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What is the scariest book you have ever read?

What is the scariest book you have ever read?

Jennifer #recommend #horror

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161 Answers

Jeanie

I don’t read a lot of horror but Heart Shaped Box scared the pants off me!

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Lulu

@Jeanie I was going to say this too!

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Jennifer

Didn’t really like it but I think it’s because I couldn’t connect with the characters

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Hayley

really? I found it kinda bland. At no point was I scared lol

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Pat

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. Read it years ago and remember it still as being really scary.

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Teresa

When I was younger I read Midnight by Dean Koontz. I avoid the really scary books now.

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Annette

‘They Thirst’ by Robert McGammon … frightened the bejaysus outta me !

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Jessica

The shining

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Caroline

@Jessica I’m reading this at the moment…. not right before bed of course ????

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Jessica

@Caroline I made the mistake of reading it alone at night over Christmas break in college when everyone else had gone home. Scared the crap out of me!

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Caroline

@Jessica God I bet it did! ☠☠

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Ellen

@Jessica you should read Dr Sleep the sequel to Shining it’s excellent and very scary

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Amy-Daisy

Per cemetery!!

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Sharyn

@Chinelo it’s probably not that scary but I’m a total lightweight where scary is concerned.

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Michelle

Helter Skelter comes to mind.

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Rhonda

@Michelle yep

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Michelle

@Rhonda my husband was out of town for work. My 3 yr old was down for the night. I read it until I got so scared I couldn’t read anymore. I was pregnant with my second son. That was 42 yrs ago but I still remember.

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Amanda

@Michelle I have this on Audible. It’s 26 hours long. I can’t wait to start it.

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Rhonda

@Michelle it actually still scares me to think about it

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Michelle

@Amanda me too!

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Sarah

who is it by?

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Amanda

Pet Semetary!!

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Mark

It’s a short story, but “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison.

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Jeanie

@Mark just that title scares me! lol

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Mark

It’s the darkest dystopian vision I’ve ever read. Basically an evil, sadistic artificially-intelligent super computer torments the remaining few members of the human race.

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Colleen

@Mark that has been on my reading list for a while now!

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Mark

@Colleen It’s good. Ellison had an … interesting mind. It was written in the 60s I believe. The fact we are seeing AI get more sophisticated gives this story a chilling element!

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Abby

@Mark Love Harlan. (Also was a diehard Doctor Who fan.)

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Kristal

bird box

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Abby

@Kristal I read it after I watched the movie (twice) and it was terrifying.

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Ilze

I read a book a day, there is nothing that scares me – my most recent read was by Karin slaughter – it made me vomit x

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Carly

@Ilze what was it called xx

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Ilze

Carly Horrocks I,truly can’t remember, I will let u know

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Carly

@Ilze thank you xx

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Carly

Was it called pretty girls xx

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Ilze

Carly Horrocks I think it was “the kept woman”

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Cindy

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

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Arlene

Rosemary’s Baby.

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Svetlana

Burn, Witch, Burn! (The Dolls of Mme. Mandilip) by Abraham Merritt.

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Stephanie

Intensity by Deen Kootz

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Charise

@Stephanie omg yes i read that last year and it had me scared lol

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Stephanie

@Charise read it 20 years ago; scared the heck out of me.

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Nancy

Phantoms

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Amber

It was a short story as a kid. I don’t recall the title but I recall the story and it’s stuck with me since. And if anyone recalls the short story title, please tell me lol!

This young girl decides it’s time her stuffed animals go in a pet net above her bed. She’s getting “too old” for them. One evening she’s looking up at a favored bear and sees red on the fur around its mouth. Turns out the stuffed animals are frikken attacking the entire family in the night. And then in the end they eat her for putting them in the pet net. Because I had a pet net above my bed it freaked me right the heck out!

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Sarah

@Amber aw hope
Find title xx

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J.L.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174703

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Koerner

The Silence of the Lambs (read many years ago)

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Jeanie

Yes!

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Lulu

A Headful of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

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Cynthia

The whole Afraid series by Jack Kilborn.

