# Greatest Horror -- Scariest Books -- COMBINED thread



## Carson Wilder (Apr 20, 2011)

What do you think is the scariest book ever written? Scariest movie?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Probably not the sort of thing you're looking for, but since I don't generally read horror, I'd be inclined to say _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_. In part it's scary because it's history, not fiction.


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

For me, Carson, that would be a toss up between Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and Salem's Lot.  No on else comes close.   Although I am enjoying an excellent story by Dean Koontz right now titled 'What the Night Knows'.  Kind of a ghost/serial killer story.  He's a wonderful writer.  But back to Pet Cemetery, which makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck - reminds me something of W.W. Jacobs The Monkey's Paw, the scariest short story I've ever read.

Best,
Joan Hall Hovey


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Disclaimer - I read Steven King occasionally, but otherwise rarely read horror these days.  So,

The Exorcist (showing my age here - read it as a teenager).
In Cold Blood is a close second.


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## Tess St John (Feb 1, 2011)

The Shining (shivers).


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## Michelle Muto (Feb 1, 2011)

Pet Sematary, The Shining. Without a doubt.


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## susan67 (Mar 18, 2011)

For me it was Stephen Kings IT. The barrens he talks about in the book reminded me of an area that I grew up around.

Movie was the original The Shining.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Twilight. 

_(You knew someone was going to say it!)_


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2011)

NogDog said:


> Probably not the sort of thing you're looking for, but since I don't generally read horror, I'd be inclined to say _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_. In part it's scary because it's history, not fiction.


I took a WWII history class in high school, and this book was assigned. It's definitely been a while, so my specific recollection of it is fuzzy, but I remember it being very illuminating, thorough, and objective. This is probably the first book I'd recommend people check out if they're interested in the time period.


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## amandamay83 (Apr 11, 2011)

I haven't read it, yet, but my mom swears that On the Beach (http://www.amazon.com/On-the-Beach-ebook/dp/B0035JEPAO/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2) was the scariest book she ever read, not because it was scary in the traditional sense (ie, Stephen King), but because she felt it was something that could really happen (it's essentially about the end of the world, after a nuclear war). She read it in high school, during the 60s, and when she finished it, she burned it, because she never wanted to see it again.

So now it's on my must-read list. Any book that freaked out my mom that much MUST be worth reading!


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

For me, the book was Pet Cemetery.  I remember looking over my shoulder reading it. The movie that has always scared me skinny, was the original The Haunting with Julie Harris and Malcolm McDowell.  The psychological terror was worse for me than any movie I've seen since.


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## Holly B (Nov 15, 2010)

1984 by George Orwell. Just the idea that it *could* happen in real life is enough to scare the crap outta me.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

A line from Pet Sematary that has always stuck with me has nothing to do with the supernatural scares, it's just an observation that King made about life. It was, "Having children is like agreeing to die."


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## vincent287 (Sep 3, 2010)

It's not a horror story, but there were scenes in Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley that really had my heart pounding. Without giving anything away, I found it very scary when one character, who was pretending to be someone else, was in a spot where people who knew him in both roles were trying to speak to him.

I was going to post the link to the Kindle version, but it looks like it hasn't gotten to Kindle yet.

As for scary movies, the original version of The Omen is absolutely terrifying.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Salem's  Lot  for me..  I recently  reread  it  and  all of those  nights  I had to sleep with my light  on in my 20's  came back.

And my Mom  took  me to see Psycho  when  I  was  in  grade school.  Geez...


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## Glen Krisch (Dec 21, 2010)

The Shining by King
and
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (made even scarier since it was based on a true story)


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I think the most Horrifying book I've ever read was Poppy Z. Brite's _Exquisite Corpse_ .... but the one that scared me the most was probably the first 3/4 of Steven King's _It_ - It played right into my old childhood clown thing ....


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## Michelle Muto (Feb 1, 2011)

Geoffrey said:


> but the one that scared me the most was probably the first 3/4 of Steven King's _It_ - It played right into my old childhood clown thing ....


I knew a guy who was terrified of clowns. He said that it's a common fear, more for men than women. I wonder if that's true.


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## D.R. Erickson (Mar 3, 2011)

I found Bram Stoker's Dracula (the book) to be genuinely scary.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

King's are all scary, and I think "On the Beach" is scary also for what it portrays. 

It's non-supernatural but Deliverance by James Dickey is the book that popped to my mind when I read the question. 

It throws men into a world where their rules don't apply, and it's brutal and terrifying.


