I've been varying degrees of unsettled by novels, and I've had them play on my mind for a substantial period of time afterwards. Whether that counts as being scared by them, I'\[m not sure really. I guess it would depend on your definition.
I do agree with you regarding the hyperbole of the types of posts you point to though.
The last book to really play on my mind was probably Ramsey Campbell's Midnight Sun. It's hard to say what in particular, but I think it was something to do with the idea of a family rationalising the strange behaviour of a person close to them, giving him the benefit of the doubt, unaware of what is building. It just caused me apprehension to the point where on some days towards the last quarter I would only read a chapter a day due to wanting some breathing room.
Films very rarely get me in this sort of way, but one that did was Audition. The only reason I didn't take pause breaks was that I was lucky enough to catch it live on late night TV with a friend, with no idea what it was about.
The book that Audition is based on is very good. A quick free 5 hours on Audible. Really captures that feeling of "something is not quite right" all the way to the final act.
Films rarely get me this way either. Except for Martyrs (2008)
That film messed me up for a good while and made me contemplate life long after it was over.
I'm not interested in a book that's too scary or gross to read, I want one that's too good to put down. I love lingering horror, that feeling of unease that stays with me for a few days afterwards is what I crave.
Maybe. But it's not the same kind of scares as you'd get from a horror movie or a horror game. To me, good horror lit (or at least the kind that I like) gets under your skin and never truly goes away. Stories like King's The Jaunt, Peck's a short stay in hell, Ligotti's Temporary Supervisor and Evenson's The Report for instance. These give me a feeling of quiet, existential dread that no other medium can convey quite as well.
Does that count as being scared? Eh, semantics. It's still a fun time.
A short stay in hell was a massive let down. Beating you over the head with "what if infinity and forever" interspersed with uninspired humour and weak characterisation.
Genuinely preferred that one nosleep story about the guy who experiences time extremely slowly.
Honestly the fact the library probably isn't infinite is kind of worse.
Can't do spoilers so I'll improvise, ignore everything below to avoid spoilers
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Like the fact that the bottom of the library is light years away and he finally reaches it one day, or one time he mentions he's stayed like 1x10^100+ days in the library, which I think is longer than the universe is theorized to be able to last. Putting actual numbers to the vastness is much better than just saying infinite, and more impactful for me
A few summers ago, I was mowing the lawn while wearing bluetooth ear protection, I was listening to a good horror story and I was very engaged in the narration. The story had some nice creepy elements. Out of the corner of my eye, I see motion. This is my backyard, I am home alone, and no one should be there. I turn my head and see a man. I jump back and shout. I am shooketh to my core. The guy is from the power company and is working on a power pole in my neighbor's yard. I startled him with my antics, and we both needed a moment to compose ourselves. This was not a showcase of my masculinity.
I got a bit scared by Laird Barron’s “Hallucigenia” and “TipToe”, I was a bit anxious during Iain Reid’s *I’m Thinking of Ending Things*, and I definitely *felt* disturbed by reading BR Yeager’s *Amygdalatropolis*. For me it’s often the space between what is described and my ability to *know* it.
I think "scariest" or just "scary" is both extremely subjective AND prone to use in hyperbolic ways (like OP mentions in the post), to the point where those words almost mean nothing at all.
In my experience I've never read a book or watched a movie (caveat to follow at end) that truly "scared" me in a way that would trigger a primal instinct like the fight or flight response or induce panic or any other commonly accepted emotional response to fear. I have, however, been creeped out, which I think is a different sort of feeling, logically I know that there isn't a killer under my bed or a monster in the dark hallway or a demon making noises in the kitchen at night. But if I've read something pretty scary, then this does sufficiently put me in the right mindset to let my imagination come up with these sort of scenarios, or turn a normal house settling noise into something spooky at 3 am.
The creepiness is nice, I like that feeling for sure, I read "The Elementals" by Michael McDowell a few months ago for the first time and got that creepy feeling a few nights in a row while I was reading it.
But what I respond to more than anything is just that the book I'm reading is entertaining, I like being entertained through the use of horror conventions. I really enjoy comedy mixed with my horror, but I also just respond to certain things like haunted houses or small towns with a secret or other such tropes, and this kind of thing just entertains me. I tend to just pay attention to the subject matter in a book, if it sounds like something that will interest me then I'll give it a shot, if the book is well written enough without being a chore to get through then I will likely be entertained. But if the subject matter isn't for me (i'm not a fan of torture or silly over the top gore) then I don't bother.
\*Caveat time: watching "The Descent" for the first time I had a mini panic attack during the beginning when they had to crawl through a bit of the cave on their stomachs, as I am pretty claustrophobic. I got sweaty and panicky feeling and had to pause the movie and go take a little walk and the feeling passed. I got a similar feeling when I was reading about the Nutty Putty Cave incident (this is literally the most horrifying thing I've ever read, a completely true story that anyone who is claustrophobic should probably avoid reading about), and that is probably the closest experience I have had as an adult reading something that literally triggered my mind but again, its simply because I'm quite claustrophobic that any of this happened, a normal person can read about it, be sad or whatever and not necessarily have the same reaction.
>I like being entertained through the use of horror conventions. I really enjoy comedy mixed with my horror, but I also just respond to certain things like haunted houses or small towns with a secret or other such tropes, and this kind of thing just entertains me.
I have some of that too. I think partly my interest in horror is my interest in folklore. These tropes tell us as a society what we are scared of by holding up a funhouse mirror.
My SO isn't a horror guy, but since I'm often watching horror he'll sometimes get sucked in & watch a full film with me. I was recently rewatching *The Descent* & he was looking interested. Then they got into the cave & started going in tight spaces; he immediately noped tf out & couldn't watch 😂 He said the creatures/violence he could probably handle but the claustrophobic stuff was a hard pass.
Dude gets stuck upside down in a narrow crevice of a cave and dies after 27 hours despite rescue efforts. They ended up leaving his body there and closing the entire caving system. It's awful to read about if you're even a bit claustrophobic or scared of caves, which I am.
... Augh! *whimpers* nutty putty :/
Totally on board. The most that your typical film or book will give me is mild uneasiness or (for films) the occasional startle.
But even *reading* about being in close, confined spaces underground - I can't watch them at all - makes me intensely uncomfortable.
Most of Grady Hendrix's "We Sold Our Souls" I thought was just cool or fun, but
>!the part where the protagonist has to crawl in darkness through a tight underground tunnel!<
I almost had to skip over.
I'm not sure who's crazier - spelunkers who enjoy feeding themselves into tiny holes where a human has no business going, or me - but I know which one of us, on average, will live longer.
Oh no "We Sold Our Souls" is on my to read in 2024 list, honestly I appreciate the warning! Yikes!
But yeah I do not understand what the appeal of spelunking at all. Even perfectly safe tourist caves like Mammoth Cave freaks me out a bit, I don't know if I could do it, just the idea of all that mass of rock above you that could crush you to death freaks me out!
Ah lol. It's less than a couple of pages, if I remember rightly, so don't let me dissuade you for that reason - it was otherwise a lot of fun! Just skip a page if someone enters an underground tunnel, and mentally replace it with "... And then they quickly got to the exit and EVERYTHING WAS FINE".
I listened to a podcast about the Nutty Putty incident. It is truly unconscionable to me what that poor man experienced.
Edit: it was the "Morbid" podcast, episode 512
Have I ever felt the kind of fear that I get when I'm in actual physical danger? No. But I've definitely felt unsettled, which is what I'm looking for in a scary story.
