sk and uber horror

[irisahart]

i absolutely love all of sk's books. even the boring ones. but i wonder if sk will put a book out there that will scare the living $#@! out of me. i love scary movies but totally love reading a book that makes me scared to open the fridge or do the laundry! does anyone know which book could do that to me?

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Have you read Pet Semetary or Salem's Lot?

Long days and pleasant nights

[OhmyGod!]

It totally depends on what you think is scary! Do you go for the gore? Or the psychological horrors? I think 'the girl who loved tom gordon' is very very scary. But many people disagree with me.
Maybe you should go for IT...that one is scary in many ways.

[irisahart]

Hi,

Have you read Pet Semetary or Salem's Lot?

Long days and pleasant nights

i have not read them but have seen the movies. thank you for the idea!:biggrin2:

[LadyLyn]

Well that all depends on what you've already read. Have you tried Cell, Insomnia, or It yet?

[Srbo]

To me, nothing is scarrier then IT.

[JRLauer]

It totally depends on what you think is scary! Do you go for the gore? Or the psychological horrors? I think 'the girl who loved tom gordon' is very very scary. But many people disagree with me.
Maybe you should go for IT...that one is scary in many ways.

This is a very true statement. I didn't find The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon scary at all but obviously some people did. It's subjective as to what an individual will like or not like.

As for me, I agree with Srbo, IT gave me the creeps.

[BRUMMIEYID]

Definitely IT, the movie ending didn't do the book justice IMO.

[Wendy Capps]

i absolutely love all of sk's books. even the boring ones. but i wonder if sk will put a book out there that will scare the living $#@! out of me. i love scary movies but totally love reading a book that makes me scared to open the fridge or do the laundry! does anyone know which book could do that to me?Older SK would have to be "It", Newer SK would have to be "The Black House". "The Black House" was the only SK book I read that I had the most incredible, visual nightmare. However, if you read it, you must read "The Talisman" first. The two books go together, following the main character from childhood to adulthood. These are definately SK must reads!!!:smile2:

[Watahoot]

Yes, Pet Semetary and The Shining are two of the scariest I've read.

(I havn't yet completed IT).

[ConstantSam]

Maybe I'm too much of an arachnophobe, but that spider scene in NEEDFUL THINGS scared me more than anything else King has written.

[Bryan James]

I've been through the meat grinder. I don't get scared anymore. Heck, I still eat a handful of nuts at night, hoping I might catch a nightmare (old wives tale). I might get startled if a movie is crafty enough to spring something on me, but I've not had an adrenaline rush that wasn't supressed in two second in over a decade.

Creepy is different than scary, but it all depends on the audience...and even they are evolving just as the writer is. Sometimes the two meet at the crossroads at the correct time. Sometimes one of them leaves the road and is lost forever.

I had a genuine freakout (not while reading, but based on the book) one night when I was 20ish after reading 'IT.' That was a long time ago, and I miss the feeling. I now read as a writer, and I may not end up a good one because I've lost that important connection.

Try 'American Psycho,' by Ellis. Or go a completely different direction, 'Fires on the Plain' by Shohei Ooka. Stephen Crane's 'Red Badge of Courage' is another psychological novel (all three are, but the first also has a 'little' bit of gore) that might unspire you.

King, who is not my ultimo-favorite writer by the way (that would be Jack London), keeps trying new formats, modes, and viewpoints...so I'll stick with him as long as he churns for Constant Reader. I just finished an overdue reread of 'Cujo,' and I could smell the combination of beersweatblood, overgrown hay, and country road. Didn't scare me...but I was there for a little while.

BJS

[bopropadop]

I have to agree with It, too. I read it many years ago and I'm about 3/4 of the way through a re-read right now. Man, it's really good! So many different aspects to being creeped out late at night reading under a single light, shadows in the corners, creaks and pops as the house settles for the night... Good stuff!

[irisahart]

Well that all depends on what you've already read. Have you tried Cell, Insomnia, or It yet?
i have read cell and insomnia but not IT. i have heard alot about that one.

[irisahart]

as far as what kind of scary, i like blood and guts and down right gory! with so many of you suggesting IT i now know my next read. thank you all.:biggrin2:

[Jax]

For me Pet Semetary was the one that scared me the most. IT creeped me out too.:ghostface:

[smooth operator]

I'm with John on this one - both Pet Sematary and 'Salem's Lot are pretty scary. The Shining has quite a few tense moments, as well. For real gore, I recommend his short stories, especially Grey Matter, The Mangler, and The Raft.

[Teddy Duchamp]

Totally agree on the "gore" posts!

Gore doesnt scare me at all, its the shadow flitting across a doorway that you might catch from the side of your eye and wonder what it was.........

I have to say Pet Sematary scared the living crip out of me!

Salems lot also.

And I have to agree on the Girl who loved Tom Gordon - it doesnt seem a very popular book on here - however I found the concept of a little girl of that age lost in the woods scary in itself then when the apparitions appeared and the "bear" at the end...............very frightening

I found the first 80% of IT very frightening, but I was terribly disappointed in the end of the book - but would still say its worthwhile reading.

I was a bit disappointed in Liseys Story though....:sad:

[crazycrashink]

I agree that It and Pet Sematary are horrifying, but I'm going to throw my vote for The Stand.
First, I'm on a reread (which should be taken loosely since I barely remember the first time I read it and this time I'm on the uncut edition), and it is literally keeping me up at night.
Secondly, in terms of holy crap this could really happen scary s*** this takes the cake. The whole idea of biological chemical weapons EEK:eek2:
Finally, Randall Flagg gives me the heebies..... ALOT as in now when I let the dog out at night I look for the dark man first. It's official.... I need help haha :biggrin2:

[Jasonbobdude]

I enjoy SK's books even though barely any of them scare me... However, Room 217 in The Shining was pretty scary. And I haven't read Pet Sematary yet, but it seems like that might do it too.

I might also mention that The Stand may not be particularly scary when you're awake, but I've had a few dreams where Captain Trips hit and realized that it really, really sucks when that happens to you.

[tillyn]

Salem's Lot , It, Pet Semetary, did it for me.:eek2:

[adrianmarley]

It's an interesting question. There's no doubt that SK can write a great gory scene, but can he actually scare the reader? The answer is yes, of course, but this is something that's much more difficult to do. More difficult than a gross-out scene. So, what are SK's scariest scenes? Off the top of my head:

The Shining: The woman in the bath in room 217
Pet Semetary: The ending
The Stand: The scene in the Lincoln Tunnel
'Salem's Lot: When Ben enters the Masten House as a boy
Misery: The scene with the axe

Also, I think some of King's short stories are genuinely creepy:

The Reach
Children of the Corn
The Monkey

I'm sure I've forgotten quite a few, but all of the above are good examples.