TheBookSwarm
Ask Question

Scariest book you’ve ever read!?! I’m so hard to scare..so I need a GOOD one!

Scariest book you’ve ever read!?! I’m so hard to scare…so I need a GOOD one!!

Breanna #recommend #horror

40
Reply

205 Answers

Daniel

A lot of people are telling me that “Salem Burning” gave them goosebumps…

0
Reply
Mary

H P Lovecraft

1
Reply
Susan

Since H. P. Lovecraft is an author, and a fairly prolific one at that, could you maybe expand on your answer. Looking for “the scariest book”. Not your favourite author.

0
Stephanie

The Ritual by Adam Nevill

2
Reply
Haylee

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on that book!!

1
Stephanie

Its good, way better than th movie. The books gave me goosebumps on some parts while reading it.

0
Monisha

Omen was the scariest book i have read

1
Reply
Rae

I’m hard to scare too so I can’t provide too much as far as “scary” but Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill is awesome and suspenseful. Sineater by Elizabeth Massie is well written and confusing/awesome.

5
Reply
Brittina

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark…the Big Toe. ?

3
Reply
Julie

I just snorted ????

1
Book
14
Reply
Julie

:: shudder ::

1
Dayna

Following! ??

1
Reply
Sharon

Salems lot

6
Reply
Melissa

House of Leaves

1
Reply
Andrea

Great book.

0
Christie

I have it but it intimadates me I don’t know how to start it with all the notes and stuff it has 🙁

0
BreannaQuestion author

Thanks all…I’ve heard so many good reviews about IT & even though it may not be scary enough for me, the reviews got me! Plus I just did this little project ?

8
Reply
Nicola

I didn’t find IT scary but it is an amazing book I couldn’t put it down x

1
BreannaQuestion author

@Nicola that’s the part that got had me sold. I read that so many times looking through the reviews!

0
Vijayan

Salems Lot

2
Reply
Chelle

Read the Exorcist multiple times without a break. On the 4th consecutive read I threw it out the car window.

3
Reply
Zuzana

I heard that this book gets to be thrown out pretty much a lot. ?

0
Amber

Love The Exorcist.

0
Marcy

Trimpl by J.T. Lozano

0
Reply
Nancy

Salem’s Lot

3
Reply
Catherine

That’s the one I was going to recommend.

1
Betty

Butterfly Garden

1
Reply
Sanjay

It’s still complicated by Chandrakant Jaisansaria

0
Reply
Laura

https://bookriot.com/2018/03/12/best-horror-novels/

1
Reply
Laura

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/25-terrifying-horror-books-ever/

2
Reply
Laura

For me, it isn’t fictional scary stories, that keep me awake, or trembling in fear…it is real life, true stories that I find terrifying, such as “”In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. That real folks can be so ruthless is scary.

4
Reply
Zuzana

I very much agree with that.

1
Klaire

I’m a big fan of Stephen King and Thomas Harris, but I’ll Be Gone In the Dark was the scariest book I’ve ever read.

1
Maxine

Lets Go Play At The Adams by Mendal W Johnson. Read it when I was 13 and I still get the creeps now when I think about it.

2
Reply
Becki

I cannot for the life of me find a copy of that book under $50! I haven’t found a library that has it either! I just wanna read it!!!

1
Angel

Becki, try to get the true story about the case, House of Evil, or read Jack Ketchums The house next door. All the same story basically, about the Sylvia Likens case.

1
Becki

@Angel I know all about the Sylvia Likens case? it’s basically the same story as Let’s go play at the Adams?

1
Maxine

I didn’t know about the Sylvia Likens case until tonight. My mother had banned me from reading it so of course the first time she went out for the day I grabbed it and read it. Problem was, that night I was babysitting, staying overnight, dont think I slept a wink until I heard the parents get in lolol

1
Angel

Becki, yes, all based on the same story.

0
Angel

IMO, House of Evil, the true crime is the best one because it tells the actual true story of what happened.

0
Brandi

Following!!! I love a good horror book! I love Pet Sematary

2
Reply
Amanda

University by Bentley Little.

0
Reply
John

Following

0
Reply
Alexandra

The shining by Stephen King. Bird box by Josh malerman.

1
Reply
Ashley

Bird Box was such a flop, for me. ???

2
Carla

I loved Birdbox!

0
Amber

@Ashley Same.

0
Eileen

The Other Tom Tryon.

0
Reply
Zuzana

F ?

0
Reply
Kim

Salem’s Lot

1
Reply
Elise

Salem’s Lot and It. Plus Stephen King’s short story “The Monkey” scarred me for life.

1
Reply
Kim

That Monkey! ?

0
Aishlee

The Bible ?