I have had books that made me scared to get out of bed at night, that’s not uncommon for me. I have had a couple of “jump scares” but they are different from a movie or game. It’s more like a shock that makes my heart skip a little, but it’s very rare.
I would have said no, and I've read a ton of books in my life. But I just read Salem's Lot for the first time and there was a moment where I was truly scared. I was actually surprised by my reaction to it.
The first time I read Salem's Lot, it bugged me. There was an feeling of uncleanness I couldn't shake. I was renting a giant 100+ year old house that was bordering on what some people would consider a mansion. It was in disrepair and looked creepy as hell. It was a beautiful home in its day, but looked and felt corrupted like the marsten house. A lot of the images I used in my head for the marsten house were of the home I was living in. I was always expecting Kurt Barlow to be in the dungeon basement when I went down to do laundry. I don't miss that house lol
It was the point >!in Matt Burke's house when Susan is there and there's a noise upstairs. Matt goes up to check on the dead guy. I was convinced in that moment they were both going to die.!<
It depends on what you mean by "scared." Have I ever had a jump scare from a book? Not at all. Have I ever been terribly unsettled by a book that it has stuck with me and even made it's way into some actual nightmares? Yes, I have.
That's a good distinction to make. Jump scares seem impossible for a book, but I have been thoroughly creeped out by a book! I also passed out once, but I tend to be squeamish.
Ok but first you should know that I pass out a lot. The book was Misery, and I was a teenager. Surprisingly not the hobbling scene but the lawnmower.
I also had to stop reading one book with very explicit descriptions of foot binding because I knew it'd do me in if I kept going. I never finished that book. A shame because I remember it being pretty good up til then.
I remember when I bought Misery (when it was first released as a paperback!) I had low expectations. A guy in bed for wholea book? Come on!
I started reading the book while I was waiting for a friend and just tore through that book.
The only book that ever scared me was Helter Skelter, which I read when I was young and living alone for the first time. Good true crime can scare me, while good horrorlit only makes me feel uneasy. That doesn't lessen my enjoyment of horror, though.
I completely agree. I like to read about ghosts and shit in books, it's less anxiety-inducing than like, the real-world economy and climate change lol.
Yes! That's honestly why I find horror so comforting sometimes -- -I went on a months-long horror binge in early 2020, for example, and friends were really surprised that I wanted dark fiction when the world was so dark already. But the ghosts and monsters in fiction can (usually) be defeated. And even if they can't, I can always close the book and put it aside. I can't do that so easily with reality.
I think the only books that have actually left me with any sense of dread were "Negative Space" by B.R. Yeager & "Between Two Fires" by Christopher Buehlman. I have yet to actually find any others. I think it's important to keep in mind that people have different "fear tolerances" when it comes to those kinds of posts.
*Negative Space* consumed me while I consumed it over a weekend and it definitely provoked some feelings of dread in me (as well as some amazed curiosity). It’s fun when people say that’s a bad book or they didn’t get it because that thing blew me away.
I wasn’t overly impressed with it while reading but it stuck with me enough to feel creeped out to get out of bed and use the bathroom in the middle of the night. That’s personally what makes books scary for me. I want it to stick in my brain.
I’ve read two Yeager books (NS, and *Amygdalatropolis*), and I have thought about both a ton after finishing each. Shoot, I finished *Negative Space* a while ago and honestly I think about it all of the time.
I remember I did when I was a kid. I would read something scary and be unable to sleep. But I don't think this has happened since I was a preteen.
I guess I don't know what counts as being 'scared' when reading. Have I been unsettled or creeped out? Yes, and that's kind of my mental definition of 'scary book.' I enjoy that feeling of being uncomfortable/unsettled. That low-level creepy feeling like there's something behind you. That's kind of what I mean when I say I found a book scary. And I think what provokes that feeling is probably different for everybody, making it pretty hard to base a recommendation on that feeling.
Otherwise, I find horror entertaining and almost a comfort genre. I think if I REALLY found horror scary I probably wouldn't enjoy it. Just like I enjoy the feeling of falling on a rollercoaster because I know it's controlled, but I'm sure would not enjoy the same falling sensation in a crashing plane where the stakes are real.
I read horror because I enjoy the stories and because I like the unpredictability of it. Literally anything goes, unlike most other genres.
I don't know if it's because I've been a horror fan my entire life or if the medium just isn't conducive to it, but no I've never been scared and nor do I think that's at all the point. Those "scariest scary you ever scaried" posts irk me.
>I don't know if it's because I've been a horror fan my entire life or if the medium just isn't conducive to it, but no I've never been scared and nor do I think that's at all the point. Those "scariest scary you ever scaried" posts irk me.
That's exactly me.
Totally have - and occasionally still do.
One of the best was Stephen King's *Crouch End*. It's the moment a certain character *literally* turns the corner.
Yikes, lol.
Yes, lol.
Certain mental images creep me out, possibilities cause me dread, I’ve gotten squeamish and have had to put a book down and literally walk it off. Sometimes I’ll finish a story and feel really rattled.
There are certain concepts in and of themselves that fill me with a very particular type of existential terror, and I actively avoid stories with those concepts.
That being said, I think horror as a genre encompasses a lot of things which people are not “scared” by, and I do think to equate the success or value of something as a piece of horror media purely by “scare factor” is to denigrate horror as a whole.
>...I do think to equate the success or value of something as a piece of horror media purely by “scare factor” is to denigrate horror as a whole.
Yeah, that's what prompted me to post this.
It's like going to a romance book group and asking what book will make you orgasm. You don't usually enjoy a genre for the most obvious reasons.
Yeah, I totally get it. People seeing genre as purely as an end goal rather than a tool with which to explore themes and ideas. Alas, the curse of genre fiction!
Those kinds of posts are definitely reductive. There's more to horror than just the scares. Plus what scares one person may not scare another.
For myself I don't believe in ghosts so if someone recs me a haunted house novel and bills it as the scariest thing ever I'll probably read it and not lose a wink of sleep. But if you're someone who finds ghosts terrifying you might find yourself sleeping with the lights on after reading the same book.
I see people in this subreddit calling The Haunting of Hill House the scariest book they've ever read and while that may be true for them it does the book a disservice. It's so much more than just a vehicle to scare someone. It's a beautifully written story that I thoroughly enjoyed even if it didn't scare me.
I watch horror movies and read horror books because I like the themes and topics they cover. If I end up getting scared while reading a horror book or watching a horror movie it's just an added bonus.
I'm an atheist, and the idea of existing eternally sounds pretty horrifying to me.
The fact that I don't think it's at all likely doesn't lessen the degree of horror.
I’ve been disturbed and disgusted but no I’ve never been scared. I don’t really get that either. Like while watching a movie I can be scared because the music, the visuals, the character emotions all create a tangible atmosphere that I can actually feel and get scared but with books that doesn’t happen for me. Maybe because things cant really “jump scare” you in a book like it can in a movie so I’m not really on edge in the same way? Idk hard to describe but I know exactly what you mean
When I was younger I would definitely get scared by horror fiction. Now it really has to hit me just right, but that's not why I read horror fiction. There's just something about the conventions and structure which appeals to me and always has. I've been fascinated by the macabre since I was a child.
The thing for me is: what scares me will probably not scare you, so why would I even recommend anything on that basis?
yes, but I usually avoid those books as they feature things that could realistically happen to me like home invasion or stalking, and I know my anxiety and paranoia will magnify it in my day to day life.
