TIME TO READ A HORROR STORY ONCE AGAIN
7 More Books That Scared the Shit Out of Me
Here is my answer to my “critics” about my recent review of books that scared the shit out of me.
I’ve had a few “complaints” about my first 7 Books That Scared the Shit Out of Me. If you haven’t read it yet, here it is.
I’m sure most have their opinion about what is scary and what is not. That’s the thing about listicles; those are subjective. To try to say the “best” or “scariest” depends on perspective.
People argue for hours-on-end about the “Greatest of All Time” (GOAT) designation. The best quarterback ever, Brady or Montana? The best basketball player ever, Jordan, Bill Russell, or Kobe? Some will opt for people not even on the list. Best is their perspective.
One of my readers asked, “How could you have a list of scariest books and not have H. P. Lovecraft or Clive Barker on it? And what about Pet Sematary? That was the scariest King book ever.”
I countered with, “I could have filled my list with King books and still left off 35 or 40 worthy of scary.
Some say Misery was scary; to me, it wasn’t. It was more of a thriller than anything that scared me. However, if I had been lying in that bed waiting for Annie Wilkes to come back, my perspective would change my definition of scary dramatically.
When I was discussing this with my daughter, who is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of horror and true crime, she said, “HP Lovecraft is not scary for everyone. I don’t like creature horror, so obviously, Lovecraft isn’t for me.” Which is pretty much how I feel.
However, not including Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart and Thomas Harris’s Silence of the Lambs was something in need of rectifying, so here are another seven books that scared the shit out of me.
What’s more, since it is October, and we are creeping up on All Hallow’s Eve and the Day of the Dead, why not?
In this version, I will start right out with number eight and go to fourteen rather than doing the David Letterman reverse order countdown format that I used in the other.
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#8 — The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
This Clive Barker book turned into the “Pinhead” movies, Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and at least eight other films. Pinhead described the night breed of Cenobites as “These beings have been identified as a type of demon, created from the souls of mortals who have given into forbidden hedonistic and often disturbing forms of pleasure.”
I do remember Frank gave in to the “dark pleasures” that lead him to the Lament Configuration (Lemarchand’s box) puzzle box; I don’t remember reading that description in the book; it could have been in one of the comics, though. There were dozens of those as well.
Of the 1,014 verified Amazon purchasers, 90 percent gave this book four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5.
Buy it on Kindle: https://amzn.to/2FDadkL
#9 — Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
I always thought that the Hannibal Lecter story was based on a true-crime story. However, the author says Lecter was based on a death-row serial killer he met in prison in Mexico. So yeah, I guess you could say the story was somewhat based on a true-life murderer.
If the Oscar-winning movie adaptation scared you, “The Cannibal” Hannibal Lecter was even more horrifying in the written word — the torturous and enthralling mind games he played with FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Patricia Kirby in real life) was a masterclass of drama and suspense. The “real” serial killer, Buffalo Bill in the book, was not any less menacing. This story is not for the faint of heart.
Of the 1,668 verified Amazon purchasers of this four-book set, 96 percent gave these books four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5.
Buy the set of four Hannibal Lecter paperback books: https://amzn.to/35dykzc
#10 — Hell House by Richard Matheson
Rolf Rudolph Deutsch, a wealthy newspaper and magazine publisher, is dying. He begins thinking about his impending doom and eventual death. He offers a renowned physicist, a spiritualist, and a physical medium $100,000 to establish life after death facts.
The physicist, Dr. Lionel Barrett, and the two mediums travel to Maine. They will establish residence in the famous Belasco House to determine why the townsfolk call it Hell House. Former home to alcoholics and druggies, it has been sealed and abandoned for nearly a decade. Their intent is to investigate and discover its mysteries.
If you can finish the book, you, too, might discover the mysteries of the Belasco House.
“Hell House is the scariest haunted house novel ever written. It looms over the rest the way the mountains loom over the foothills.” — Stephen King
Of the 976 verified Amazon purchasers, 75 percent gave this book four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5.
Buy it on Kindle for $2.99: https://amzn.to/3k9tKZd
#11 — American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
American Psycho creatively explores the unimaginable depths of insanity to capture the madness necessary to instill the violence of our times and many others.
Patrick Bateman, a handsome young college grad, earns a fortune reaping the technology-rich Wall Street harvest.
Though he busies himself well enough on Wall Street during the day, his nights are wild beyond most reasonable people’s imagination or even their ability to comprehend. He fills the night with murder and torture, an apocalyptic horror, which most sane residents cannot even start to confront in daylight.
“A satire of conspicuous consumption and moral bankruptcy amid the giddy excesses…” — the Variety
Of the 2,741 verified Amazon purchasers, 82 percent gave this book four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5.
Buy it on Kindle: https://amzn.to/3o5sqZw
#12 — Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
In a season of dying, the Cooger & Dark Pandemonium Shadow Show came into Green Town, IL. It destroys every life it touches with its sinister and strange mysteries. This carnival rolls into town sometime between the midnight hour and dawn. It ushers in an early Halloween, one week ahead of time. The calliope’s siren song is a shrill beckoning call to all, with its seductive promise.
Two teenage boys on the verge of adulthood, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, learn what it means to live life to its fullest in this carnival of bad dreams. Once Will’s father is swept into the story, things really heat up.
Of the 1,331 verified Amazon purchasers, 86 percent gave this book four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5.
Another Halloween bargain for $3.99, or free to Kindle Unlimited members. Buy it on Kindle: https://amzn.to/31jWQxB
#13 — The Hunger by Alma Katsu
Since I included a true crime story in my first list, I couldn’t resist this truly gruesome story from the American frontier. This is the true-life story of the Donner Pass in the Sierra Madre Mountains of California. Well, as near as we know. This is NOT the genuine story. If anyone knows what that was. It is more of a reimagining with a twist.
The misguided group of 90 settlers stumble through the hellish Sierra mountains, short on rations and patience, some of the travelers start disappearing. The death of a young boy sets them wondering if, as hungry as they are, should they bury him or…
The New York Times Review says, “Supernatural suspense at its finest…The best thing about The Hunger is that it will scare the pants off you.” Well, I guess if it scared the shit out of you, you would want to get those pants off, wouldn’t you?
“Deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down, not recommended reading after dark.” — Stephen King
Of the 740 verified Amazon purchasers, 76 percent gave this book four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5.
A Halloween bargain-priced at $2.99, buy it on Kindle: https://amzn.to/31imhja
#14 — Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
The Crossing, The Road, or No Country for Old Men would all fit just as nicely into this “scary” classification; however, Blood Meridian, to me at least, with its tale of the Kid and the Glanton Gang, is richly haunting. These are savage scalp-happy outlaws from the old west. You might think that the Kid and the gang are bad enough, but the author has even more in store for the read, the evil incarnate, Judge Holden.
“The fulfilled renown of Moby-Dick and of As I Lay Dying is augmented by Blood Meridian, since Cormac McCarthy is the worthy disciple both of Melville and Faulkner, I venture that no other living American novelist, not even Pynchon, has given us a book as strong and memorable” — the literary scholar, Harold Bloom
Of the 2,711 verified Amazon purchasers, 83 percent gave this book four or five stars with an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5.
Buy it on Kindle: https://amzn.to/3lQ1StA
Stephen Dalton is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. Top Writer in Short Story, VR, Design, & Creativity. Editor of Pop Off, Top Dalton’s Blog, 100WordStory, and SportsShorts100WordsOnly
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