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## J.L. McPherson (Mar 20, 2011)

Another vote for _Pet Sematary_. I was a teenager when I read it and it scared the living hell out of me, although I could say the same for _IT _ too.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Pet Semetary
The Exorcist
Salem's Lot


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## aaronpolson (Apr 4, 2010)

Pet Semetary and the first half of 'Salem's Lot are pretty scary, although I'd say Pet Semetary was overly long (in places). 

Classic Hitchcock still spooks me--not "turn away" scary, but man, every time Grace Kelly goes into the apartment across the courtyard in Rear Window, I shout at my TV.

"GET OUT!"


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## dcw2k80 (Apr 1, 2011)

Carson Wilder said:


> What do you think is the scariest book ever written? Scariest movie?


The Entity. An old movie from the seventies. Hard to find these days and I've had trouble finding people who remember it. But those that do, haven't forgotten it. lol.


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## Will Granger (Apr 12, 2011)

NogDog said:


> Probably not the sort of thing you're looking for, but since I don't generally read horror, I'd be inclined to say _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_. In part it's scary because it's history, not fiction.


It's on my shelf, but i haven't read it yet. I did visit Dachau last month, and it was very sobering.

Will Granger


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## rayhensley (Apr 16, 2011)

Scariest book?







aka The Exorcist 3.

The movie is also scary.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

It's odd because I don't think it is King's best book, but the one that absolutely scared me spitless was _The Tommyknockers_. Maybe it was because one could sense (I think) what King said about in _On Writing_:


> What you gave up in exchange was your soul. It was the best metaphor for drugs and alcohol my tired, overstressed mind could come up with.


Anyway that novel freaked me so that for a while I didn't read King novels. It literally gave me nightmares.


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## sal79parody (Apr 7, 2011)

Off Season by Jack Ketchum

In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski


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## Rhonda Helms (Apr 8, 2011)

The Shining was the scariest book I ever read. Movie-wise, Cape Fear kept me up late and FREEEEAKED me out. haha


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

I do remember thinking Pet Semetary was the best Stephen King adaptation up to that time when it came out.


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## amandamay83 (Apr 11, 2011)

Overall, I find Dean Koontz to be much scarier than Stephen King.  King's stuff is all supernatural and impossible, so it doesn't freak me out.  Koontz writes about stuff that could actually happen..THAT freaks me out.


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

I read King's _It_ when I was 10, and it scared me to death and I'm still dead. I haven't read it since. I imagine it's not as scary as I remember it being.

Right now personal finance books scare me the most. I've had to stop reading them.


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## Keair (Apr 18, 2011)

Pet Semetery will probably always stand out in my mind as the scariest book ever written not because it is still frightening to me now but because a) it was the first Stephen King/adult horror novel I ever read and b) I was only 10 the first time I read it. At the time I can remember sitting on my bedroom floor with my little lamp by my side for light well into the early morning hours over the summer scaring the crap out of myself with that book and I loved every minute of it! However, King's book 'Gerald's Game' was the only book I have ever read that had a part in it that literally made me so sick to my stomach that I had to pass over it. It all comes back to that wonderful madman where horror is concerned in my world. haha


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

NogDog said:


> Probably not the sort of thing you're looking for, but since I don't generally read horror, I'd be inclined to say _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_. In part it's scary because it's history, not fiction.


I am with Nogdog on this one - the scariest books are from our own history. About what people can do, and did, to each other.
Although Poe still scares the living daylight out of me. Not in a good way.


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## jongoff (Mar 31, 2011)

It's actually a toss up for me between John Campbell's The Thing, a short story that was made into a movie in the 50's, and again in the 80's, by John Carpenter. Carpenter's adaptation is true to the original story. Don't waste your time on the 50's version. The other one is L. Ron Hubbard's Fear Unfortunately, Fear isn't available on the Kindle. The scariest movie I've ever seen would have to be The Changling


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## Laura Ruby (Feb 22, 2011)

I'd say it's a toss up between the first three-quarters of Stephen King's IT and SALEM'S LOT.  

(Though I have to say I'm a pretty big fan of Ricky Yancey's novels THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST and CURSE OF THE WENDIGO.  They're YA, but both pretty damned frightening.  And horrifying.)


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## Sean Thomas Fisher (Mar 25, 2011)

Probably a toss up between The Shining and Snooki's A Shore Thing.


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## Rhonda Helms (Apr 8, 2011)

Sean Thomas Fisher said:


> Probably a toss up between The Shining and Snooki's A Shore Thing.


*spews soda on laptop*


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

Movie: The Grudge...where they break the rules and get attacked in daylight on the bus...brother.
Book: was that short story collection by Stephen King about the rats...wow, that was something I remember from 25 years ago.