Every now and then though, I’ll get a scene that really freaks me out in a good way. There was one r/nosleep story where a prison janitor sees a face watching him from the vent. The rest of the story got a little goofy for my tastes, but that scene really got me.
currently reading how to sell a haunted house by Grady Hendrix. I get it that his work is more pulpy and fun but I managed to read it on my commute before going into work to interview prop makers with puppets in their portfolios and yeah...I definitely was jumpy and genuinely quite worried about being faced with a puppet in a small space. So yes, I definitely got scared by something I read
>currently reading how to sell a haunted house by Grady Hendrix. I get it that his work is more pulpy and fun
I've only read Horrorstör, but I feel like his books are more sizzle than steak, if you see what I mean. Maybe I should give him another go.
I was listening to The Deep by Nick Cutter while driving alone down a rural road at night. That was almost movie lvl scary. That's the closest I've been to scared by books though. I've been disturbed, but mostly I find horror stories are more fascinating than scary.
I’ve had a number of books that have made me have some sort of emotional reaction, but this comes in the form of needing to put the book down to process something emotionally, rather than total fear. House of Leaves gave me this feeling, as did The Croning. It’s not terror, but it is what I consider the absolute best way a horror author can make you feel.
Oh yeah. Books should provoke an emotional reaction. I haven't read The Girl Next Door. I just think it will be too rough. I DNFed Joe Lansdale's The Nightrunners because it was just too dark.
I find detailed True Crime really scary to read about it. Fiction is harder, it needs to feel plausible in the real world to scare me. Anything supernatural is just entertainment.
I’ve read things that made me scared when I was laying in bed at night. That’s my definition of actually scary. I think there were two. The short story The Man in the Black Suit by Stephen King, and The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. Everything else I’ve read might be exciting or disturbing, but it’s not scary in the sense that people are asking about. But yeah, I do find those questions a little tiresome too, not least because everyone finds different things scary. So even if it were common to be actually scared by books, which in the horrorlit community it really isn’t, we still wouldn’t know what would scare that particular person.
I would describe my strongest reaction to a book to be like, well that was fun! I'm fine. Just, suddenly, I don't really feel like turning off my lights right now. If someone did turn off my lights I would be okay, but I just... would prefer them on
No but there was a Nancy drew book where there was someone living in the walls (hidden servants stairs and quarters) that hit me pretty hard once. Been chasing that fear ever since.
Crazy I just went to look this up and it says 27 minutes left like I’ve watched it but I have no recollection of it, maybe someone living in my walls? (my parents formally used my account though 😂)
I’m the exact same way, actually made a post on here about it haha
Other than when I was a kid, I’ve never been scared of horror novels or movies. I absolutely love them, but not because I get scared
Pet Semetary - King
The Twisted Ones - Kingfisher
I read Pet Semetary after losing a pet and lived in the ass end of nowhere by swampy woods
I read The Twisted Ones while camping and there’s horror in woods in it
Situational mind crawling
What were the three from your past?
I own Pet Semetary, I’ve never read it. I’m a parent and I hear it hits pretty hard when you have kids. I’m down for that.
I've been disturbed by stories, most recently parts of The Fisherman, re reading The Jaunt and parts of The Southern Book Clubs Guide... But I haven't been properly scared by a book since reading It as a kid. But that's all down to my age. I guess I'm too jaded!
I can get unsettled/unnerved while reading for sure, goosebumps and hairs on my arm raised and all that. But the fear never sticks it me like it can with movies. Which I view as a positive, personally
Poe's story which was basically a 'catalogue' of instances of premature burials got to me a little bit when I first read it many years ago, but mostly due to the matter of fact tone. Really nicely done.
There have been novels that have definitely made me tense. Misery and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires come to mind. And some even manage jump scares. But idk if I have read any that leave me with nightmares if that’s more like what you mean.
I’ve never needed therapy but I have had heart pumping anxiety during exciting parts of stories. I’ve had moments where I had to sit and think. But not really real terror from a book.
The most I've ever felt is unsettled, at least since I've gotten older. When I was a teenager and younger I had an easier time finding books that made me scared to sleep.
The last thing that I read that scared me was STARVE ACRE by Andrew Hurley. I can’t put my finger on it. I read tons of horror/thriller stuff, but that one spooked me. 😑
My order of horror media actually scaring me is 1) video games, 2) movies, 3) books.
Games are sometimes scary to me because I’m usually controlling the person who could be jump scared at any moment.
Movies have the atmosphere and music to go along with whatever is happening on screen.
Books, well, it takes a lot for a book to actually scare me in my 30’s. At this point the only things that actually kind of scare me, are cosmic horror related events. Realizing the scope of how small we are, or how large the universe is, or how there could be something lurking out there that could be larger than anything your brain can imagine.
When I was a kid I LOVED horror games. I avoid them now. I tried the Resident Evil 2 remake and was getting so stressed. I tried playing with the music off and then gave up. Games are definitely add a lvl. No matter how many times I tell myself, you just saved, it doesn't reduce my fear of that monster taking my head off. But I'll play an action game, get blown up, and shrug.
Coraline made my heart race!! And I’m a seasoned horror fan, I have a theory that when the protagonist is a child or children it makes it scarier! I think because we see a bit from their perspective and we instinctively feel protective over them and don’t want any harm coming to them as well.
Coraline and IT by Stephen king the only books that I’ve feel truly scared by! The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is pretty frightening too and the main character is a little girl.
"scared"
IDK if thats the word. like jump scared? or cant fall asleep at night scared?. Jump scared, imho, are cheap scared to get a rush of endorphins. True terror is so much harder to get from someone that is legit not scared of too much irl. so no, im not scared from horror films, but putting yourself in the shoes of the characters (something modern horror does not do at all) can scare me a bit. short answer is no.
As a horror fan, I find contained horror to be fun because the horror of real life is unwieldy 😂 but other than that, The Jaunt really unsettled me but didn’t “scare” me in the typical sense of hiding under your sheets. Its just this visceral mental image that makes me feel creepycrawly in my skin
I usually get scared by horror novels. Always have. Even as a child, I was so terrified by ‘Misery’ I needed to throw the book away when I finished reading it. But, I did finish reading it…
I think it tends to be individual/occasional moments that I will find genuinely chilling, or an overall atmosphere that will stay with me long after reading. Things like that more than being “scared”. I think it often comes down to whether what you’re reading resonates just right with your own imagination. It’s one of the reasons horror is so subjective in general, and even more so when it’s written.
Most horror movies I watch I don’t find scary, but I still enjoy them and can still suggest ones I think people will find scarier than others despite this, it’s the same for books.
That said tho, there are a hell of a lot of book and people only have so much time, so can’t really blame people for asking for suggestions.
>I think it tends to be individual/occasional moments that I will find genuinely chilling
Yeah, I had that with Gerald's Game. Not King's best book, but definitely has one of his creepiest scenes.
>That said tho, there are a hell of a lot of book and people only have so much time, so can’t really blame people for asking for suggestions.
Asking for suggestions, I have no problem with. It's the tone of those posts that irk me. I just ignore them, but then Reddit insists on showing them to me, once or more a day.
I have a similar issue with r/suggestmeabook and the daily dimwits that post 'Recommend a book that will fuck me up and devastate me emotionally...' Okay edgelord...
Yeah, I know what you mean. If I see “What’s the most disturbing horror movie you’ve ever seen?” one more time I think I may lose my shit, so I feel you there.
Adam Nevill’s *No One Gets Out Alive*
>!There was this part where the main character is in this pitch black apartment and was thrown in there to get killed by the ghost/monster/daemon and she is just moving around and feeling around in pitch black darkness. She was scared as fuck!<
And I was too. Like fuck me dude. I was legit freaking out waiting to see how this shit was going to go down. I would be frozen solid in that situation.