1
Reply
Amber

@Aishlee ?

0
Pam

Rosemary’s Baby, and Helter Skelter reading in New York on vacation (as soon as it was published) – I jumped up to make sure the hotel door was locked about every 15 minutes.

1
Reply
Vansh

Following

0
Reply
Meisha

I’m pretty hard to scare too. However I really enjoyed The Elementals by Micheal McDowell. It wasn’t really scary in my opinion but it was a really good horror book! Also, the whisperer (I can’t remember the authors name) but it’s a good murder mystery/ thriller. He based the scenes in the book off of real murder cases. That’s ultimately what had me a little creeped out lol

2
Reply
Carla

Here’s my list of horror novels. Some I’ve read and some are on my TBR. Not many books have scared me but a lot of these creeped me out!

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, The Terror by Dan Simmons, Experimental Film by Gemma Files, Kill Creek by Scott Thomas, Off Season by Jack Ketchum, The Troop by Nick Cutter, The Hunger by Alma Katsu, The Grip of It by Jac Jemc, The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, The Visitors by Catherine Burns.

Suggestions others have made such as Stephen King “Salems Lot” and “BirdBox” by Josh Malerman are also good.

I’ll also add two short stories I really enjoy.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison.

3
Reply
Tiffany

Love the Yellow Wallpaper

2
Zuzana

I was really disappointed with A Head Full of Ghosts…just updated version of Shirley’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. And I was looking forward to reading that book so much. ???

0
Sharon

I had to stop reading Head Full of Ghosts because it just freaked me out ?

2
Zuzana

@Sharon oh no! I was really disappointed and more suspicious than scared as I read the other book so I kind of new what was going on. ?

1
Sharon

@Zuzana I wish I could have finished it! The part that I read was great! The topic of possession usually freaks me out so I should have known better anyway ? but i really did enjoy the first half!

0
Zuzana

@Sharon I am sure you can make it to the end. It is all explained. ?

0
Sharon

@Zuzana is it!? That actually does make me feel better! Maybe I’ll give it another chance.

0
Zuzana

@Sharon do. ? if it feels very scary read it with breaks and something lighter in between. ?

1
Sharon

@Zuzana good idea!

1
Zuzana

@Sharon ?

1
Tamina

Gone girl

0
Reply
Kylie

Dead simple by Peter James

1
Reply
Becki

Absolutely love his books!!!!

1
Kylie

same here. I just bought the whole series to read again ?

0
Kari

My Life in Two Worlds by Gladys Osborne Leonard

0
Reply
Debbie

Helter Skelter

1
Reply
Cedrelle

Book of Revelations or Left Behind series scares the heck out of me

1
Reply
Sondashi

Invasion by robin Cook

0
Reply
Megan

Dolly by Susan Hill, The Shining by Stephen King, Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill.

1
Reply
Emma

I found Dolly a total drag…. I have the heart shaped box on my tbr read shelf. Looking forward to it. X

0
Megan

@Emma ..what a shame you found Dolly a drag…I loved the sense of tension in it. Heart shaped Box is brilliant!

1
Jola

Loved heart shaped box!

0
Linda

Rosemarys Baby

0
Reply
Em

Before he found out I was a boy, my dad wanted to name me Rosemary, but my mom would NOT have it because she saw the movie when she was a kid and it scared the crap out of her LOL

1
Emma

The little Stranger by Sarah Waters got to me a bit !

0
Reply
Cassandra

I’m hard to scare too. Wish I could ass to this list, but no books have “scared” me. 172 Hours on the Moon did have a part that was pretty creppy and has stuck with me

0
Reply
Prachi

I guess it’s individual, I get nightmares reading Dean Koontz books

2
Reply
Meghan

Wolfman (2010) book

0
Reply
Cynthia

The Devils Cat series.. 5 books total by William W.Johnstone. Best horror books ever!!!

1
Reply
Alessandro

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

1
Reply
Cristiana

Frozen Charlotte NEVER AGAIN

1
Reply
Rumsha

following

0
Reply
Angel

Hi, please, Who is the author?

1
Kevin

the bible .lol

6
Reply
Wendy

Not horror actually. The hot zone as it wAs before anyone knew about Ebola. It’s starts on people getting sick on a plane and taking into general population in USA. Really scary. Plus see it from scientists point of view.??

2
Reply
Stevie

Lords of Salem by rob zombie ?‍♀️

0
Reply
Anjali

The elephant song.

0
Reply
Alishia

Following

0
Reply
Sharon

Intensity

2
Reply
Hamza

Christine By Stephen King….will keep you up all night

0
Reply
Lucy

I just read ‘welcome to the dark house’ and it wasn’t massively scary but gave me goosebumps!
And ‘The Dead House’ too

0
Reply
Tina

It

2
Reply
Katharine

Salems lot

1
Reply
Hillary

Duma Key

3
Reply
James

Salems Lot is a good one. The Book “It” was also really good up until he described what the monster really looked like, then, for me, it lost it’s impact.