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Dawn

Apartment 16. It took me a while to get through it.

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Rebecca

IT by Stephen King

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Rita

Dang clowns !

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Hannah

Promised Land Lane

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Jennifer

Intensity dean koontz. I don’t get scared. This book did it. On the edge of my seat the whole time

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Brenda

@Jennifer 100…%. When that RV started up ?

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Marita

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Red Dragon by whats-his-name.

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Betsy

@Marita Thomas Harris

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Marita

Yes, him. haha Thank you.

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Marita

just thought of Helter Skelter, too.

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Antonia

172 hours on the moon

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Annie

Native son by Richard Wright

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Christine

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

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Jaylisa

Definitely the scariest one I’ve ever read

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Christine

@Jaylisa I made the mistake of starting that book one night when I was babysitting, out on the country no less. That was many moons ago when I was a teenager. lol

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Angela

Scary Stories: To tell in the dark by Alvin Schwartz

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Marie

My French verb book. All 12,000 of them

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Lori

The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1597524328/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_oEjrCbBY4C0VJ

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Meredith

I don’t get frightened by books but this has definitely stayed with me. And those audiotapes of the exorcism on YouTube! ?

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Lori

Meredith Wartelle, absolutely! I don’t scare easily either, but creepy and unnerving get me!

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Corrine

havent found one that scares me yet. But I keep trying

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Meredith

Me too! Books about real life exorcisms come the closest so far.

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Julie

The exorcist. It isn’t terrifying anymore but at the time it really messed with me

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Marianne

The movie messed with me. I never read the book.

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Julie

@Marianne it’s creepy

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Marianne

Horrifying

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Patricia

Rod Serling’s Triple W

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Thomas

House of Leaves

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Colleen

@Thomas I own it- live the way it looks but haven’t been able to get into it

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Kim

The Omen

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Susan

Salem’s Lot

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Patricia

@Susan Salem’s Lot definztely

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Patricia

Definitely, sorry

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Kathy

@Susan agreed

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Susan

@Patricia I know..and it is. Love SK

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Brit

The shining. But I was only 10 or 11. I would wait until my mother went to work and crawl in her bed and read all day! It was terrifying, even with the sun out! When she finished it she took it to work with her to send it to my sister because she didn’t want it in the house (scared her too). I was frantic as I was at the end as well! Had to find a friend who mother had it so I could go there and finish it!

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Barb

The Exorcist

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Marla

Got that right, yikes!

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Sharon

The stand for the possibility of something like that really happening

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Kyla

Following

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Kathy

Amityville Horror

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Carla

Probably ‘the Rats’ by James Herbert when I was about 12 ( stole it from my dad’s bookshelf )

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Louise

@Carla i did exactly the same!

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Carly

IT xx

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Brandi

@Karyn ? ? ?

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Karyn

The long walk…Richard Baughman…Steven KING…before he started writing under his name!

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Abby

That’s a classic. I haven’t read it in years.

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Markie

I agree with @Corrine
I haven’t truly been scared by a book, but I want to be. I’m always searching for a book to scare me.

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Angela

@Markie, Have you ever read Scary Stories: To tell in the dark by Alvin Scwartz

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Markie

@Angela I have never even heard of it! But I’ll definitely be looking into it

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Angela

@Markie, Oh well I read it last year and it was good

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Markie

@Angela thanks for the suggestion 🙂 my library has it out til march, but I’ll be giving it a try

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Angela

@Markie, Your welcome and I got those three scary stories books from Amazon

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Marna

Sophie’s Choice

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Genie

Saw the movie!! Too scary for me!!

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Ilze

The kept woman x

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Haydee

The Shining. Definitely. And mind you, I grew up watching the movie. I probably saw it at least two dozen times before I read the book. Friends, the one where Joey puts the book in the freezer is what made me want to give the book a shot. Even after watching the movie so many times, the book scared the crap out of me!!