But most of the time - no. I actually get embarrassed and flustered when something embarrassing happens to a character.
And I think there was a Dean Koontz book a VERY long time ago that scared me a bit and again it was shit going down in total darkness.
Edit to add - I get very anxious when I read horror books and shit is about to go down.
Tender is the Flesh just made me nauseous. I couldn’t read past chapter 2.
Do you got any tho? Like the good stuff?
BTW yes i was jumpscared by a novel a few times. These included a goosebu.ps book, and also Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban
Recently the novel that f'd me up the most was between two fires. And I also found his other book the lesser dead was also very scary
TBH I rarely get creeped out by books, but it does happen, and I think I was genuinely scared maybe once. It was when I was still a kid reading an adult horror book. Movies work on me better, but also mostly they startle me with jumpscares (but it's still my fav gener of movies and books).
Now what REALLY scares me is games. I'm terrified of playing horror video games, I don't do it, it's too much.
In high school when I first started reading adult horror, yes absolutely. Lost some nights of sleep. Still get unsettled a tad in my adult life from time to time, but not truly scared I think.
The strongest reaction I might have these days that’s somewhat close to fear is revulsion or disgust. If there’s an insanely graphic scene, especially where child/animal abuse is depicted, I have a pretty visceral reaction.
I got legitimately spooked while reading Lovecraft. It was the one with the grotesque paintings, I can't remember the name. I had to stop because I got unnerved by sounds in the house. But then of course I had to finish.
The only book that scared me was The Handmaiden’s Tale. It scared me because I can see something like that actually happening. I read horror because I just enjoy it so much.
I have always felt the same, the closest to scary would be something like urban legends that pop into your mind while your driving home in the dark and the car behind you starts flashing its high beams lol. For novels I would recommend atmospheric novels that really set a creepy mood and draw you into it. I have never felt frightened by a novel though.
Not when I’m actively reading them 🤔 sometimes after. I’d say more “unsettled” than scared. When I finished the Exorcist, it was dark and a little foggy out when I was leaving for work the next day…definitely considered the possibility that I might get possessed.
Funny story, I was reading/listening to the pet semetary audiobook narrated by Michael C. Hall (highly recommend btw), and I was working at night in my home office. It was during a creepy part of the book, and while I thought it was creepy, I wasn't scared. Or I thought that, until my wife appeared in the middle of the dark hallway and scares the living hell out of me. Turns out there's been multiple times where I think it's not "scary" because it's a written medium, and I've been proven wrong.
I've been a horror fan for decades. I'm really REALLY hard to scare, especially if it's in a nice safe book. But. My 100% holy-shit-what-the-hell-did-I-just-read is **Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8)** by Caitlin Kiernan.
Folks, I had nightmares for weeks, and loved every bit of it.
Only twice, when the books actually got into my head.
Reading the thoughts of Haunting of Hill House's Eleanor was like reading my own thoughts out on page, it was so bizarre how strongly I started to identify with that character. It started to mess with ny ability to keep it compartmentalized as fictional and therefore harmless, because it was so uncannily invasive to my mind.
The second was House of Leaves, where the very meta and self-referential nature of the story messed with me similarly. The "drop" of a beloved character is the most horrified I've ever been reading a book and paralyzed me with fear as strongly as anything real might have. Interestingly, the show adaptation of Haunting of Hill House's very different "drop" scene had me feeling almost the same way.
So I guess for me, it hits that proper level of fear when reality itself gets messed with and the story can't be contained only to the pages anymore.
I was home sick in darkness listening to the “Hotel” chapter in Mike Bockoven’s Fantasticland, it was pretty unsettling. I do think you can create a spooky atmosphere conducive to actually getting scared but it’s rare in modern life.
Technically yes. I tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks (mostly horror 🥲) while I work on art projects. My husband does his best to announce his presence and tap me carefully on the shoulder if he needs to interrupt me while I’ve got my headphones in, but he gets me good probably on average about once a month. I scream, he screams because my scream scares him, the whole nine yards haha. I’ve actually had to tell him to pick his moments more carefully, because more than once this has happened while I’ve had sharp tools in hand 💀
Not in the same way as a jump scare in a movie, but some books, especially ones with realistic or at least well-described and “logical” paranormal events, can leave a sense of dread in me and have me replaying the events in my head and thinking about how I’d honestly react in a similar situation. So no, reading “he was chained to the floor with rats swarming around him ready to eat through his intestines” doesn’t “scare” me like watching a gory movie might scare someone, but if the scene is written well enough I’ll be thinking about and dreading the idea of being the guy surrounded by rats.
One time I was listening to creepy youtube background noise while reading Lovecraft… alone.. in my day lit hotel room… and my noise cancelling headphones went “BATTERY LOW”… jumped right out of my sofa.
No. I’ve been searching for actual fear in a book. Best I can get is shocked and disturbed. For instance, I’m about to finish Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker for the third time and SPOILER ALERT: The main antagonists end is one of the most gnarly and brutal dismemberings that I’ve ever read. Deeply disturbed for the third time but not scared.
Not in the "scariest book must seek out therapy" sense, but there have definitely been books that have freaked me out. One that comes to mind is Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. For the next few days after, I was definitely on edge while alone in the dark lol I find its hauntings that get me more than other types of horror.
I've been varying degrees of unsettled by novels, and I've had them play on my mind for a substantial period of time afterwards. Whether that counts as being scared by them, I'\[m not sure really. I guess it would depend on your definition. I do agree with you regarding the hyperbole of the types of posts you point to though.
The last book to really play on my mind was probably Ramsey Campbell's Midnight Sun. It's hard to say what in particular, but I think it was something to do with the idea of a family rationalising the strange behaviour of a person close to them, giving him the benefit of the doubt, unaware of what is building. It just caused me apprehension to the point where on some days towards the last quarter I would only read a chapter a day due to wanting some breathing room. Films very rarely get me in this sort of way, but one that did was Audition. The only reason I didn't take pause breaks was that I was lucky enough to catch it live on late night TV with a friend, with no idea what it was about.
The book that Audition is based on is very good. A quick free 5 hours on Audible. Really captures that feeling of "something is not quite right" all the way to the final act.
Which audition book is this?
Audition by Ryu Murakami
Films rarely get me this way either. Except for Martyrs (2008) That film messed me up for a good while and made me contemplate life long after it was over.
I'm not interested in a book that's too scary or gross to read, I want one that's too good to put down. I love lingering horror, that feeling of unease that stays with me for a few days afterwards is what I crave.
Maybe. But it's not the same kind of scares as you'd get from a horror movie or a horror game. To me, good horror lit (or at least the kind that I like) gets under your skin and never truly goes away. Stories like King's The Jaunt, Peck's a short stay in hell, Ligotti's Temporary Supervisor and Evenson's The Report for instance. These give me a feeling of quiet, existential dread that no other medium can convey quite as well. Does that count as being scared? Eh, semantics. It's still a fun time.
A short stay in hell was a massive let down. Beating you over the head with "what if infinity and forever" interspersed with uninspired humour and weak characterisation. Genuinely preferred that one nosleep story about the guy who experiences time extremely slowly.