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## bnapier (Apr 26, 2010)

Book: HOUSE OF LEAVES by Danielewski hands down.  Amazing book.  Disturbing as hell.

Movie: I have no real idea why, but The Fourth Kind scared the bejeezus out of me.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

bnapier said:


> Book: HOUSE OF LEAVES by Danielewski hands down. Amazing book. Disturbing as hell.


That was a great book. Don't know if it's the scariest I've ever read, but it ranks up there.

Scariest movie I've ever seen was Blair Witch Project. I get scared more when I have to use my imagination than when they show what happens on the screen. I was scared to walk in the dark by myself for days after watching it.


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## Ray Rhamey author (Jan 6, 2011)

Not having read every book, I can't accurately say. But there's one novel that I've tried to read more than once that creeps me out so much I have never been able to finish it, or even get a third of the way into it -- Stephen King's "Misery."


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## hamerfan (Apr 24, 2011)

Stephen King's "Desperation". For me, without a doubt!


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## Guest (May 4, 2011)

For me, horror usually means HP Lovecraft. I picked up one of his short story collections and read it on a dark train at night. It turns out this is not a good idea if you want to get any sleep.


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

*I am Legend* by Richard Matheson - Forget the Will Smith movie, the book's a 1954 classic
*Salem's Lot* - love the evocative window scratching and can still hear the "Let me in..."
*The Exorcist* - original demonic possession

Scariest TV Episode was in *Space: 1999*, a 1975 SF TV Show and was called _*Dragon's Domain*_. The idea of the malevolent, mind-controlling monster haunted me for years


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## brettjirvine (May 3, 2011)

Pet Sematary scared the hell out of me as a kid. Man, some of those scenes are seared into the back of my eyeballs even now. I can remember having to close the book and put it away for a few minutes as I paced around the room, not wanting to continue. Oh the thrills! I still can't bare to watch the movie alone.


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## Grady Hendrix (Sep 8, 2010)

I love me some Stephen King but he's such an avuncular public presence and so familiar these days that I have a hard time feeling scared by his books anymore. Mostly I re-read them for the nostalgia value. I mean, he really captures the late 70's and early 80's in a way few other writers do.

For scary, I like an author who I don't know too much about so I can imagine them locking their children in cages in the basement and lurking in their own abandoned attics.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE - Shirley Jackson's masterpiece is still the ultimate haunted house book. The characters all feel like damp, mildewed towels: unpleasant and way too close to your skin.

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR - the book is cheesy as all get-out but it has that cheap, tawdry "real" feeling which makes it the literary version of one of those shows like Ghost Hunters. Still capable of some skin-crawling moments, even though it's been thoroughly exposed as a hoax by now.

RAMSEY CAMPBELL - one of the best stylists of the genre and his writing is always more about the clammy, rotten atmosphere than the actual action, which is usually incomprehensible and sordid. His novels aren't bad (try _The Doll Who Ate His Mother_ if you can find a copy) but a lot of them are out of print and short stories are where he shines, anyways. Try "The Chimney" which will make sure you never look at Santa Claus the same way again.

THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR - Anne Rivers Siddons was best known as a writer of books that are the Lifetime Movies of literature, but her HOUSE NEXT DOOR is really disturbing and the ultimate book that'll make you rethink that too-good-to-be-true real estate deal. A bit like a made-for-TV movie but it gets REALLY disturbing.

M.R. JAMES - any of M.R. James short stories will work if you like TURN OF THE SCREW. One of the Victorian ghost story writers who really holds up across the board he's like an upper class, less crazy, British version of H.P. Lovecraft.

And it's nice to see HOUSE OF LEAVES getting some love. A tough read but it's stuck with me. And where's the love for Clive Barker? THE BOOKS OF BLOOD still have some genuinely great stories in them.


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## RebeccaKnight (May 1, 2011)

Tamara Rose Blodgett said:


> Book: was that short story collection by Stephen King about the rats...wow, that was something I remember from 25 years ago.


YES! Thank you. I was just trying to remember who the heck wrote "that one story that has haunted me since childhood about the rats." Mother. Of. GOD. Horrific!

Another odd one that has scarred me for life is one scene in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice & Fire that happens in book 4 (I think?) between Brienne and Biter.... If you haven't read it, I'm not spoiling it, but if you have  EEEEEEEEEK!

Movie: The Exorcist and Jacob's Ladder


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## docnoir (Jan 21, 2011)

Scariest book? The carb counting book my doctor told me to get so I won't keel over. I'm shuddering just thinking about it.