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Caroline

I rewatched Friends last year and that’s what reminded me to read The Shining too ( plus a friend lent me the sequel, Doctor Sleep, & I wanted to remind myself of the plot of The Shining first before I read the second one)… thought I must have read it but then realised I’ve only ever watched the film…which is odd as I used to be a massive Stephen King fan)… the book is very creepy and insidious and I’m trying not to read it right before bed ????

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Haydee

@Caroline omg!! Doctor Sleep was so friggin awesome!! I would have appreciate learning that Danny grow up to look like Jax Teller much earlier in the story though. You don’t find out until you’re into 60% into the story, as per my Kindle lol. Can I tell you, I was so scared by The Shining that at one point I remember being in bed and thinking “If I hear footsteps in the attic, do I try to get the kids or just make a run for it?” (The entrance to our attic was between my room and theirs so you can imagine the struggle lol)

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Michelle

Salem’s Lot

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Julie

Lovely bones

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RC

Pet semetary

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Arlene

The Shining

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Chelsea

Ooo idk. Maybe pretty girls!! It was very disturbing

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Carly

@Chelsea is that by Karen Slaughter xx

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Lynita

The red Dragon

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Jayne

Books of blood. Clive Barker hes seriously messed up I think.

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Lisa

It by stephen king

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Kathy

One of his best.

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Jayne

That’s interesting mostly Stephen king. Shows hes the master of horror still.

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Susan

yes, he is…

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Kristina

Pet Semetary and the shining

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Kathy

Yes!! Pet Semetary!! WTH?!!! ?

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Mimi

Salem’s Lot

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Teresa

me too, i was scared of vampires knocking on my windows

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Stella

Fire starter

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Nicole

Jennifer Cruise~ Tell me lies! ?

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Sarah

F

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Lee

The haunting of hill house

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Melissa

Following

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Mindy

Weirdly. Pet Semetary read by Michael c Hall. Something about Dexter reading Steven King creeped me right out

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Sandy

The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe.

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Rhonda

@Sandy that was creepy

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Kate

Interested.

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Heather

Bag of bones by Stephen King

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Colleen

Amityville horror freaked me out. But not many have actually shared me (aside from reading scary stories to tell in the dark as a kid)

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Angela

@Colleen, have you read that book

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Colleen

which book?

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Angela

@Colleen, Scary Stories: To tell in the dark

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Colleen

yes it is a book series (3) for kids aged 8 and up ( still great stories as an adult but def geared toward I would say 10 -12 year olds – based on folklore )

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Colleen

Great spooky illustrations!!

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Angela

@Colleen, Oh ok well I read it last year and it was good

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Colleen

oh I thought you were asking because you hadn’t read them! If anyone likes horror and hasn’t read them- no matter the age- they should! The wendigo still freaks me out to this day ( because the folklore itself is terrifying!!) and the illustrations are still some of my fav spooky drawings

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Angela

@Colleen, Yeah I did and I have read them

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Olga

The extorcist

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Marilyn

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. The true story of Charles Manson and his “Family” and the murders they committed. Slept with my light on for nights. No work of fiction will ever compare.

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Terri

@Marilyn I tried to read this one in high school I couldn’t even get halfway through the book

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Marilyn

@Terri I read it in high school as well and was terrified, yet fascinated. I’m not sure what it was about it that held my interest. I was a kid when the Manson murders happened and maybe that’s why I found it so interesting.

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Tammy

The Ritural by Adam Nevill

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Lisa

IT Stephen King

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Maureen

HP Lovecraft

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Becky

Jar of Hearts, Baby Teeth

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Elle

It by SK.

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Sally

In Cold Blood.

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Kristen

Deviant – the true crime story about Ed Gein

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Colleen

Kristen M. Cross that book actually was the book that got me to start reading for fun!

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Terri

It’s not a book it’s a short story by Stephen King. It was in The Collection night shift. It was called The Boogeyman

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Cynthia

.

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Brenda

Intensity by dean koontz. It all happens within like a 24 hr period and it can happen to u, tonite. But do not read if u r alone.

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Alison

Salem’s Lot – Stephen King

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Antonia

178 hours on the moon

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