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Very frightening books

135

Posts

  • gameplayer2gameplayer2 Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Misery and Shining are pretty good...

    1984 and Brave New World are also pretty scary, but in a different way than a stephen king novel.

  • elcid1390elcid1390 Registered User
    edited May 2007
    I second "The Yellow Wallpaper".

    Somebody mentioned "1408" as a good King short story. I find that to be one of the most disconcerting things I've ever read. It actually made me uncomfortable the first tme I read it, and reading it right before I slept remains one of the dumbest things I've ever done. It's so... unnatural. In terms of novels, "Rage" is awesome but would be almost impossible to track down now. For my money, though, you can't beat "The Shining". It's scary in every way possible. By the end, you even get the impression that the madness/supernatural influence has seeped into the narrative itself. The last third of that book is amazing. Best of all, for me at least, is the lingering feeling that you've never quite sure exactly what's going on, and you feel like if you just knew a little more you'd have it all figured out...

    On the Lovecraft front, "Rats In The Walls" is awesome. If racial insensitivity offends you, give it a miss or get the reading from iTunes. You also have to be willing to put up with some fairly dry historical reference to Roman Britain and it's architecture but hey, it's Lovecraft. Also, Dagon and The Temple are creepy, especially the latter.

    Lastly, I don't know know if graphic novels/comics/etc count, but I just finished the first "book" of "30 Days of Night" and thought that was great.

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    The only Stephen King book that genuinely scared me was Misery, and that was because it was always completely, utterly believable.

    Rock Band DLC | Gamertag: PrimusD | WLD - Thortar
  • PillsAreNicePillsAreNice Registered User
    edited May 2007
    A third for "The Yellow Wallpaper". The writer was a dedicated feminist. She killed herself when she got older because she thought she was no longer of use to feminist society.

    "Call of Cthulhu" really did freak me out. I was not expecting that at all.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    See my game reviews at: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=strangegamer
  • ShoggothShoggoth Registered User
    edited May 2007
    It's true not all H.P. Lovecraft stuff is actually conducive to actually being afraid, but a few get my vote.

    I would encourage everyone to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_%28short_story%29

    I <3 <3 <3 this thread. Keep 'em coming.

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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    It's a bit out-dated now (as far as what it scary goes), but some of H.P. Lovecraft's work still scares me.

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  • Peter PrinciplePeter Principle Registered User
    edited May 2007
    elcid1390 wrote: »
    Somebody mentioned "1408" as a good King short story. I find that to be one of the most disconcerting things I've ever read. It actually made me uncomfortable the first tme I read it,

    I absolutely agree. His writing does a really good job of evoking the feeling of creeping bizzareness, a lot like a bad stretch of an LSD trip.

    Speaking of drugs, I heard someone mention that haunted house possession stories can be seen as metaphors for hard drug addiction. Anyone heard of that before?

    "A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business." - Eric Hoffer, _The True Believer_
  • thorpethorpe Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Shoggoth wrote: »
    It's true not all H.P. Lovecraft stuff is actually conducive to actually being afraid, but a few get my vote.

    I would encourage everyone to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_%28short_story%29

    I <3 <3 <3 this thread. Keep 'em coming.

    Oh you fucking fucker I've kept Sticks subdued in my subconscious for like, three fucking years and now its coming back oh fuck fuck fuck goddammit.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • cerpintaxxtcerpintaxxt Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Hubert Selby Jr.'s Requiem for a Dream.

    It's worse than the movie.

    Also, my first post ever here.

  • GooeyGooey Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Speaking of drugs, I heard someone mention that haunted house possession stories can be seen as metaphors for hard drug addiction. Anyone heard of that before?

    I dont know about that.

    But I DO know you can't ever leave Hotel California. Unless you go to rehab. Or die.

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  • SpeedySwafSpeedySwaf Registered User
    edited May 2007
    If it had been completely finished, it would probably be more of a shock novel then a horror novel, but there's a "book" written by Marquis de Sade called The 120 Days in Sodom. The author was so notorious for writing about cruelty and the like, they coined the word "sadism" from him.

    Deguello wrote:
    Nintendo set up a DS buffet and all the third parties went to the PSP Diner. The Diner came down with a case of botulism and everybody wonders why Nintendo is fat when they return.
  • PillsAreNicePillsAreNice Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Shoggoth wrote: »
    It's true not all H.P. Lovecraft stuff is actually conducive to actually being afraid, but a few get my vote.

    I would encourage everyone to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_%28short_story%29

    I <3 <3 <3 this thread. Keep 'em coming.

    That doesn't actually tell what the story is about.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    See my game reviews at: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=strangegamer
  • SuckafishSuckafish Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Shoggoth wrote: »
    It's true not all H.P. Lovecraft stuff is actually conducive to actually being afraid, but a few get my vote.

    I would encourage everyone to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_%28short_story%29

    I <3 <3 <3 this thread. Keep 'em coming.