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## WilliamVitka (Mar 28, 2011)

Richard Matheson's 'Hell House.' And Stephen King's 'The Mist.'

Lovecraft's stuff always creeped me the hell out, too.


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## wouldbejane (Mar 13, 2011)

When I was a kid The Haunting of Hill House (the book) scared the bejesus out of me. 

As an adult House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski was terrifying.  I bought it because a reviewer on the radio described it as what would happen if "Stephen King and James Joyce met in a deserted wood at midnight." I was not disappointed.


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## cork_dork_mom (Mar 24, 2011)

Scariest movie for me was "The Shining" - I grew up not far from where the real Stanley Hotel is located & that freaked me out. Also saw "The Exorcist" when I was a teeanger back during the days of tv's with dials - and ours was broken so I had to either watch the Olympics or "The Exorcist", at home, by myself! 

Scariest book I think I've read is "Summer of night" by Dan Simmons. Makes you not want to dangle your feet off the edge of the bed.

I think it's harder to get scared reading a book now that I'm older. Don't much care for the horror movies today because they're all gore & that's just not scary.


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## Casper Parks (May 1, 2011)

1984 by George Orwell, The Exorcist by William Blatty.


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## lisamaliga (Oct 28, 2010)

2 earlier works by Stephen King: The Shining & The Stand had some scary parts.


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## Alex Owens (Mar 24, 2011)

joanhallhovey said:


> But back to Pet Cemetery, which makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck - reminds me something of W.W. Jacobs The Monkey's Paw, the scariest short story I've ever read.
> 
> Best,
> Joan Hall Hovey


Monkey's paw - totally creeped me out, despite never actually seeing the "thing" before it's gone again. That's a hallmark of the best horror writing, when it uses your own mind to scare the pants off of you. Poe was excellent at that too!


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

Scariest book ever? *120 Days of Sodom* by the Marquis de Sade is so disturbing as to be frightening. The only modern literature I can think of that even comes close is something like *American Psycho* by Bret Easton Ellis. Most horror literature I just don't find all that scary in any real sense, though I do enjoy quite a bit of it.

As for movies, *8MM *starring Nicholas Cage actually made me sick to my stomach. And no, it wasn't from the acting. ;-)


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

For me it was _*Helter Skelter*_ by Vincent Bugliosi, detailing the activities of Charlie Manson and his merry band. What scared me so much was that it was real, and could happen anywhere.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

I always thought _The Bible_ was pretty damned scary...

One book that scared me because it was vivid and based on reality was Hiroshima. It made one hell of an impact on me when I read it in high school.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

SidneyW said:


> It's non-supernatural but Deliverance by James Dickey is the book that popped to my mind when I read the question.


side comment - I love that Dickey's in the movie.

The Shining
The Haunting of Hill House
Fail Safe
Red Alert
anything by H.P. Lovecraft, I first read him when I was young and impressionable, and it carries through.


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## joshuacorin (May 6, 2011)

Oooh. Great topic.

For me, it's a toss-up between Richard Matheson's _Hell House_ and Robert Marasco's _Burnt Offerings_.

What can I say? I've got a thing for haunted houses. I blame it on early exposure to _The Shining_. Well, that and the fact that the house I grew up in was haunted.

For real. No joke. Long story.


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## GrouchoKindle (Apr 14, 2011)

Book: _The Hot Zone_

Movie: _Exit Through the Gift Shop_


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

I keep forgetting about this one ... scariest book I ever read. EVER.

The Creature from Jekyll Island:

It explains how the Federal Reserve System came about and how specie currency works. Or doesn't.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

OOooooh the Hot Zone. Good choice too.


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

*Confessions of a Tax Collector !!* Really scary....Gasp !


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Harry Shannon said:


> OOooooh the Hot Zone. Good choice too.


So is his book "The Demon In The Freezer". Very scary.


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## Dan Holloway (Dec 18, 2010)

Napcat, that's like that great line in Scream II about what's the scariest movie, "Showgirls"

Those of you who've been talking about The Exorcist, I noticed on the Amazon forums that it's shortly coming for Kindle. 

I agree 8mm is terrifying - not just because of what it portrays but its unrelenting bleakness - it leaves you feeling dirty.


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Bumping this one with some thoughts.

My two scariest: IT by Stephen King.  The only book to ever make me want to check under my bed before going to sleep.

The Relic by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.  Read it right after I had gone on a business trip where an entire museum was rented out for us for the night.  Really glad I didn't read it before that trip.