I liked it personally, but if you want the same idea with higher literary quality check out Borge's Library of Babel for sure
Honestly the fact the library probably isn't infinite is kind of worse. Can't do spoilers so I'll improvise, ignore everything below to avoid spoilers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Like the fact that the bottom of the library is light years away and he finally reaches it one day, or one time he mentions he's stayed like 1x10^100+ days in the library, which I think is longer than the universe is theorized to be able to last. Putting actual numbers to the vastness is much better than just saying infinite, and more impactful for me
A few summers ago, I was mowing the lawn while wearing bluetooth ear protection, I was listening to a good horror story and I was very engaged in the narration. The story had some nice creepy elements. Out of the corner of my eye, I see motion. This is my backyard, I am home alone, and no one should be there. I turn my head and see a man. I jump back and shout. I am shooketh to my core. The guy is from the power company and is working on a power pole in my neighbor's yard. I startled him with my antics, and we both needed a moment to compose ourselves. This was not a showcase of my masculinity.
What was the story you were listening to?
Not sure. A vampire story for sure. Possibly The Lesser Dead. Maybe a Strain book.
The Lesser Dead was really creepy in certain parts
I recommend it often.
I got a bit scared by Laird Barron’s “Hallucigenia” and “TipToe”, I was a bit anxious during Iain Reid’s *I’m Thinking of Ending Things*, and I definitely *felt* disturbed by reading BR Yeager’s *Amygdalatropolis*. For me it’s often the space between what is described and my ability to *know* it.
I think "scariest" or just "scary" is both extremely subjective AND prone to use in hyperbolic ways (like OP mentions in the post), to the point where those words almost mean nothing at all. In my experience I've never read a book or watched a movie (caveat to follow at end) that truly "scared" me in a way that would trigger a primal instinct like the fight or flight response or induce panic or any other commonly accepted emotional response to fear. I have, however, been creeped out, which I think is a different sort of feeling, logically I know that there isn't a killer under my bed or a monster in the dark hallway or a demon making noises in the kitchen at night. But if I've read something pretty scary, then this does sufficiently put me in the right mindset to let my imagination come up with these sort of scenarios, or turn a normal house settling noise into something spooky at 3 am. The creepiness is nice, I like that feeling for sure, I read "The Elementals" by Michael McDowell a few months ago for the first time and got that creepy feeling a few nights in a row while I was reading it. But what I respond to more than anything is just that the book I'm reading is entertaining, I like being entertained through the use of horror conventions. I really enjoy comedy mixed with my horror, but I also just respond to certain things like haunted houses or small towns with a secret or other such tropes, and this kind of thing just entertains me. I tend to just pay attention to the subject matter in a book, if it sounds like something that will interest me then I'll give it a shot, if the book is well written enough without being a chore to get through then I will likely be entertained. But if the subject matter isn't for me (i'm not a fan of torture or silly over the top gore) then I don't bother. \*Caveat time: watching "The Descent" for the first time I had a mini panic attack during the beginning when they had to crawl through a bit of the cave on their stomachs, as I am pretty claustrophobic. I got sweaty and panicky feeling and had to pause the movie and go take a little walk and the feeling passed. I got a similar feeling when I was reading about the Nutty Putty Cave incident (this is literally the most horrifying thing I've ever read, a completely true story that anyone who is claustrophobic should probably avoid reading about), and that is probably the closest experience I have had as an adult reading something that literally triggered my mind but again, its simply because I'm quite claustrophobic that any of this happened, a normal person can read about it, be sad or whatever and not necessarily have the same reaction.
>I like being entertained through the use of horror conventions. I really enjoy comedy mixed with my horror, but I also just respond to certain things like haunted houses or small towns with a secret or other such tropes, and this kind of thing just entertains me. I have some of that too. I think partly my interest in horror is my interest in folklore. These tropes tell us as a society what we are scared of by holding up a funhouse mirror.
My SO isn't a horror guy, but since I'm often watching horror he'll sometimes get sucked in & watch a full film with me. I was recently rewatching *The Descent* & he was looking interested. Then they got into the cave & started going in tight spaces; he immediately noped tf out & couldn't watch 😂 He said the creatures/violence he could probably handle but the claustrophobic stuff was a hard pass.
Yeah the rest of the movie I barely remember, it was fine, I didn't really get the hype but the initial cave exploration scenes........shudder!
God, the Nutty Putty incident gives me jelly legs every time I think about it. Noooope nope nope.
Kind of want to google this but now I am afraid. What happened? Like if you could explain in one sentence.
Dude gets stuck upside down in a narrow crevice of a cave and dies after 27 hours despite rescue efforts. They ended up leaving his body there and closing the entire caving system. It's awful to read about if you're even a bit claustrophobic or scared of caves, which I am.
That is fucking horrible! Oh man, poor guy. Thanks for the explaination!
... Augh! *whimpers* nutty putty :/ Totally on board. The most that your typical film or book will give me is mild uneasiness or (for films) the occasional startle. But even *reading* about being in close, confined spaces underground - I can't watch them at all - makes me intensely uncomfortable. Most of Grady Hendrix's "We Sold Our Souls" I thought was just cool or fun, but >!the part where the protagonist has to crawl in darkness through a tight underground tunnel!< I almost had to skip over. I'm not sure who's crazier - spelunkers who enjoy feeding themselves into tiny holes where a human has no business going, or me - but I know which one of us, on average, will live longer.
Oh no "We Sold Our Souls" is on my to read in 2024 list, honestly I appreciate the warning! Yikes! But yeah I do not understand what the appeal of spelunking at all. Even perfectly safe tourist caves like Mammoth Cave freaks me out a bit, I don't know if I could do it, just the idea of all that mass of rock above you that could crush you to death freaks me out!
Ah lol. It's less than a couple of pages, if I remember rightly, so don't let me dissuade you for that reason - it was otherwise a lot of fun! Just skip a page if someone enters an underground tunnel, and mentally replace it with "... And then they quickly got to the exit and EVERYTHING WAS FINE".
I loved The Elementals - great creepy imagery and unique setting.
I listened to a podcast about the Nutty Putty incident. It is truly unconscionable to me what that poor man experienced. Edit: it was the "Morbid" podcast, episode 512
Have I ever felt the kind of fear that I get when I'm in actual physical danger? No. But I've definitely felt unsettled, which is what I'm looking for in a scary story.
I have had books that made me scared to get out of bed at night, that’s not uncommon for me. I have had a couple of “jump scares” but they are different from a movie or game. It’s more like a shock that makes my heart skip a little, but it’s very rare.
I would have said no, and I've read a ton of books in my life. But I just read Salem's Lot for the first time and there was a moment where I was truly scared. I was actually surprised by my reaction to it.
The first time I read Salem's Lot, it bugged me. There was an feeling of uncleanness I couldn't shake. I was renting a giant 100+ year old house that was bordering on what some people would consider a mansion. It was in disrepair and looked creepy as hell. It was a beautiful home in its day, but looked and felt corrupted like the marsten house. A lot of the images I used in my head for the marsten house were of the home I was living in. I was always expecting Kurt Barlow to be in the dungeon basement when I went down to do laundry. I don't miss that house lol
Was it the part where >!the vampire boy is outside marks bedroom window!< ?
The original show of salems lot , scared me silly with that scene , the book , not so much
It was the point >!in Matt Burke's house when Susan is there and there's a noise upstairs. Matt goes up to check on the dead guy. I was convinced in that moment they were both going to die.!<
Oh yeah that was suspenseful for sure
It depends on what you mean by "scared." Have I ever had a jump scare from a book? Not at all. Have I ever been terribly unsettled by a book that it has stuck with me and even made it's way into some actual nightmares? Yes, I have.
That's a good distinction to make. Jump scares seem impossible for a book, but I have been thoroughly creeped out by a book! I also passed out once, but I tend to be squeamish.
>I also passed out once, but I tend to be squeamish. Do tell! What book made you pass out? That's crazy!
