I’ve been really into horror books recently but I have a qualm since the last few I’ve read have had happy or happy-ish endings. That’s not what I want.
I want a book that’s creepy or unsettling or just plain terrifying and then it just..ends. I don’t want a full on conclusion. I want a book that ends in a way that makes you sit with ur thoughts or a while. Or even one that ends and you immediately try to distract yourself from paranoia. I want more endings that have me wanting to turn on the lights and double check the locks.
What are some horror books that made you feel like this?
by Ok_Marzipan_6028
8 Comments
I’d consider Tender Is The Flesh in the unsettling category. I know it’s not for everyone but it definitely made me sit with the ending for a beat.
Well, it’s seven books, but if you want a series with a good bad ending, check out R Scott Bakker’s Second Apocalypse series, which is the trilogy A Prince of Nothing and the sequel quartet The Aspect-Emperor. The series as a whole is not purely horror. It’s dark fantasy that has elements of horror and sci-fi. The final four books have a lot more of that horror and sci-fi than the first three. But if you want to take the trek, it’s going to end in a manner that’s what you’re looking for.
1984
Filth – Irvine Welsh
In The Lake of the Woods, by Tim O’Brien
It’s a mystery and psychological thriller. It’s not traditional horror, but it’s got plenty of horror all the same.
It’s also beautifully written.
What happens in it will surely haunt you.
Needful Things
Apt Pupil
Under The Dome
Cujo
All Stephen King books
Potentially something by Nat Cassidy? I read Mary: An awakening of terror and from what I recall it did not have a conclusion that was “happy” per se.. 😅
We used to live here, come closer, and incidents around the house