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Been on a horror binge lately, but it's surprisingly difficult to find authors skilled enough to creep me out. Also, I noticed that most 'best of'-lists keep referring to the same old classics (Haunting of Hill House, Shining, Dracula, Rosemary's Baby) and well-known authors (Koontz, King, Ketchum). While I have nothing against them (I'm a big fan of King's work f.i. and I've read everything Lovecraft's published), most horror work is entertaining at best, and almost never manages to genuinely creep me out. I did manage to compile a list of stuff that did manage to give me the chills. What's the scariest books you ever read, horror or otherwise? (Mods, merge with book thread if necessary)

Ray Bradbury - Death is a Lonely Business/Something Wicked This Way Comes (both not truly scary, but amazing, and they have their moments)
Laird Barron - all (recent discovery, and he manages to push all the right buttons with his 'devil-in-the-woods' approach. Like Lovecraft, he created his own monsters, evil gods and connects them together)
Mark Z. Danielewski - House of Leaves (pick up the paper version of this, as it's pretty hard to read otherwise)
Clive Barker - Books of Blood
Richard Matheson - Hell House/I am Legend (audiobook version's especially good)
Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory (more unhealthy than scary, but it works)
Scott Smith - The Ruins (brutal and original, one of my favorites of the last years)

Mindbender's thread about his fantasy sexploits is way more creepy than any horror novella, imho.

to be fair, your bacon bra forum posting is equally graphic.

^ Check your phone, bruv, because you've got voicemail:

Employee called, he wants his Captain Save-A-Mindbender shtick back.

My dad called, he wants his North Face down jacket back.

ru fallin off? you know dudes my age don't use voicemail.

the shining

Dan Simmons's Song of Kali is creepy as shit.

Other than that, The Ruins, The Shining, and the couple of Jack Ketchum books I've read are the only ones that have genuinely unsettled me. Been wanting to read Books of Blood but can't find the complete set anywhere.

I read Richard Laymon's short story "Hammerhead" a few months ago and was thoroughly disturbed, but I haven't had the chance to check out any of his novels.

EDIT: Though it's a war novel, Matheson's The Beardless Warriors scared me quite a bit. He does a great job of making you feel the shit-your-pants terror of being surrounded by men bent on killing you (which is understandable given his stint as an infantry soldier during WWII).

i highly recommend The Collector by John Fowles. very disturbing especially when you consider it's inspired multiple serial killers in real life

been reading Thomas Ligotti's Songs of a Dead Dreamer lately. It's a collection of short stories that remind me a lot of Lovecraft. The King in Yellow is another good short story collection with a similar vibe. Heard about both from interviews with the author of True Detective

Combo7 wrote:Dan Simmons's Song of Kali is creepy as shit.

to add, Dan Simmons THE TERROR was serious goosebumps

Was gonna suggest house of leaves. Shit had me scared to turn off the lights at night and shit

the haunted mask

I'm sort of looking for books that give a similar vibe like this video


And there are a limited amount of books that make you look over your shoulder at night after reading them. (Yeah ric, House of Leaves is one of them).
F.i. I just finished Penpal by Dathan Auerbach and (although the plot is kind of weak), it does manages to freak you out for a while.

Spartan, any thoughts? You've been feeding me great horror movies here for ages, so I was hoping for some pointers.

goosebumps series by tha gawd RL Stein.

darkwingduck wrote:

Combo7 wrote:Dan Simmons's Song of Kali is creepy as shit.

to add, Dan Simmons THE TERROR was serious goosebumps

Great book. AMC is supposedly developing it as a series.

gallax wrote:Spartan, any thoughts? You've been feeding me great horror movies here for ages, so I was hoping for some pointers.

Other than some of the previously mentioned books, I guess some of James Herbert's works are worth checking. I found the Rats trilogy really entertaining, and pretty disturbing too.

Clive Barker's Weaveworld is also really great. Horror fantasy done right.

gallax wrote:I'm sort of looking for books that give a similar vibe like this video


And there are a limited amount of books that make you look over your shoulder at night after reading them. (Yeah ric, House of Leaves is one of them).
F.i. I just finished Penpal by Dathan Auerbach and (although the plot is kind of weak), it does manages to freak you out for a while.

Spartan, any thoughts? You've been feeding me great horror movies here for ages, so I was hoping for some pointers.

peep

LOLOL pussy shit not scary at all. #SOFTSHELLTACO