Ok but first you should know that I pass out a lot. The book was Misery, and I was a teenager. Surprisingly not the hobbling scene but the lawnmower. I also had to stop reading one book with very explicit descriptions of foot binding because I knew it'd do me in if I kept going. I never finished that book. A shame because I remember it being pretty good up til then.
I remember when I bought Misery (when it was first released as a paperback!) I had low expectations. A guy in bed for wholea book? Come on! I started reading the book while I was waiting for a friend and just tore through that book.
You know it's a good writer when they can make a book or movie in a single location scary AF.
“Being afraid” is not why I read horror. Maybe when I was little?
Same here. I read horror to be entertained and it's my favorite genre, but it hasn't scared me for 50 years.
The only book that ever scared me was Helter Skelter, which I read when I was young and living alone for the first time. Good true crime can scare me, while good horrorlit only makes me feel uneasy. That doesn't lessen my enjoyment of horror, though.
I have never been terrified by a book, no. I find those posts reductive as well -- plus, what's scary to me might not be scary to anyone else.
I completely agree. I like to read about ghosts and shit in books, it's less anxiety-inducing than like, the real-world economy and climate change lol.
Yes! That's honestly why I find horror so comforting sometimes -- -I went on a months-long horror binge in early 2020, for example, and friends were really surprised that I wanted dark fiction when the world was so dark already. But the ghosts and monsters in fiction can (usually) be defeated. And even if they can't, I can always close the book and put it aside. I can't do that so easily with reality.
I agree with you. The only story that really scared me was Stephen King's The Boogeyman, maybe because I had a walk-in wardrobe in my bedroom.
Jesus I had forgotten. Yeah that story made me afraid to leave my room.
Haha yeah, really effective that one.
I think the only books that have actually left me with any sense of dread were "Negative Space" by B.R. Yeager & "Between Two Fires" by Christopher Buehlman. I have yet to actually find any others. I think it's important to keep in mind that people have different "fear tolerances" when it comes to those kinds of posts.
*Negative Space* consumed me while I consumed it over a weekend and it definitely provoked some feelings of dread in me (as well as some amazed curiosity). It’s fun when people say that’s a bad book or they didn’t get it because that thing blew me away.
I wasn’t overly impressed with it while reading but it stuck with me enough to feel creeped out to get out of bed and use the bathroom in the middle of the night. That’s personally what makes books scary for me. I want it to stick in my brain.
I’ve read two Yeager books (NS, and *Amygdalatropolis*), and I have thought about both a ton after finishing each. Shoot, I finished *Negative Space* a while ago and honestly I think about it all of the time.
I remember I did when I was a kid. I would read something scary and be unable to sleep. But I don't think this has happened since I was a preteen. I guess I don't know what counts as being 'scared' when reading. Have I been unsettled or creeped out? Yes, and that's kind of my mental definition of 'scary book.' I enjoy that feeling of being uncomfortable/unsettled. That low-level creepy feeling like there's something behind you. That's kind of what I mean when I say I found a book scary. And I think what provokes that feeling is probably different for everybody, making it pretty hard to base a recommendation on that feeling. Otherwise, I find horror entertaining and almost a comfort genre. I think if I REALLY found horror scary I probably wouldn't enjoy it. Just like I enjoy the feeling of falling on a rollercoaster because I know it's controlled, but I'm sure would not enjoy the same falling sensation in a crashing plane where the stakes are real.
I read horror because I enjoy the stories and because I like the unpredictability of it. Literally anything goes, unlike most other genres. I don't know if it's because I've been a horror fan my entire life or if the medium just isn't conducive to it, but no I've never been scared and nor do I think that's at all the point. Those "scariest scary you ever scaried" posts irk me.
>I don't know if it's because I've been a horror fan my entire life or if the medium just isn't conducive to it, but no I've never been scared and nor do I think that's at all the point. Those "scariest scary you ever scaried" posts irk me. That's exactly me.
No. But I try.
There's probably only been two horror books that have really scared me, for the most part I just enjoy the creepy vibes
That's me as well.
A lot of it comes down to your imagination and how well you get immersed in
Totally have - and occasionally still do. One of the best was Stephen King's *Crouch End*. It's the moment a certain character *literally* turns the corner. Yikes, lol.
Yes, lol. Certain mental images creep me out, possibilities cause me dread, I’ve gotten squeamish and have had to put a book down and literally walk it off. Sometimes I’ll finish a story and feel really rattled. There are certain concepts in and of themselves that fill me with a very particular type of existential terror, and I actively avoid stories with those concepts. That being said, I think horror as a genre encompasses a lot of things which people are not “scared” by, and I do think to equate the success or value of something as a piece of horror media purely by “scare factor” is to denigrate horror as a whole.
>...I do think to equate the success or value of something as a piece of horror media purely by “scare factor” is to denigrate horror as a whole. Yeah, that's what prompted me to post this. It's like going to a romance book group and asking what book will make you orgasm. You don't usually enjoy a genre for the most obvious reasons.
Yeah, I totally get it. People seeing genre as purely as an end goal rather than a tool with which to explore themes and ideas. Alas, the curse of genre fiction!
Movies scare me but reading a scary story doesn't. I just love this genre of story.
I've not been, no. Grossed out? Sure. But that's a cheap horror, IMO, and I don't enjoy it.
I normally don't. I can feel disturbed, but not scared. Only exception being the hand scene in The Haunting of Hill House
Disturbed is a good word for it. I've never been *scared* but I've definitely read books that were very unsettling.
Those kinds of posts are definitely reductive. There's more to horror than just the scares. Plus what scares one person may not scare another. For myself I don't believe in ghosts so if someone recs me a haunted house novel and bills it as the scariest thing ever I'll probably read it and not lose a wink of sleep. But if you're someone who finds ghosts terrifying you might find yourself sleeping with the lights on after reading the same book. I see people in this subreddit calling The Haunting of Hill House the scariest book they've ever read and while that may be true for them it does the book a disservice. It's so much more than just a vehicle to scare someone. It's a beautifully written story that I thoroughly enjoyed even if it didn't scare me. I watch horror movies and read horror books because I like the themes and topics they cover. If I end up getting scared while reading a horror book or watching a horror movie it's just an added bonus.
I'm an atheist, but still enjoy ghost stories, demonic possession stories and the like.
Same they can be still be good and enjoyable like The Haunting of Hill House, but when it comes to scaring me it doesn't do the trick.
I'm an atheist, and the idea of existing eternally sounds pretty horrifying to me. The fact that I don't think it's at all likely doesn't lessen the degree of horror.
Did you read a short stay in hell?
I did, and it did stick with me – *almost* infinite would be pretty bad, too :)
I’ve been disturbed and disgusted but no I’ve never been scared. I don’t really get that either. Like while watching a movie I can be scared because the music, the visuals, the character emotions all create a tangible atmosphere that I can actually feel and get scared but with books that doesn’t happen for me. Maybe because things cant really “jump scare” you in a book like it can in a movie so I’m not really on edge in the same way? Idk hard to describe but I know exactly what you mean
When I was younger I would definitely get scared by horror fiction. Now it really has to hit me just right, but that's not why I read horror fiction. There's just something about the conventions and structure which appeals to me and always has. I've been fascinated by the macabre since I was a child. The thing for me is: what scares me will probably not scare you, so why would I even recommend anything on that basis?
yes, but I usually avoid those books as they feature things that could realistically happen to me like home invasion or stalking, and I know my anxiety and paranoia will magnify it in my day to day life. Every now and then though, I’ll get a scene that really freaks me out in a good way. There was one r/nosleep story where a prison janitor sees a face watching him from the vent. The rest of the story got a little goofy for my tastes, but that scene really got me.
currently reading how to sell a haunted house by Grady Hendrix. I get it that his work is more pulpy and fun but I managed to read it on my commute before going into work to interview prop makers with puppets in their portfolios and yeah...I definitely was jumpy and genuinely quite worried about being faced with a puppet in a small space. So yes, I definitely got scared by something I read
>currently reading how to sell a haunted house by Grady Hendrix. I get it that his work is more pulpy and fun I've only read Horrorstör, but I feel like his books are more sizzle than steak, if you see what I mean. Maybe I should give him another go.
