Looking for recommendations for the scariest book you’ve ever read. Please give me all your suggestions on thrillers and horror
Looking to buy my sister a book and I want it to be super scary so please recommend a book you’ve read that has scared you the most and lives in your brain rent free. Looking for triller or horror suggestions
Give her Pet Semetary by Stephen King. Or if she likes really long novels, IT is my favorite horror novel of all time
BackInATracksuit on
Blindness by Jose Saramago is pretty unpleasant. It’s not a horror per se, but it’s definitely scary.
jcar74 on
Heart-shaped Box, by Joe Hill
ravenmiyagi7 on
Imo Last Days by Adam Nevill. Idk what it is about this book but it’s just really scary
International_Cat326 on
House of Leaves
winkdoubleblink on
Tender is the Flesh
Ok-Witness4724 on
Recommended this in similar threads before, but Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is the most horrible book I couldn’t put down.
Chelseus on
The Amityville Horror scared the shit out of me when I read it. I didn’t know it was a hoax though 😹😹😹
JohnOliverismysexgod on
The book that scared me the most was Jaws. I was afraid yo go downstairs, because, you know, sharks.
Low_Cook_5235 on
The Exorcist. If she’s like me she’ll be sleeping with the lights on for a while after that.
atomic_crypt on
Let the Right One In will always be my top horror pick. Gorgeous and gross and scary and bleak.
thefreckledfemme on
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Haunting AF
SouthernSierra on
Helter Skelter. I slept with my bedroom windows and door locked for months.
hestrash1994 on
I’ve been reading a lot of extreme horror lately and it’s mostly gross. I have yet to find a book that actually scares me. Stolen tongues by felix blackwell was at least spooky.
Chay_Charles on
The Shining (not as scary, but also read the sequel, Doctor Sleep).
Mjesper on
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I have read tons of horror and lots of Stephen King. Have never been creeped out by a book like House of Leaves. Its takes some will power to get started on it (not only is it stuffed full of pages but skimming through those pages quick when I first bought it made me almost not want to start). But holy moly is it worth it and then some. I can’t recommend it enough if terror is your thing. Actually, I can’t recommend it enough if reading is your thing!
stare_at_the_sun on
*The Hot Zone*. It is based on real life. Stephen King said it is one of the scariest books and I agree. Especially after COVID.
Kirsten624 on
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
HezFez238 on
It
ohyoublend on
The Troop – Nick Cutter
DaniG08765 on
House of Leaves, but no one wants to receive that, so I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
gordon-annie on
The Ruins
dznyadct91 on
House of a Thousand Whispers was awesome. It left just enough to the imagination that my mind went wild and I actually scared myself. It’s one of those books I wish I could read for the first time again.
ethottly on
The Other, by Thomas Tryon (it’s a pretty good movie too)
Sybil, by Flora Rheta Schreiber. I found this book terrifying and it is supposedly a true story, though there has been some controversy about that.
The Ghost Writer, by John Harwood
Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King
StellyJellybean on
I know you’ve gotten a few Stephen King suggestions already, but I’m going to add to those anyway. I read Misery for the first time last month and it gave me the strongest physical reaction of anxiety that a book has ever given me. Sweaty palms, shaky hands, quickened heartbeat, the works. It was awesome lol. Pet sematary is really scary as well but it was more.. sad to me? I had more fun reading Misery.
fejobelo on
I personally find Edgar Allan Poe as the scariest author I’ve read. He has a way of building suspense that I find unmatched. The Fall of the House Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, and the Masque of the Red Death are some of my favorites.
nightshade2100 on
House of Darkness House of Light. It’s the book the Conjuring is based on and it’s a true story. If you thought the Conjuring was scary the book is so much worse.
etrain828 on
Night Films by Marissa Pessl
katklass on
Dan Simmons – The Terror
AuntieDawnsKitchen on
The Earthseed books probably traumatized me most because they are so plausible.
Gaiman’s story, “November in the Chair” in “Fragile Things” is also deeply horrifying.
Practical_Tap_9592 on
This is not my genre but Helter Skelter, the Charles Manson book, scared the shit out of me. I needed someone to look under my bed before I could even go into my room.
rose_reader on
We Need To Talk About Kevin. No supernatural anything, and the most frightening story I’ve ever read.
lattelady37 on
The heart shaped box by Joe hill. It took me months to get through it.
AratheDyith on
50 shades of grey.
Because of how shit it was.
tippytoemammoth on
What Moves the Dead! Re-telling of the Fall of the House of Usher with great characters and the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever read.
nevertoolate2 on
When I was in 8th grade, I read Dracula. I was so scared, I ballpoint penned a big cross on a sheet of loose leaf paper and taped it on my bedroom window
MySophie777 on
The only horror book that ever bothered me was Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. It gave me nightmares. I read it in college while living in the dorms. My roommate came in while I was having a nightmare about the book and I bolted up and screamed. Scared her pretty badly, too!
Sapphire_Bombay on
Really depends what she finds scary. Some people are freaked out by ghosts and the dead, some don’t like demon shit, some are only scared by things that could happen in real life like serial killers or chainsaw-wielding psychos.