Comparatively, everything else I've read (and I've read a lot) has been a piece of cake.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

I don't get scared by ghost or any kind of demon stories.  What does scare me are the realistic, serial-killer books.  Because these I can believe!  So "Manhunter" and "The Silence of the Lambs."  Most recently "The Mermaids Singing."  Eeeck.

For movies: from "Psycho" to "Scream" to "Alien" to "Se7en."  Oddly enough "The Exorcist" never scared me, though I find it thoroughly entertaining.


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## Tim C. Taylor (May 17, 2011)

Interesting that Orwell's _1984 _ comes up a few times. My scariest book is Orwell's _Homage to Catalonia_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_Catalonia. It's Orwell's recollection of the Spanish Civil War, a version of events still hotly denounced by Stalinists. I see it as idealism betrayed, as a decent man's utter powerlessness in the face of unconstrained human nature. In a way, you could see it as a prequel to _1984 _ because _Catalonia _ describes the sort of rise of totalitarianism that leads to 1984.

Or maybe that's just what Orwell wants us to think.

Let's hope that if the Eurozone economies implode, it doesn't lead to the kind of extremism it did last time.


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## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

For me the scariest books are history books and the scariest thing is that it's not fiction.  Take Genghis Khan killing a whole city of 1.5 Million people and not with guns or bombs--but with arrows, swords and knives and going on to kill 40 Million.  Having been a student of history seldom does a novel seem scary anymore.  Read history, the list of horrors is just endless.

Though some years back I read Velocity by Koontz and it gave me a shiver.


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## N S Cooke (Sep 27, 2011)

IT, Stephen King.

I just hate clowns now, after that book, they are all sinister!


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## GerrieFerrisFinger (Jun 1, 2011)

Pet Sematery by Stephan King. I didn't see the movie; the book was enough. So tough to read when the kid...


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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

GerrieFerrisFinger said:


> Pet Sematery by Stephan King. I didn't see the movie; the book was enough. So tough to read when the kid...


A very well places .... in that post!


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## jimbronyaur (Feb 9, 2011)

joanhallhovey said:


> For me, Carson, that would be a toss up between Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and Salem's Lot. No on else comes close. Although I am enjoying an excellent story by Dean Koontz right now titled 'What the Night Knows'. Kind of a ghost/serial killer story. He's a wonderful writer. But back to Pet Cemetery, which makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck - reminds me something of W.W. Jacobs The Monkey's Paw, the scariest short story I've ever read.
> 
> Best,
> Joan Hall Hovey


Pet Sematary is the scariest book and movie EVER! haha! It was my first novel I read, at the age of 8, and it was the first time getting in trouble at school, I took the book in for show-and-tell, and it's the reason why I started writing horror myself. 

-jb


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

William Hope Hodgson - House on the Borderland. I don't even know *why* it scared me.

And the UK tv film Threads in the 70s. Not horror - but post-apocalyptic nuclear stuff. Scared me stupid as a young teenager. In fact that's what I've always found most scary in films and books - nuclear war.


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

The Shining by Stephen King is probably the scariest.
I was going to say The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, but while I prefer it, for downright "I'm going to leave the lights on tonight" The Shining is probably scarier. Although I think Jackson's is the better book. Or maybe not. LOL


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## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

Book: It & Pet Sematary were very scary, but my vote goes to The Shining. It's the only book to _literally_ give me nightmares.

Movie: the original The Haunting ( of Hill House) with Claire Bloom , Julie Harris etc. 
Just terrifying. That is all.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

For Horror novel scary, I'm with IT, Pet Cemetery, or Koontz's Intensity

But the book I read that scared me the most?  Go Ask Alice I read that at about 10, and it scared the *^&^%(&^% outta me. (never did drugs or got drunk in my life, so true or not, it worked on me.)

Movie? Growing up I loved the old Vincent Price movie adaptations of Poe, but the one that kept me up all night on Halloween was Nightmare on Elm St. I was 15 when it came out, and my Best Friend and I saw it alone on Halloween night. Neither of us slept for the next 2 days.

As an adult, I much prefer the psychological thrillers to the slash-fest.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

_Pet Sematary _ and _I Am Legend _ are my two scariest fiction books.

In non-fiction, anything about influenza or ebolla or any virus will creep me out real good.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Yet another vote for _Pet Cemetary_. There's just something truly terrifying about the concept of your loved ones coming back, but changed. In fact, in _The Monkey's Paw_ -- which was one of the first of these types of stories -- you never even get to see the revenant. You merely hear him knocking on his grieving parents' door ... and that's genuinely scary by itself.


