I primarily read fantasy (with some sci-fi) and wanted to expand my scope into some horror. I looked up scariest Steven king book and was recommended Pet Semetary which I just finished and was slightly underwhelmed. I did enjoy generally feeling unsettled each time I’d reflect on what I was reading but I don’t think I ever felt scared reading it. Was it just a bad introduction to King’s horror? Or is there a book out there that really makes your skin crawl? Thanks 🙏
by Dense-Art8576
12 Comments
Truly scary is completely subjective.
I definitely wouldn’t call Pet Semetary a bad introduction to King’s horror
Try *The Books of Blood* by Clive Barker and *Foundations of Fear* by David G Hartwell.
For something shorter sour candy by burke, because it was kind of relatable.
Maybe that could be scary. I heard evil by ketchum shoulb be scary because it’s so real. It’s subjective.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty is old but it’s still the scariest book I’ve ever read.
I am similar, I mostly enjoy sci fi and fantasy but dip into horror occasionally. I really like All the Fiends of Hell by Adam L.G. Neville. I found the lack of explanation about the “why” of the horror to be, well, horrifying. It’s not a long read but it scratched the “I want to creep myself out” itch for me.
The scariest thing I ever read of King’s was the audio version of 1408, which is in the Everything’s Eventual story collection which also has some other quite spooky stories. Never read it on the page but probably still pretty good.
Bag of Bones is also pretty good. The Sun Dog also got me, which is in the Four Past Midnight novella collection. That one I did actually read on the page.
King is usually a bit more horrifying than terrifying. Sometimes he can get you, though. I recommend the short stories and novellas, they’re more traditionally structured generally.
A short stay in hell, a short read but terrifying
The Good Son and Lord Of The Flies are scary because they are believable and not about supernatural creatures
Truly scary is subjective, like another commenter said. But here’s books I found scary and why.
As a woman:
– The Handmaid’s Tale
– Diary of an Oxygen Thief (can come off as an edgy 14 yr old at times)
– Borrasca (originally a reddit story? but if you’re open to reading online all 4 parts make a book-ish).
Dystopian/Human nature (not your typical horror-scary though):
– Fahrenheit 451
– 1984
– Tender is the Flesh
– Blood Meridian
– Lord of the Flies.
Fantasy/Supernatural:
– Maybe look into HP Lovecraft?
– The Haunting of Hill House
– Stolen Tongues (same thing as Borrasca, but it is a book now)
– The Exorcist
– The Stand (not really scary, but technically horror and generally a good immerse read).
TLDR the ‘truly scary’ ones from that lot would probably be the Haunting of Hill House, Borrasca, The Exorcist, and Stolen Tongues. Maybe Tender is the Flesh but you’ll either love it or hate it.
(edit: formatting)
Blindness, Jose Saramago
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins