Alright, so I’ve been a HUGE horror fan for many years, but I typically stick to the same authors: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, some Clive Barker, some Stephen Graham Jones, and a few Paul Tremblay. However, I feel like maybe I’ve become desensitized to some of the horror genre. So I’m reaching out here.
Please share the title/author of the scariest & most disturbing book you’ve ever read. Something that genuinely kept you up at night, gave you nightmares, or you had to just put down at some point to process lol.
Also, the authors listed above are not out of the question as I’m sure there are books of theirs that I haven’t read, although I have read pretty much everything SK, DK, and JS has written lol.
by Spiritual-Badass
10 Comments
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones- just made me feel SO disturbed, I definitely had to stop a few times and come back to it. Mainly the visuals got me, but also the hopelessness that these types of stories always have
You could check out r/horrorlit (there’s pinned lists of genres or just browse recent posts as this is a constant ask over there.) Also, r/extremehorrorlit for more, well, *extreme* books.
If you want the really disturbing stuff, visit r/extremehorrorlit and look around. There’s a suggested list pinned to the top.
Can’t say I felt that scared while reading it, but Mexican Gothic legit gave me a nightmare. And it’s an all-around good horror book.
It’s honestly not that extreme but I’ve had nightmares about Thomas Olde Heuvel’s “Hex” for years. And maybe check out some nonfiction horror, like “Death on the Ice” by Cassie Brown. Nothing more terrifying than imagining what real people went through
I don’t read much horror, but the end of Revival by Stephen King got me.
I read We Need to Talk about Kevin almost 20 years and even now whenever something reminds me of it I honestly suck in my breath. Not horrific so much as genuinely disturbing.
Stephen Kings Dreamcatcher. Was the LAST one I read… enough said. Messed up!
Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica
The Troop by Nick Cutter was so horrifying I had to put it down multiple times. Everyone I’ve recommended it to has said the same.
The Stephen King book that I found the scariest was definitely Misery, god it gave me the wiggins