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## Lambert (Nov 12, 2010)

Salem's Lot.  The book was pretty scary and let your imagination really go.

The movie was surprisingly scary too. That first shot of the vampire was spooky and surprising. My wife hit the ceiling. Never seen a vampire look like that before.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Books: King's The Shining and Children of the Corn. Read both of them when I was a teenager, and both freaked me out. Velocity by Koontz is a more recent one, and it freaked me out so much that I actually threw it in the garbage; I couldn't stand to even have it laying around the house...

Movies: 'Salem's Lot (TV movie)
Night of the Hunter

Saw 'Salem's Lot on TV back in the 1970s, and I had nightmares the night after I saw it. With Night of the Hunter, there were some disturbing, sickening images in that 1955 movie (synopsis: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048424/) that made me stay up later rather than go to sleep.

I remember when the movie The Exorcist came out in the early 1970s. My aunt saw it, and she said she was genuinely frightened. Fast forward to a few years ago, when I found out the movie was on TV; hubby and I watched it, waiting to be frightened. It was boring more than anything else. The Amityville Horror (movie) was supposed to be scary, but I only laughed at it because it everything looked so plastic - my cousin's girlfriends were sure scared, though.


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## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

The scariest movie for me is easily Jaws. (I was just old enough to see it in the theater. Injured my elbow severely during the show by flinching too hard.)

The scariest book: many come to mind, but not The Haunting of Hill House. I'm reading it now, have been for two months as I can't get into it. Too tame. I'll go with King's Misery. It made me feel like a claustrophobic locked in a closet with a madwoman.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Eric C said:


> The scariest movie for me is easily Jaws. (I was just old enough to see it in the theater. Injured my elbow severely during the show by flinching too hard.)


That opening scene -- the woman moonlight swimming and being dragged under -- was so terrifying that I wanted to just walk out of the theatre. But I'm afraid Jaws stopped being scary for me when I saw the (plastic) shark. Fear of the unknown/unseen is by far the most powerful kind.


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## KTaylor-Green (Aug 24, 2011)

amandamay83 said:


> I haven't read it, yet, but my mom swears that On the Beach (http://www.amazon.com/On-the-Beach-ebook/dp/B0035JEPAO/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2) was the scariest book she ever read, not because it was scary in the traditional sense (ie, Stephen King), but because she felt it was something that could really happen (it's essentially about the end of the world, after a nuclear war). She read it in high school, during the 60s, and when she finished it, she burned it, because she never wanted to see it again.
> 
> So now it's on my must-read list. Any book that freaked out my mom that much MUST be worth reading!


Your mom wasn't far off the mark on this. Read it when I was in high school and it stayed with me for a very long time.


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## Seanathin23 (Jul 24, 2011)

I haven't read IT, but I know when my wife, at the time girlfriend, read it, she couldn't be alone or sleep with the lights off for about two months.


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## Grrarrgh (Aug 10, 2010)

The only one of mine I haven't seen mentioned yet is Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Something about that book just creeped me right out.


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## cork_dork_mom (Mar 24, 2011)

I remember watching The Exorcist when it was on TV back in the late '70's or early '80's - our TV was broken (fell forward and the channel changer was broken - back in the day before remote control) so we only had 2 channels... my two choices that evening were either the Olympics or The Exorcist. AND... the worst part is I had to sit right up close to the TV so I could quick change the channel when a scary part came on  ... Mind you, I was in Jr. high at the time and home my myself!  

It may be cheesy now, but it sure brings back scary memories!


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## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

Tony Richards said:


> That opening scene -- the woman moonlight swimming and being dragged under -- was so terrifying that I wanted to just walk out of the theatre. But I'm afraid Jaws stopped being scary for me when I saw the (plastic) shark. Fear of the unknown/unseen is by far the most powerful kind.


But you really scared yourself. Or the absence of the shark scared you. In that opening scene with the young high school girl there was really nothing there. No blood and guts, no shark, no screaming. You just watch her go out in the water and she is suddenly gone...and you know it was the shark and it is even more scarey because you saw and heard nothing. Another director would have done it differently.

Initially, the robo-shark was supposed to be in the scene, but it wasn't working. So Speilberg shot the scene without it, thinking he could add it later in some later cuts. That night while viewing the dailies (film print of that scene) he knew it was far better without the robo-shark. It dawned on him that the unseen terror was scarier than the seen terror and alot of shark scenes were cut. Which was fortunate because they could never get the robo-sharks to work right.

