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:

• Cozy Mystery List's reads of cozy Halloween Mysteries. (With titles like Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun, Night of the Living Thread, and Behind Chocolate Bars, I know what I'm getting into!) 
• Janet Rudolph's Mystery Fanfare can always be counted on for a list of Halloween Crime Fiction reads.
• For the younger set, Bookriot contributes 50 Must-Read Scary Books for Kids 
• For tweens, Tom Burns at Brightly lists Spooky (But Not Too Scary!) Books for Middle Grade Readers 

 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:

• Fresh Hell: Meet the Rising Stars of Horror 
• Victor LaValle Examines Lovecraft's Long-Lasting Influence (lists contemporary works that embody Lovecraft's mood, tone, or ideas) 
• Graphically Great Horror (Author Marjorie Liu's favorite graphic horror novels, which are all "stories of women and girls confronted with monsters—without and within.")

... 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.