I need a book that is truly frightening. I would like a good zombie book but vampires would do as well.
So many books today are written with almost a comedic undertone that lightens the book. Another theme focuses on the relationships developed in the difficulties.
Salem's Lot, interview with the vampire, world war z evoked a lot of emotion.
I did really enjoy The Passage and Wayward Pine series
What are your suggestions?
by National_Head_3678
9 Comments
If The Passage, Salem’s Lot, and Interview with the Vampire worked for you, I’d definitely recommend Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. It’s not zombies or vampires exactly, but it has this genuinely hopeless, terrifying atmosphere that sticks with you long after reading. The Troop by Nick Cutter is another one that made me uncomfortable in a very real way, same with I Am Legend if you somehow haven’t read it yet because it’s much darker and lonelier than most adaptations make it seem. For vampires specifically, Let the Right One In is cold, disturbing, and emotionally unsettling without feeling comedic or overly romanticized.
I thought Carrion Comfort, by Dan Simmons, was very effective. It’s a pretty long read, but he keeps up the tension pretty well and I thought the monsters were pretty dreadful and really scary. It’s one of my go to books for when I can’t think of anything good to read too!
I, Zombie by Hugh Howey is a book written from the POV of several different zombies. They retain their memories and emotions but are trapped in their zombie bodies. It’s very dark and pretty horrifying, especially Carmen’s story.
The Collected Ghost Stories of M R James
I’m a short story junkie. I get my fix from The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror anthology books.
One of the stories that has stuck with me for years is *Magdala Amygdala* by Lucy Snyder. Nightmare Magazine has it on their site.
Not Fiction. The Man Who Cooked Children
A book called Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo actually scared me. It’s science fiction horror. I’ve never had a vampire or zombie book that I found frightening. The closest is Brian Keene’s Rising books. Dead Sea, too..
Pet semetery is relentlessly bleak. It’s the only book I’ve failed to re-read as it gave me a minor existential crisis two chapters in. For non fiction, try the indifferent stars above, about the doner party, Jesus that one is heartbreaking. Also, the rape of Nanking, alongside Japan’s infamous unit 731, which is nauseating, astonishingly cruel, and makes you question what is truly inside the average persons mind.
Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu. Not zombies or vampires but there is an element of supernatural and also psychological horror. It’s the one book I felt uncomfortable and anxious reading for the sake of the characters