    That doesn't actually tell what the story is about.

    Not only that, but they have me all pumped to read it and I don't think there is any way to do so online (legally).

  • Rear Admiral ChocoRear Admiral Choco Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Was the Dreamcatcher book any good? It didn't sound scary to hear my friend tell it, but he certainly enjoyed it.

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  • NobodyNobody Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    The Dreamcatcher movie would have been a lot better if they hadn't destroyed the ending.

  • muninnmuninn Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Suckafish wrote: »
    Shoggoth wrote: »
    It's true not all H.P. Lovecraft stuff is actually conducive to actually being afraid, but a few get my vote.

    I would encourage everyone to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_%28short_story%29

    I <3 <3 <3 this thread. Keep 'em coming.

    That doesn't actually tell what the story is about.

    Not only that, but they have me all pumped to read it and I don't think there is any way to do so online (legally).
    I love Wagners stuff, but its so difficult to find it in print. Books of Kane, anyone? I like them even more than Howards stuff.

  • BradenBraden Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Was the Dreamcatcher book any good? It didn't sound scary to hear my friend tell it, but he certainly enjoyed it.


    The book was good. Not SCARY really, but it had some suspenseful parts.

    As someone said, the movie ending was awful. I feel the movie was awful in general.

    Big Edit: There are freaky parts in most of King's books, and whether or not they scare you really depends on what freaks you out. Some people don't get freaked out if something isn't believable to them(like psychotic behavior vs ghosts).

    I watched IT when it first came out on TV, and I didn't really have any issues with it. It was scary, but not AAAAAAAH! However, I read the book several years later (at least 4 years ago) and since I read it, I can't shake that damn clown. I have nightmares with him in them to this day. Really puts a damper in a good night's rest.

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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Super Moderator, Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited May 2007
    DarkPrimus wrote: »
    The only Stephen King book that genuinely scared me was Misery, and that was because it was always completely, utterly believable.

    I was so upset that they pussed out on the leg scene in the movie.
    Spoiler:

    Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
    Maddie: "I am not!"
    Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
    Maddie: "I am a placental mammal!"
  • NobodyNobody Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    The movie wasn't too far removed from the book really (some parts that were simplified, but I'm okay with that), it wasn't until the ending where they completely tossed King's book out the window and
    Spoiler:
    that they lost it.

    And the book It has some damn creepy parts in it, like the bit with the abandoned fridge.

  • Vincent GraysonVincent Grayson Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Ok, so I finished John Dies at the End.

    That was so goddamn awesome. I haven't enjoyed a fictional work that much in a long time.

  • OrganichuOrganichu Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Spoiler:

    Thanks for the tip.

  • Mom2KatMom2Kat Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Okay really not a scary book but one that has stuck with me and at amny time throughout it I forgot I was reading fiction. World War Z. Man that just sticks with ya. I felt that I was reading of actuall events that had happened and would have dreams based on some of the stories. Zombie survival guide was funny, WWZ it creepy in how well it comes across as non-fiction even though you know it has to be.

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Organichu wrote: »
    Misery Spoilers:
    Spoiler:
    Code tags arnt working so use [] instead of () for the below to spoil things.

    (spoiler)spoiler text goes here.(/spoiler)

    Then with an edit your post can look like Ive made it here. Learning is fun!

    I dont think I made it past the first chapter or so of Misery. The part where she makes him drink the bucket of cleaning fluid, yeah I could taste it because of the description so I put the book down and never picked it up.

  • Big DookieBig Dookie Smells great! Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Ok, so I finished John Dies at the End.

    That was so goddamn awesome. I haven't enjoyed a fictional work that much in a long time.
    Make sure you read the sequel. It's shorter, but I actually found it even more enjoyable than the first one. It has some really incredible (and hilarious) scenes in it.

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    WiiU NNID: BigDookie
  • ShoggothShoggoth Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Hey, I never said I'd find the story for you. I said you should check it out, you can find it in this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Great-Tales-Horror-Supernatural-Pronzini/dp/088365699X/ref=sr_1_1/002-1128970-9361638?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180052004&sr=1-1

    The book is OOP, but it's like super cheap and hardcover, it has a bunch of other great stories in it.

    That's all I can do for you poor bastards.

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  • EinhanderEinhander __BANNED USERS
    edited May 2007
    Yeah, fuck whoever suggested reading John Dies at the End.

    Seriously.

    I'm supposed to be moving tomorrow, and I'm supposed to be packing my shit up, but instead I'm 35 pages in and I have no intention of stopping.

  • KincaidKincaid Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    No one has mentioned the dionaea house yet?
    I remember being creeped out by it a few years ago. I'll read through it again and see if it can still chill me.

  • astrobstrdastrobstrd Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I'll give the 10,654,355th recommendation to House of Leaves. That book stays with with you, and also works as high-falutin' literature which is full of win.

    Poe's stuff holds up really well. Masque of the Red Death, Fall of the House of Usher, and A Man of the Crowd are awesome.