I’d recommend asking this in r/horrorlit as well and clarifying more about what type of horror you want.
sonicblue217 on
Salems Lot by S King
gcpuddytat on
It by Stephen King. Slept with the lights on for 3 weeks
mirrorshield84 on
This might sound stupid, but The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. The naive narrator’s descriptions are so subtle, but you as the reader realize what is happening. For me that suspense was scarier than any explicit horror.
bookishsnack on
The Shining by Stephen King. It feels like you’re going insane just reading it.
45 Comments
Give her Pet Semetary by Stephen King. Or if she likes really long novels, IT is my favorite horror novel of all time
Blindness by Jose Saramago is pretty unpleasant. It’s not a horror per se, but it’s definitely scary.
Heart-shaped Box, by Joe Hill
Imo Last Days by Adam Nevill. Idk what it is about this book but it’s just really scary
House of Leaves
Tender is the Flesh
Recommended this in similar threads before, but Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is the most horrible book I couldn’t put down.
The Amityville Horror scared the shit out of me when I read it. I didn’t know it was a hoax though 😹😹😹
The book that scared me the most was Jaws. I was afraid yo go downstairs, because, you know, sharks.
The Exorcist. If she’s like me she’ll be sleeping with the lights on for a while after that.
Let the Right One In will always be my top horror pick. Gorgeous and gross and scary and bleak.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Haunting AF
Helter Skelter. I slept with my bedroom windows and door locked for months.
I’ve been reading a lot of extreme horror lately and it’s mostly gross. I have yet to find a book that actually scares me. Stolen tongues by felix blackwell was at least spooky.
The Shining (not as scary, but also read the sequel, Doctor Sleep).
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I have read tons of horror and lots of Stephen King. Have never been creeped out by a book like House of Leaves. Its takes some will power to get started on it (not only is it stuffed full of pages but skimming through those pages quick when I first bought it made me almost not want to start). But holy moly is it worth it and then some. I can’t recommend it enough if terror is your thing. Actually, I can’t recommend it enough if reading is your thing!
*The Hot Zone*. It is based on real life. Stephen King said it is one of the scariest books and I agree. Especially after COVID.
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
It
The Troop – Nick Cutter
House of Leaves, but no one wants to receive that, so I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
The Ruins
House of a Thousand Whispers was awesome. It left just enough to the imagination that my mind went wild and I actually scared myself. It’s one of those books I wish I could read for the first time again.
The Other, by Thomas Tryon (it’s a pretty good movie too)
Sybil, by Flora Rheta Schreiber. I found this book terrifying and it is supposedly a true story, though there has been some controversy about that.
The Ghost Writer, by John Harwood
Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King
I know you’ve gotten a few Stephen King suggestions already, but I’m going to add to those anyway. I read Misery for the first time last month and it gave me the strongest physical reaction of anxiety that a book has ever given me. Sweaty palms, shaky hands, quickened heartbeat, the works. It was awesome lol. Pet sematary is really scary as well but it was more.. sad to me? I had more fun reading Misery.
I personally find Edgar Allan Poe as the scariest author I’ve read. He has a way of building suspense that I find unmatched. The Fall of the House Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, and the Masque of the Red Death are some of my favorites.
House of Darkness House of Light. It’s the book the Conjuring is based on and it’s a true story. If you thought the Conjuring was scary the book is so much worse.
Night Films by Marissa Pessl
Dan Simmons – The Terror
The Earthseed books probably traumatized me most because they are so plausible.
Gaiman’s story, “November in the Chair” in “Fragile Things” is also deeply horrifying.
This is not my genre but Helter Skelter, the Charles Manson book, scared the shit out of me. I needed someone to look under my bed before I could even go into my room.
We Need To Talk About Kevin. No supernatural anything, and the most frightening story I’ve ever read.
The heart shaped box by Joe hill. It took me months to get through it.
50 shades of grey.
Because of how shit it was.
What Moves the Dead! Re-telling of the Fall of the House of Usher with great characters and the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever read.
When I was in 8th grade, I read Dracula. I was so scared, I ballpoint penned a big cross on a sheet of loose leaf paper and taped it on my bedroom window
The only horror book that ever bothered me was Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. It gave me nightmares. I read it in college while living in the dorms. My roommate came in while I was having a nightmare about the book and I bolted up and screamed. Scared her pretty badly, too!
Really depends what she finds scary. Some people are freaked out by ghosts and the dead, some don’t like demon shit, some are only scared by things that could happen in real life like serial killers or chainsaw-wielding psychos.
I’d recommend asking this in r/horrorlit as well and clarifying more about what type of horror you want.
Salems Lot by S King
It by Stephen King. Slept with the lights on for 3 weeks
This might sound stupid, but The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. The naive narrator’s descriptions are so subtle, but you as the reader realize what is happening. For me that suspense was scarier than any explicit horror.
The Shining by Stephen King. It feels like you’re going insane just reading it.
The Exorcist (1973).
314 series
The Shining