Skip to main content

Writers Gotta Read, Right? Scare yourself silly

Right on the heels of our month exploring humor (September) is our month on FEAR (October). So hang onto your hats, turn on the lights, and muffle the screams (or not), because I've rounded up some lists of scary reads for you to indulge in (or avoid).

 Let's start at the top and go all out with Daryl Chen's 20 Scariest Books of All Times over at the Reader's Digest site. The post includes covers and short summaries, so you can pick and choose how you prefer your frights.

Stephen King is well represented in the previous list, and his works appear as well in Buzzfeed's 23 Books That are Actually Really, Really Scary.

ADDENDUM: King also appears prominently in another Buzzfeed article: 23 Books That Actually Freaked People Out So Badly, They Had To Stop Reading. (And here's a shout-out to my local indie bookstore, Towne Center Books, for mentioning this particular list.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Okay, I'm officially freaked out after looking over those lists. How about we look at something a little less intense, such as:
 And, oh dear, I see there is an official HORROR WEEK over on Goodreads. Yikes! Cybil's Be Afraid: It's Horror Week on Goodreads! has links to several posts, including:
... There are more links listed on Cybil's original Goodreads post, but I can't wrap up without mentioning the "Nightmare Generator," which claims to tell you what will haunt your dreams. For me, it turns out to be "teenage zombie in the library." Hmmmm. Maybe I could use this as a character in a story (or maybe not!).

What about you? Have you read a scary book that continues to haunt you even now?

And what is your nightmare, according to the Nightmare Generator? Do share!

Ann Parker authors the award-winning Silver Rush historical mystery series published by Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks. During the day, she wrangles words for a living as a science editor/writer and marketing communications specialist (which is basically a fancy term for "editor/writer"). Her midnight hours are devoted to scribbling fiction. Visit AnnParker.net for more information.

Comments

  1. I get cold chills when I think of Stephen King's Cujo and Pet Sematary...and I probably read those books back when first released. I doubt they'll ever show up on my reread list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pat! Those are two books that seem to pop up regularly on "scariest reads" lists...

      Delete
  2. Cujo was the first scary book I read and like, Pat, I still get chills thinking of the story. I think mainly because I couldn't imagine a nice family pet turning into such a monster. I've read several other books by King, but that one still stands out.

    Played the game and my nightmare monster is a screaming werewolf in the nursery. Definitely a nightmare character. Hope it doesn't visit me tonight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Maryann -- Your nightmare monster is WAY scarier than mine! Yikes!

      Delete
  3. Yikes! You've included an impressive number of scary books for the very-faint-of-heart, such as yours truly. Neither scary stories nor horror stories nor frightening movies are on my want-to-do list. Thank you for helping me reduce my exposure to surefire nightmare producers. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Linda! Now you know which books NOT to read! :-)

      Delete
  4. Like Linda, I'm not a horror reader. I couldn't even see the movie The Shining because the trailer scared me. Now, I can write murder and suspense, but not scary, scary books. I did read a few short stories from Stephen King and liked them, but they had already been made into movies so I had an idea what they were about. I will look over your lists more clearly. Maybe it's time to stretch my literary tastes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've read Stephen King's mysteries... which are really good (of course!), but the only horror book I read of his is THINNER. I figured, how scary could a book about a guy on a diet be? Well.... let's just say, SCARY!

      Delete
  5. There are several authors whom I avoid now, as I don't do scary. Maybe skipping on to Christmas isn't such a bad idea after all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Liz! The holidays will be here before you know it! :-) I'll rustle up some lists for the end-of-year holidays, so hang on for those.

      Delete
  6. I have to add one more list that local indie bookstore Towne Center mentioned: https://www.buzzfeed.com/shelbyheinrich/scary-books-flipped

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

The Blood-Red Pencil is a blog focusing on editing and writing advice. If a glitch is preventing you from commenting, visit our Facebook page and drop your wise words there: Blood-Red Pencil on Facebook