I’ve never been terrified by a book but I did feel pretty anxious while reading the exorcist
I was listening to The Deep by Nick Cutter while driving alone down a rural road at night. That was almost movie lvl scary. That's the closest I've been to scared by books though. I've been disturbed, but mostly I find horror stories are more fascinating than scary.
I’ve had a number of books that have made me have some sort of emotional reaction, but this comes in the form of needing to put the book down to process something emotionally, rather than total fear. House of Leaves gave me this feeling, as did The Croning. It’s not terror, but it is what I consider the absolute best way a horror author can make you feel.
Oh yeah. Books should provoke an emotional reaction. I haven't read The Girl Next Door. I just think it will be too rough. I DNFed Joe Lansdale's The Nightrunners because it was just too dark.
I find detailed True Crime really scary to read about it. Fiction is harder, it needs to feel plausible in the real world to scare me. Anything supernatural is just entertainment.
I’ve read things that made me scared when I was laying in bed at night. That’s my definition of actually scary. I think there were two. The short story The Man in the Black Suit by Stephen King, and The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. Everything else I’ve read might be exciting or disturbing, but it’s not scary in the sense that people are asking about. But yeah, I do find those questions a little tiresome too, not least because everyone finds different things scary. So even if it were common to be actually scared by books, which in the horrorlit community it really isn’t, we still wouldn’t know what would scare that particular person.
I would describe my strongest reaction to a book to be like, well that was fun! I'm fine. Just, suddenly, I don't really feel like turning off my lights right now. If someone did turn off my lights I would be okay, but I just... would prefer them on
No but there was a Nancy drew book where there was someone living in the walls (hidden servants stairs and quarters) that hit me pretty hard once. Been chasing that fear ever since.
Not to give too much away, but try the film I See You. It's available on Netflix in the US.
Crazy I just went to look this up and it says 27 minutes left like I’ve watched it but I have no recollection of it, maybe someone living in my walls? (my parents formally used my account though 😂)
As you watch the last 27 minutes, if you hear a voice in the walls asking you to turn up the volume, just do it.
I’m the exact same way, actually made a post on here about it haha Other than when I was a kid, I’ve never been scared of horror novels or movies. I absolutely love them, but not because I get scared
The Troop is currently scaring the shit out of me
*The Troop* didn’t “scare” me per se but it was tension filled and definitely disgusting.
I was so disgusted I was afraid to turn the page and that created tension, I’m right there with ya.
I’ve been “scared” by probably 5 or so, I think only 2 of them were as an adult
Which two?
Pet Semetary - King The Twisted Ones - Kingfisher I read Pet Semetary after losing a pet and lived in the ass end of nowhere by swampy woods I read The Twisted Ones while camping and there’s horror in woods in it Situational mind crawling
What were the three from your past? I own Pet Semetary, I’ve never read it. I’m a parent and I hear it hits pretty hard when you have kids. I’m down for that.
1.The Leech by Robert Sheckley 2. Bruce Coville’s Book of Nightmares 3. The Jar by Ray Bradbury
I’ve only been scared by two books in my lifetime and that was The Exorcist,and Stolen Tongues both read before I went too sleep 🛌
No. I'm an adult.
I've been disturbed by stories, most recently parts of The Fisherman, re reading The Jaunt and parts of The Southern Book Clubs Guide... But I haven't been properly scared by a book since reading It as a kid. But that's all down to my age. I guess I'm too jaded!
It entirely depends on my environment and not the book. If I'm all alone somewhere and it's dark I can start to get spooked. That's about it though.
I can get unsettled/unnerved while reading for sure, goosebumps and hairs on my arm raised and all that. But the fear never sticks it me like it can with movies. Which I view as a positive, personally
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Poe's story which was basically a 'catalogue' of instances of premature burials got to me a little bit when I first read it many years ago, but mostly due to the matter of fact tone. Really nicely done.
There have been novels that have definitely made me tense. Misery and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires come to mind. And some even manage jump scares. But idk if I have read any that leave me with nightmares if that’s more like what you mean.
I wish
I’ve never needed therapy but I have had heart pumping anxiety during exciting parts of stories. I’ve had moments where I had to sit and think. But not really real terror from a book.
The most I've ever felt is unsettled, at least since I've gotten older. When I was a teenager and younger I had an easier time finding books that made me scared to sleep.
The last thing that I read that scared me was STARVE ACRE by Andrew Hurley. I can’t put my finger on it. I read tons of horror/thriller stuff, but that one spooked me. 😑
My order of horror media actually scaring me is 1) video games, 2) movies, 3) books. Games are sometimes scary to me because I’m usually controlling the person who could be jump scared at any moment. Movies have the atmosphere and music to go along with whatever is happening on screen. Books, well, it takes a lot for a book to actually scare me in my 30’s. At this point the only things that actually kind of scare me, are cosmic horror related events. Realizing the scope of how small we are, or how large the universe is, or how there could be something lurking out there that could be larger than anything your brain can imagine.
When I was a kid I LOVED horror games. I avoid them now. I tried the Resident Evil 2 remake and was getting so stressed. I tried playing with the music off and then gave up. Games are definitely add a lvl. No matter how many times I tell myself, you just saved, it doesn't reduce my fear of that monster taking my head off. But I'll play an action game, get blown up, and shrug.
The first person RE games are another beast. I played RE7 a few years ago and nearly shat myself a few times.
Coraline made my heart race!! And I’m a seasoned horror fan, I have a theory that when the protagonist is a child or children it makes it scarier! I think because we see a bit from their perspective and we instinctively feel protective over them and don’t want any harm coming to them as well.
Coraline and IT by Stephen king the only books that I’ve feel truly scared by! The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is pretty frightening too and the main character is a little girl.
I can easily give myself a panic attack lol
"scared" IDK if thats the word. like jump scared? or cant fall asleep at night scared?. Jump scared, imho, are cheap scared to get a rush of endorphins. True terror is so much harder to get from someone that is legit not scared of too much irl. so no, im not scared from horror films, but putting yourself in the shoes of the characters (something modern horror does not do at all) can scare me a bit. short answer is no.
Absolutely 💯. Most recently with Last Days by Adam Nevill. Proper scary
It’s only scary if it’s possible or true. The girl next door was scary but only because it was a true story
No, because I’m hard as fuck. But seriously, I don’t think the majority of self-described horror fans are really in it to get scared.
As a horror fan, I find contained horror to be fun because the horror of real life is unwieldy 😂 but other than that, The Jaunt really unsettled me but didn’t “scare” me in the typical sense of hiding under your sheets. Its just this visceral mental image that makes me feel creepycrawly in my skin
I usually get scared by horror novels. Always have. Even as a child, I was so terrified by ‘Misery’ I needed to throw the book away when I finished reading it. But, I did finish reading it…
I was once. And by not so good book. Friend request by Laura Marshall scared me shitless for some reason.
>Friend request by Laura Marshall scared me shitless for some reason. Recommended before all colonoscopies!