1
Reply
Marie

Dean Koontz, Intensity. I was a nervous wreck and I couldn’t put it down.

3
Reply
Julie

Pet cemetary

1
Reply
Stephen

‘Lunar Park’ by Brett Easton Ellis is pretty creepy.

0
Reply
Jeff

TORMENT by Jeremy Robinson (think a modern retelling – though not quite as explicit – of “Sinners In the Hands of An Angry God”)

More general audience scariest would be Greig Beck’s Beneath The Dark Ice.

0
Reply
Sarah-Kaye

F

0
Reply
Laura

IT

2
Reply
Judy

Praying for Sleep was scary.

0
Reply
Arielle

Koko by Peter Straub

1
Reply
Mary

In cold blood

1
Reply
Beth

Sking,it or pet cemetery

0
Reply
Danielle

Amityville and the Shining are the only two that actually scared me. Song of Kali and Dracula had some pretty good moments in them.

1
Reply
Tiffany

I don’t read much scary, so probably Perfume, though not that scary. Some have joked above, but really The Bible, I’ll say it’s hands down the scariest book I’ve read for sure because I was told it was real…slavery, women marrying their rapists, children’s heads being smashed, women torn apart by dogs, animal sacrifice, a vengeful god, famine, plagues, and eternal punishment, not exactly bedtime reading.

1
Reply
Mia

Following

0
Reply
Jola

Never could finish the Exorcist. Dark Half and Pet Sematary by Stephen King are good.

0
Reply
Meredith

“The Wisconsin Death Trip.” It’s a book of photographs of the people living in a small area of Wisconsin in the early twentieth century. At the time, this same area was afflicted with violence. The unsettling part is that it’s a true story. It’s hard to find. I’m still looking for it.

0
Reply
Scott

https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9780385412155?bookbin=14842470077&gclid=CIm0pumd_twCFcOUxQId14EHPA&gclsrc=ds&utm_campaign=NMPi_Shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=Google Is that the one?

0
Liza

Any Clive Barker. Or The Ritual by Adam Nevill

2
Reply
Tamarra

??

1
Reply
Sage

I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

1
Reply
Amy

Good one! I still don’t know how I feel about that ending!!

0
Tony

“A Dark Dividing” by Sarah Rayne. Trust me!

0
Reply
Lynnellen

Lisa Gardner. oh my

0
Reply
Diana

Reporter – non-fiction – I will finish it, but had to stop. I learned things about the USA that I didn’t know, and cannot “unknow” – the book is beautifully written, and much of the story is a wonderful autobiography. But that small percentage of truth inside his book, is painful and tore my illusions of our country to shreds.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Reporter-Audiobook/B07CS21QRM?qid=1534859435&sr=sr_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=D7AKMSA4R008JWFGQGHT&

0
Reply
Gail

Intensity by Dean Koontz. Rosemary’s Baby. Yes- The Shining , too

0
Reply
Elizabeth

Behind Closed Doors.

0
Reply
Zara

this book is by B.A Paris?

0
Elizabeth

@Zara yes. It’s chilling, heart in your mouth type of terror.

0
Ronna

Gerald’s Game by Stephen King

1
Reply
Christie

Behind closed doors gave me a horrible nightmare.

1
Reply
Zara

by B.A Paris?

0
Alisa

“The Amityville Horror, “ I couldn’teven get half way through it, Lol!

0
Reply
Cortney

Night Film by Marisha Pessl – it’s AMAZING

0
Reply
Harold

1984

0
Reply
Cestiana

I have 2 horror books by stephen king. Ive read a small portion of sleeping beauties and i put it down because of my reading slump. I also have IT here but havent started it. I would most likely be scared of these 2 because of how well ive heard stephen king writes. So yeah, haha.

0
Reply
Lexi

Off Season by Jack Ketchum. I don’t get scared by books or movies, so this is just what I think would scare others.

2
Reply
Angel

Cover by him is good too!

1
Donna

Following

0
Reply
Betty

Salem’s Lot

1
Reply
Sherry

Following?

0
Reply
Karen

None really scare me, but Pet Sematary by Stephen King and 314 by A. R. Wise creeped me out some.

0
Reply
Caitlyn

Haven’t read a whole lot of books but the first Maze Runner book was trippy.

0
Reply
Lesley

I don’t read scary book LOL

0
Reply
Sharon

Following

0
Reply
Marge

The exorcist, course it was the last scary book iread

0
Reply
Author

Never Again by Angela Sanders. I hear her villian in my own head long after I finished reading.