If you count the actual shark scenes in Jaw's--there are very few, yet it absolutely terrified people. I lived in a beach town and everybody was freaked out that summer.


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## wordsmithjts (Nov 14, 2011)

I would love to hear any opinions on what the greatest horror stories of all time are. I personally love Dracula. It just doesnt get better than that timeless piece.
What are your thoughts?


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## GerrieFerrisFinger (Jun 1, 2011)

Pet Sematary by Stephen King. I've others, but that one sticks with me and I wish it wouldn't.


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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

Just one? Just _one_?

Errrr, The Haunting Of Hill House. No I change my mind - Jekyll and Hyde. Or wait - The Companion (Ramsey Campbell short story).

Or....
Or...


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

I'm leaning toward either The Haunting of Hill House or Dracula for best novel, although there's a lot to be said for The Shining and Ghost Story.

Short story? Maybe Mackintosh Willy, by Ramsey Campbell. Or The Dunswich Horror, by Lovecraft. Or Lost Hearts, by M.R. James. Or Fear, by Clive Barker. Or Children of the Corn, by Stephen King. But probably it's The Tell-Tale Heart.

I wish I could have the experience of reading Jekyll and Hyde without having any idea what's going to happen -- it's so beautifully set up to surprise and shock you, it must have been like dynamite when it was first published.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

There is already a huge thread on this & best movie..
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,63553.0.html


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Thank you BTackett!  I'm going to merge 'em. . . . .nobody get splinched.


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## WriterCTaylor (Jul 11, 2011)

vincent287 said:


> As for scary movies, the original version of The Omen is absolutely terrifying.


I agree about the original version. The remake was a let down. Also, the book was horrible. I read it and rated it quite low on Goodreads. The characters were quite unlikable, even those we were supposed to like.


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## jwest (Nov 14, 2011)

Tess St John said:


> The Shining (shivers).


I'm with Tess St John on this one!!


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## DonnaMarieRogers (Jul 6, 2011)

I'm a horror movie fanatic, but I've read very few horror books (Night Shift & Misery by Stephen King, to be exact...LOL). And it's been years since I read them, but I enjoyed them both.

Favorite scary movies? Too many to list!! But the first several that come to mind are (showing my age on some of these...LOL):

_The Changeling _ (older movie starriing George C. Scott). I stll get the chills when that ball bounces down the stairs!

_The Ring_ - Saw it at the theatre with my brother and his 10 year-old (at the time) daughter. We were scared; she thought it was funny. *grin*

_Halloween_ - Still scary as hell!

_Blood Creek_ - I loved this movie...so creepy!

_Evilspeak_ - An old movie starring Ron Howard's brother, Clint. My stepdad taped it off of ON-TV (anyone remember that?) years ago, and I still have it. The original _My Bloody Valentine_ is on there, too. 

_The Shining_ - My little brother came thisclose to playing the little boy...it was so exciting seeing his picture in our local newspaper. 

_The Girl Next Door_ - Horrific...so sad to think of what that poor girl went through.

_Drag Me To Hell_ - More funny than scary, but I just love it!

_Dracula_ (Frank Langella version) Saw it at the theatre with my mom & grandma...I thought it was so scary...mainly because I heard my grandma say, "I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers." Ewwww! LOL

_The Exorcist_ - Not so scary anymore, but back then...*shudder*

_30 Days Of Night_ - Scariest vampires ever IMO.

_The Descent_ - I can't imagine anyone going into a cave after seeing this movie.

_Quarantine_ - I've been meaning to see Quarantine 2, though I've heard it's not as good.

Can you tell I love this subject? Wow, I could go on and on! LOL


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## SteveScaffardi (Sep 6, 2011)

I have got the horror bug and decided to move away from my ‘normal’ type of book and want to pick out a really good horror book. I think I have got the bug from watching the American Horror Asylum series on Fox - not my normal TV viewing either, but I'm hooked already!

I’ve read one James Herbert book in the past (Nobody True), and Different Seasons by Stephen King (not really horror though!), but I quite like the idea of reading a book that is going to scare the hell out of me (don’t worry, I’m not weird!).

Any recommendations? The scarier, the better!


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

The scariest book I ever read wasn't a novel. It was Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi about the Manson family and the Sharon Tate murders.



Creeped me out so badly, I had to get the book out of the house.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

King's _Pet Semetary_ is one of his few genuinely scary ones.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

This thread was started last April with the same topic, maybe it can help you:
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,63553.0.html


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Since Bev did the work to locate the old thread. . . .I went ahead and merged them. . . .lots of good suggestions here -- if you like that sort of thing.


