called Carfax, and introduces several other notable characters: the bug-eating madman Renfield; the eventually noble Dr. Seward; Mina and Lucy, women sucked in by the vampire's curse; and Abraham Van Helsing, vampire hunter.

The count finally meets his well-deserved demise, but not before a great struggle highlighted by howling wolves, shiny crucifixes, unholy soil and a healthy dose of garlic.
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Stoker was the business manager of Victorian actor Henry Irving's Lyceum Theatre in London and supplemented his income by writing novels. In "Dracula," the native Irishman combined the vampire tales that had been a part of European legend for centuries -- though they had little to do with the actual Dracula, a 15th-century nobleman named Vlad the Impaler.

The book has inspired more than 200 movies, from straight readings to out-and-out parody, and its heavy Victorian/Shakespearean language still has the power to chill.

Answer 2

toker. Published in 1897, Stoker's book established every vampire cliche that exists. In late 19th-century Europe, a young lawyer, Jonathon Harker, travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula. He is locked in Dracula's castle, an ominous building with a 1,000-foot drop on one side, and learns the worst: The count is a vampire, a member of the undead who survives by drinking the blood of the living.

Answer 3

The Stand by Stephen King. The idea that that could happen is chilling enough, but there are a lot of little things that gave me the willies.

Like when Stu is the only patient (almost the only person) alive in a government plague center, and the doctor is coming to kill him. The doctor is dying himself. Stu knows that if he doesn't get out of the room, he's going to die no matter what.

Then Larry is totally creeped out in the Lincoln Tunnel. I hate tunnels....

Fran is pregnant and almost the whole world is dropping off like flies, and it dawns on her, who's going to help her deliver her child.

And you can't forget the Walkin Dude crucifying people on telephone poles.

Answer 4

Sorry to go back to Stephan King, incidentally I don't find most of his books all that scary, but I would have to say "The Stand." There is a part in the book where 2 people are traveling through Kansas when a tornado comes so they take shelter in someones cellar. The family who lived there is in the cellar with them (dead of course) but that isn't the scary part. The people can feel the Dark Man with them and sense his evil but it is pitch dark so they can't see him, they only know he is there. That is the scariest thing I ever read. Mind you, I'm kind of a wimp though.

Answer 5

Horror is interesting to read but I have never read anything that actually gave me nightmares or was the scariest thing I had ever read.
"Helter Skelter" (about the Manson Murders) was actually the scariest book I had ever read. It DID give me nightmares! In my dreams & I could feel the letters carved into my skin. I think non-fiction is scarier, since it is more apt to happen than anything in a horror book or film. Yes, "The Exorcism" is based on a true event, but too much was changed too much to be considered non-fiction.

Answer 6

The Regulators by Stephen King

Answer 7

I loved early Stephen King books. Anything after Misery was pure garbage.

But when I was about 11 years old, I read a book called The Wolfen that scared the hell out of me.

Answer 8

I agree with those that advocate Stephen King as the most chilling writer around. The sequel to The Talisman, Black House is suspenseful and terrifying, keeping the reader addicted despite graphic imagery.

Answer 9

Steven king is the master of macabre.
His stories such as rage, the shining, the long walk are awesome.

Dean R Koontz, The Bad Place
Flowers in the Attic

Answer 10

The Shining