“What is your favorite spooky book (i.e. mystery/suspense, thriller, ghost story, etc.)?”
Strangely enough I was asking people for scary book recommendations the other day. I used to devour horror books in my early teens and it didn't matter if it was Halloween or not. My favourite scary books back then were dominated by Stephen King. To this day some of those old ones remain my favourites. The Stand I loved in particular although I don't think it was one of his spookiest. Not so long ago I re read some of them and I think the spookiest is probably The Shining. I think the fact that the family is snowed into a hotel on their own with no communication links sets it off.
Some of my favourite classics are fairly spooky too. Rebecca by Dapne Du Maurier probably doesn't spring to mind when it comes to spooky but it definitely has a suspense/mystery side to it. Plus Mrs Danvers is one of the creepiest characters I have ever come across. The more obvious ones are Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It's been years since I have read Dracula but I loved it then. No vampire book has ever quite matched up to it. Frankenstein didn't really scare me. If anything I felt a lot of sympathy for the monster. There was one scene though that I did find spooky. Frankenstein and the monster come across each other at sea. Somewhere near Russia I think and the scene was so well described it gave me the shivers every time I read it.
The last book that scared the hell out of me was another classic, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I read it last year for Halloween. There is just something about ghost stories that scare me to death if done well and this one was done well. The fact that children were involved just makes it creepier and these were seriously creepy children. I swear I had to sleep with the light on after reading that.
I would class all of these as a favourite. I don't think I could pick just one but I am always looking for others. Any recommendations? What's the scariest book you've read?
I read a short story by H P Lovecraft that really freaked me out but I don't remember the title. It was in an anthology that is no doubt out of print.
ReplyDeleteThe only other book to really give me the creeps was Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I read it as an adult and still found it chilling.
Older scary books are interesting. They always end up being a lot scarier than I thought they'd be.
ReplyDeleteAlison at The Cheap Reader
Satia, I haven't read any Lovecraft oddly. One of those authors I have always meant to try. I love Ray Bradbury and I almost picked that book up last year. Will do it this year.
ReplyDeleteCheapreader, I agree. There is something about classics. Possibly the way classic authors would set the scene. As much as I love contemporary fiction there are very few authors who can compare to that.
I remember reading The Turn of the Screw and Frankenstein and thinking they were totally scary and creepy. I have never managed to read Dracula, I really should get to that one of these days - same with Rebecca!
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein is one of my all time favorites. In it we the people are more the monsters than anyone else!
ReplyDeleteBeth ^_^
http://sweetbooksnstuff.blogspot.com/
Anja, I am actually a little jealous that you haven't read Rebecca yet. I would love to read that as if it was the first time.
ReplyDeleteBeth, completely agree. The people were definitely the real monsters in that story.
I'm definitely going to have to check out The Turn of the Screw thanks to your comments. I'm not a huge horror fan but if I'm going to be scared I want to be scared and your comment has me intrigued.
ReplyDeleteYou love the classic horrors, I do want to try a few. There are 2 on your list that just didn't do it for me.
ReplyDeleteMy choices
http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-hop-spooky-reads.html
Shan, I hope you like it. It truly scared me plus was very well written. It's also a fairly short read.
ReplyDeleteMarce, I do like classics in general. Just out of curiosity, which two didn't you like?
Rebecca is such a good creepy book!
ReplyDeleteIt really is. I am thinking that it is now maybe due a re-read.
ReplyDeleteI've had Frankenstein on my list for a while ... not that scary, huh? Maybe I'll start with Ring, instead.
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