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## SteveScaffardi (Sep 6, 2011)

Awesome, thanks for the thread merge! I've always wanted to read IT but it truly looks like a mammoth read! I saw a couple of mentions for IT - anyone recommend this one?


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Has anyone mentioned Robert Bloch's _Psycho_ yet?


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## Anisa Claire West (Sep 19, 2012)

I'm not a horror fan at all, but the RL Stine stories terrified me when I read them as a child. As far as movies, any film that is atmospheric rather than gory would qualify as the scariest.


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## Anisa Claire West (Sep 19, 2012)

Oh, and Edgar Allan Poe's macabre short stories have to be mentioned too.  Very little outright violence in them, but they are deeply disturbing to the psyche with their suggestive terror.


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## thedavebright (Sep 8, 2012)

IT by Stephen King is honestly the only book I've ever read that actually scared me


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

thedavebright said:


> IT by Stephen King is honestly the only book I've ever read that actually scared me


It's a storyline that works 'fear of the unknown' to its fullest, isn't it?


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Tony Richards said:


> It's a storyline that works 'fear of the unknown' to its fullest, isn't it?


And/Or fear of clowns..


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## thedavebright (Sep 8, 2012)

I agree with the unknown. It's just so chilling, King shows just enough to spook the reader but somehow also hides the right amount to leave them guessing and terrified


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## dkrauss (Oct 13, 2012)

_Salem's Lot_, hands down. I picked it off a friend's shelf while visiting and refused to go home until I finished it.

F. Paul Wilson's _Nightworld_ is another hair-raiser. It's the last book in his loosely-tied _Guardian_ series (you're probably more familiar with _The Keep_ out of that group than anything), but you don't need to read the others to understand what''s going on. Left the lights on all night, I did.


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## Lyndsay (Jul 25, 2012)

Holly B said:


> 1984 by George Orwell. Just the idea that it *could* happen in real life is enough to scare the crap outta me.


Oh my gosh, yess! I just finished reading it and so much of it scared me! The torture, the control, and especially the fact that there was absolutely no hope of a better future! None whatsoever! I expected someone to come to the rescue or some kind of small reassurance but it never came! Terrifying!

Also, The Monk by Matthew Lewis. So glad someone started this thread, I'm always looking for my next (preferably scary) book to read!


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Lyndsay said:


> Oh my gosh, yess! I just finished reading it and so much of it scared me! The torture, the control, and especially the fact that there was absolutely no hope of a better future! None whatsoever! I expected someone to come to the rescue or some kind of small reassurance but it never came! Terrifying!


Orwell was dying of consumption when he wrote those final scenes (the rat mask etc.) and it's been speculated that his illness had a bearing on his state of mind, making 1984 by far his darkest novel.


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

For me it was "The Shining," though I read it so long ago, I wonder if it would still scare me. Maybe I'll have to give it another read.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Carrie Rubin said:


> For me it was "The Shining," though I read it so long ago, I wonder if it would still scare me. Maybe I'll have to give it another read.


Perspectives certainly do change with age. There are books, movies, and TV shows that terrified me when I was a kid, but that I simply shrug off these days. Have I become more cynical, or merely smarter? Hard to tell ... perhaps a bit of both.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

The novels of Jane Austen. Fear her! Fear her!

_Feast_ by Graham Masterton is excellent, except the denouement, which seemed tacked on to be more "horror" like for the 1980s. It's about a religious cult where members cut off their own body part to offer up for ritual feasting. Yummy!


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## Psyche27 (Oct 13, 2012)

I think Dracula's guest, a collection of short stories by Bram Stoker, published after his death is still the scariest book I have ever read. It's more spine tingling than the original Dracula, which is so scary (especially when you imagine how events must have unfolded on the boat that brought Dracula to England).

In Dracula's Guest, there's this story about a young student who goes to live in the house of a dead judge who took delight in hanging people when he was alive, and after three intense days (for the reader) the student's body is found hanging and on a painting of the judge, there's a smile on his face.

Then there's one about a house of horrors in an eastern European country, and a vengeful cat.

Scary book.


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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

Interesting, because - whilst I love _Dracula_ itself - _Dracula's Guest_ didn't do much for me, even as a free download. A couple of the stories were okay, but they certainly didn't affect me like other stories of a similar age - by Poe so, or the slightly later MR James.

Anyone wanting some classic ghost stories should definitely check out MR James.

And coming back to the present day, Alan Ryker's _The Hoard_ impressed me a lot recently - it tells of a woman who is an obssessive hoarder and what else might be living in the junk and clutter of her house...


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