    I don't think anyone has topped Books of Blood for that over-the-top weird and grizzly splatterpunk stuff. So many of those stories stick with me and I haven't read them in like 8 years. The Splatterpunk collections from the 90's have his stuff and some good Joe R. Landsdale and George R.R. Martin in them as well.

    I enjoyed the Borderlands collections in this vein as well. It was a series put out by White Wolf (nothing to do with the RPGs) that focused on horror stories that didn't use traditional tropes (no ghosts, vampires, or zombies).

    Jin Merkle, Changeling Assassin. A Touch of Madness. AC 25 F 18 R 23 W 24.

    Jaren Cannier, Mul Warden. Freedom. AC 18 F14 R14 W14.
  • MagnumCTMagnumCT Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Hey, this is off topic, but since Lovecraft and his style and his influence was coming up so much, I figured I'd ask you guys. If a writer uses the whole, "narrator goes insane at the end" device now, would it be looked at as Lovecraft-esque or ripping off Lovecraft? Or a cop out? Opinions?

  • MagnumCTMagnumCT Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    To contribute, I find from the ones I have read that King's short stories need to be even shorter, cause damn they fall apart. I was reading Library Policeman, and about halfway through I was freaked OUT.

    Then
    Spoiler:

    Also, Secret Window was going SO WELL, then he tacked on the epilogue and killed it.
    Spoiler:

    Part of The Stand freaked me out, not only because of the whole world ending plague thing, but there was a mention of a faceless cloaked figure at one point. That hit home with me just because I had had a dream like that, so it was creepy to me where another it might not be. I will be checking out this House of Leaves.

  • Aroused BullAroused Bull Registered User
    edited May 2007
    I've read Sticks and I was not scared at all.

    Has anyone here read American Psycho? I'm debating whether or not to read it. I understand it's not so much scary as just sickening.

  • MagnumCTMagnumCT Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    It's a lot of fun, I recommend it. It is horribly, horribly graphic, but in today's desensitized age, I just shrug and say, "Meh."

  • Big DookieBig Dookie Smells great! Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Kincaid wrote: »
    No one has mentioned the dionaea house yet?
    I remember being creeped out by it a few years ago. I'll read through it again and see if it can still chill me.
    Yeah, that one and Ted the Caver are pretty much required reading here. I think no one has mentioned it because most people assume everyone has already read it, but I guess there are probably a few people here who might now have discovered them yet. Both are a fun, creepy read.

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  • MagnumCTMagnumCT Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    OK, just started John Dies At the End, got to the spider part and will have to put it on hold until tomorrow.

  • TehSpectreTehSpectre Wrath Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I'm sure people have already stated House of Leaves & IT.
    They are the scariest books I have read so far.

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  • VBakesVBakes Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Finished John Dies at the End, Id love to make/see a movie based on it.



    And as far as House of Leaves, I want to read it BADLY.

    Therman Murman?......Jesus.
  • HKPacman420HKPacman420 Registered User
    edited May 2007
    I love Stephen King, but I haven't found much of his stuff scary :/ Gerald's Game, and some of his short stories (Autopsy Room 4 [or whatever it's called] freaked me out, The Raft, Survivor Type,etc.)


    Oh, and The Jaunt, fairly normal Sci-Fi short, but it managed to freak me the hell out at the end.


    Spoiler:


    EDIT: Also, IT is one of King's books I could never get into for some reason. :/

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Crimson KingCrimson King the freedom of birds is an insult to me i'd have them all in zoosRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I love Stephen King, but I haven't found much of his stuff scary :/ Gerald's Game, and some of his short stories (Autopsy Room 4 [or whatever it's called] freaked me out, The Raft, Survivor Type,etc.)


    Oh, and The Jaunt, fairly normal Sci-Fi short, but it managed to freak me the hell out at the end.


    Spoiler:


    EDIT: Also, IT is one of King's books I could never get into for some reason. :/

    Oh, sweet Jesus, i'd forgotten about The Jaunt. That's right up there on the freakiest fucking things I've ever read list, along with House of Leaves and JDatE.

    Does anyone else remember You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band, from Nightmares and Dreamscapes?
    Spoiler:

    Skull Man wrote:
    BB gently vomiting silk into BFL's antennae

    BFL just gigglin' like crazy while his thorax heaves, heavy with eggs and promise
  • Vincent GraysonVincent Grayson Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    VBakes wrote: »
    Finished John Dies at the End, Id love to make/see a movie based on it.



    And as far as House of Leaves, I want to read it BADLY.

    The only person who could do JDATE right would be David Cronenberg, I'd think. He's only one with a practical effects team that has enough experience making disgusting mutated creatures.

    Either that, or the guys who worked on Carpenter's The Thing.

  • friedeggfriedegg Registered User
    edited May 2007
    Lord of the Flies. Frightening. Especially if you are a fat kid with glasses.

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