0
Reply
Sandra

It’s between the Exorcist and Rosemary’s baby

0
Reply
Lauri

Intensity by Dean Koontz. I don’t really get scared by books, but this was a good one on the scare spectrum. I also have the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris and I’ve been told that it’s a scary one too. Just haven’t read it yet. Can’t wait to read it and find out though.

1
Reply
Scarlet

Husband by Dean Koontz.

2
Reply
Marc

…very exciting–a real nailbiter!

0
Angel

I liked that book too!

1
Lia

House of leaves seriously freaky

1
Reply
Catina

F

0
Reply
Harriet

The Stand.

1
Reply
Marc

“In The Garden Of Beasts,” Erik Larsen https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-garden-of-beasts-erik-larson/1100054038#/

1
Reply
Pam

Forgot I had that book – thank you for listing.

1
Lisa

The Exorcist or The Sentinel.

0
Reply
Michael

The Judeo-Christian Bible-really.

1
Reply
Don

No Exit by Taylor Adams http://a.co/7VpYgyu

0
Reply
Cathy

Origin by Jack Kilborn aka J.A. Konrath
Afraid also by Kilborn

Intensity by Dean Koontz

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

1
Reply
Tiffany

For me it was the Lovely Bones!

1
Reply
Lesley

Yes did not like that at all

0
Laurissa

F

0
Reply
L

Night Film is spooky

1
Reply
Amy

The troop:) god! It was so gross!! Still troubles me?

0
Reply
Amy

Intensity by Dean Koontz

1
Reply
Delecia

It… That book had me calling my husband to come home early.

1
Reply
Haylee

Same here following

0
Reply
Valerie

Helter Skelter- nonfiction.

0
Reply
John

Something Wicked This Way Comes

1
Reply
Michele

Fail Safe, Seven Days In May

0
Reply
Michele

On The Beach

1
Reply
Tracey

what kind of scary are we talking about here? thriller? (personally i too like to be scared but not gore or murder scared.. ) which book would u recommend for thriller scared?

0
Reply
Don

No Exit

1
Tracey

is no exit a murder mystery? or psychological thriller?

0
Don

@Tracey Thriller

1
Tracey

oooh ok thank u.. i’ll try finding that one. i’m looking for a good thriller too!

0
Don

I think it would make a great movie.

1
Tracey

i have a dream of writing a best seller that turns into a movie. Although, it would be good to just write it in script form. i don’t know how to do that with ease yet..i want to write for fun, not for fame, but it wouldn’t hurt to write a good seller!

0
Danielle

Me to!!! I have yet to find one l! I’m curious on what is recommended

0
Reply
Patty

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

0
Reply
Melissa

It

0
Reply
Lydia

The Newspaper.

3
Reply
Jack

Carrion Comfort

1
Reply
Susan

The “Omen”

0
Reply
Shari

Night stalker was mine

0
Reply
Amanda

Which one?

0
Shari

Philip carlo

0
Amanda

@Shari thank you

0
Cathy

This collection of horror short stories:https://www.amazon.com/Captivating-Flames-Madness-Jeff-Parsons-ebook/dp/B07BWNR8VH/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534910782&sr=1-1&keywords=Jeff+%5Buser slug=”u916040702″ first_name=”Julie” last_name=”Parsons”]

0
Reply
Melinda

The Turn of the Screw, Ghost Story, The Shining.

0
Reply
Melinda

Oh! And The Haunting of Hill House.

0
Graham

The bible

0
Reply
Sue

Anything by Stephen King!

0
Reply
Sandy

Carrie

0
Reply
Karen

The first scary book I ever read was Flowers in the Attic. Next was The Exorcist. But the one that disgusted me the most and made me stop reading them was Misery. Probably all are considered mild now.

0
Reply
Sue

I just simply don’t care for scary books! It’s easy to get scared just watching the news!!

1
Reply
Alisa

Unfortunately that is true!

0
Amber

Enoch by Robert Bloch

0
Martha

Try Christopher Buehlman

0
Reply
Paula

It

0
Reply
Kim

Salem’s Lot

2
Reply
Leave a Answer Cancel

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Loading Please wait
Log in
Register
Categories
  • get the book
  • questionnaire
  • recommend
  • review
Genres
animal art biography business chick lit classics comics contemporary cookbooks crime detective fantasy fiction gay and lesbian graphic novel historical fiction history horror humor and comedy kids languages manga memoir music mystery nonfiction novel paranormal philosophy poetry psychology religies religion romance scary science science fiction self help spirituality sports suspense thriller travel young adult young adults
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

2019 © TheBookSwarm