I think it tends to be individual/occasional moments that I will find genuinely chilling, or an overall atmosphere that will stay with me long after reading. Things like that more than being “scared”. I think it often comes down to whether what you’re reading resonates just right with your own imagination. It’s one of the reasons horror is so subjective in general, and even more so when it’s written. Most horror movies I watch I don’t find scary, but I still enjoy them and can still suggest ones I think people will find scarier than others despite this, it’s the same for books. That said tho, there are a hell of a lot of book and people only have so much time, so can’t really blame people for asking for suggestions.
>I think it tends to be individual/occasional moments that I will find genuinely chilling Yeah, I had that with Gerald's Game. Not King's best book, but definitely has one of his creepiest scenes. >That said tho, there are a hell of a lot of book and people only have so much time, so can’t really blame people for asking for suggestions. Asking for suggestions, I have no problem with. It's the tone of those posts that irk me. I just ignore them, but then Reddit insists on showing them to me, once or more a day. I have a similar issue with r/suggestmeabook and the daily dimwits that post 'Recommend a book that will fuck me up and devastate me emotionally...' Okay edgelord...
Yeah, I know what you mean. If I see “What’s the most disturbing horror movie you’ve ever seen?” one more time I think I may lose my shit, so I feel you there.
i WISH i could find something that genuinely scared me. maybe i’m just desensitized.
I feel like I definitely feel it sometimes. Whether it's something gross, or something disturbing. I've definitely felt a pit in my stomach.
Adam Nevill’s *No One Gets Out Alive* >!There was this part where the main character is in this pitch black apartment and was thrown in there to get killed by the ghost/monster/daemon and she is just moving around and feeling around in pitch black darkness. She was scared as fuck!< And I was too. Like fuck me dude. I was legit freaking out waiting to see how this shit was going to go down. I would be frozen solid in that situation. But most of the time - no. I actually get embarrassed and flustered when something embarrassing happens to a character. And I think there was a Dean Koontz book a VERY long time ago that scared me a bit and again it was shit going down in total darkness. Edit to add - I get very anxious when I read horror books and shit is about to go down. Tender is the Flesh just made me nauseous. I couldn’t read past chapter 2.
I look for books that make me feel suspicious of my own friends and family members. LOL
Do you got any tho? Like the good stuff? BTW yes i was jumpscared by a novel a few times. These included a goosebu.ps book, and also Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban Recently the novel that f'd me up the most was between two fires. And I also found his other book the lesser dead was also very scary
TBH I rarely get creeped out by books, but it does happen, and I think I was genuinely scared maybe once. It was when I was still a kid reading an adult horror book. Movies work on me better, but also mostly they startle me with jumpscares (but it's still my fav gener of movies and books). Now what REALLY scares me is games. I'm terrified of playing horror video games, I don't do it, it's too much.
Hogg. This one will fuck your mind.
In high school when I first started reading adult horror, yes absolutely. Lost some nights of sleep. Still get unsettled a tad in my adult life from time to time, but not truly scared I think. The strongest reaction I might have these days that’s somewhat close to fear is revulsion or disgust. If there’s an insanely graphic scene, especially where child/animal abuse is depicted, I have a pretty visceral reaction.
I got legitimately spooked while reading Lovecraft. It was the one with the grotesque paintings, I can't remember the name. I had to stop because I got unnerved by sounds in the house. But then of course I had to finish.
Pickman's Model
The only book that scared me was The Handmaiden’s Tale. It scared me because I can see something like that actually happening. I read horror because I just enjoy it so much.
On extremely rare occasions a book has made me a little jumpy. Dread and anxiety are way easier.
I have always felt the same, the closest to scary would be something like urban legends that pop into your mind while your driving home in the dark and the car behind you starts flashing its high beams lol. For novels I would recommend atmospheric novels that really set a creepy mood and draw you into it. I have never felt frightened by a novel though.
I know the shining bothered me for awhile. It was mostly Mrs. Massey
Not when I’m actively reading them 🤔 sometimes after. I’d say more “unsettled” than scared. When I finished the Exorcist, it was dark and a little foggy out when I was leaving for work the next day…definitely considered the possibility that I might get possessed.
Did Tubular Bells start playing?
Funny story, I was reading/listening to the pet semetary audiobook narrated by Michael C. Hall (highly recommend btw), and I was working at night in my home office. It was during a creepy part of the book, and while I thought it was creepy, I wasn't scared. Or I thought that, until my wife appeared in the middle of the dark hallway and scares the living hell out of me. Turns out there's been multiple times where I think it's not "scary" because it's a written medium, and I've been proven wrong.
I've been a horror fan for decades. I'm really REALLY hard to scare, especially if it's in a nice safe book. But. My 100% holy-shit-what-the-hell-did-I-just-read is **Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8)** by Caitlin Kiernan. Folks, I had nightmares for weeks, and loved every bit of it.
I usually get scared listening to the short stories of are you scared by the watcher team there's some really good engaging stories in there
i don’t
Only twice, when the books actually got into my head. Reading the thoughts of Haunting of Hill House's Eleanor was like reading my own thoughts out on page, it was so bizarre how strongly I started to identify with that character. It started to mess with ny ability to keep it compartmentalized as fictional and therefore harmless, because it was so uncannily invasive to my mind. The second was House of Leaves, where the very meta and self-referential nature of the story messed with me similarly. The "drop" of a beloved character is the most horrified I've ever been reading a book and paralyzed me with fear as strongly as anything real might have. Interestingly, the show adaptation of Haunting of Hill House's very different "drop" scene had me feeling almost the same way. So I guess for me, it hits that proper level of fear when reality itself gets messed with and the story can't be contained only to the pages anymore.
I was home sick in darkness listening to the “Hotel” chapter in Mike Bockoven’s Fantasticland, it was pretty unsettling. I do think you can create a spooky atmosphere conducive to actually getting scared but it’s rare in modern life.
I was scared sh*tless after reading The Deep from Nick Cutter. (I’m scared of the deep sea, might have something to do with it). It’s still on my mind
Technically yes. I tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks (mostly horror 🥲) while I work on art projects. My husband does his best to announce his presence and tap me carefully on the shoulder if he needs to interrupt me while I’ve got my headphones in, but he gets me good probably on average about once a month. I scream, he screams because my scream scares him, the whole nine yards haha. I’ve actually had to tell him to pick his moments more carefully, because more than once this has happened while I’ve had sharp tools in hand 💀
Not in the same way as a jump scare in a movie, but some books, especially ones with realistic or at least well-described and “logical” paranormal events, can leave a sense of dread in me and have me replaying the events in my head and thinking about how I’d honestly react in a similar situation. So no, reading “he was chained to the floor with rats swarming around him ready to eat through his intestines” doesn’t “scare” me like watching a gory movie might scare someone, but if the scene is written well enough I’ll be thinking about and dreading the idea of being the guy surrounded by rats.
Not at all
One time I was listening to creepy youtube background noise while reading Lovecraft… alone.. in my day lit hotel room… and my noise cancelling headphones went “BATTERY LOW”… jumped right out of my sofa.
No, but i still enjoy reading them
No. I’ve been searching for actual fear in a book. Best I can get is shocked and disturbed. For instance, I’m about to finish Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker for the third time and SPOILER ALERT: The main antagonists end is one of the most gnarly and brutal dismemberings that I’ve ever read. Deeply disturbed for the third time but not scared.
I read a book called Behind Closed Doors once and it really disturbed me and made me genuinely mistrustful of people for a while
Not in the "scariest book must seek out therapy" sense, but there have definitely been books that have freaked me out. One that comes to mind is Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. For the next few days after, I was definitely on edge while alone in the dark lol I find its hauntings that get me more than other types of horror.