Scariest Stephen King book?

[username13]

I couldn't find a thread like this, but if there is one already, sorry.

So I'm just finishin Salem's Lot and I'm at a loss as to what to read next (until November that is). So I was wondering, which Stephen King book do you think was the most scary? Which was the least scary?

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Well, Sai King said himself -

'When I'm asked (as I frequently am) what I consider to be the most frightening book I've ever written, the answer I give comes easily and with no hesitation: Pet Semetary'.

(New introduction to Pet Semetary - September 20, 2000)

And I can see where he's coming from all right.

For me the least scary were Tom Gordon and Eyes of the Dragon.

Long days and pleasant nights

[KennethHurd]

Pet Sematary and IT are the two I find the scariest.

[lorelei_lou]

I also think it's Pet Semetary, it left me really quite unsettled. I don't really want to explain why, because then I'd spoil the plot for you though!

Also I found Cell pretty scary.

Least scary... Girl who loved Tom Gordon probably. Or From a Buick 8. Both kept me enthralled though.

[aspergillus]

Salem's Lot was the first book I read by SK many years ago. Wouldn't read it after dark.
Immediately fell in love with his writing. Didn't read Pet Semetary, one of the very few I haven't read. Saw the movie though, that was enough. Least scary for me Hearts in Atlantis.

[Robert Gray]

I couldn't find a thread like this, but if there is one already, sorry.

So I'm just finishin Salem's Lot and I'm at a loss as to what to read next (until November that is). So I was wondering, which Stephen King book do you think was the most scary? Which was the least scary?

I saw one poster above quote an interview from King himself naming "Pet Semetary." I'm not surprised he feels thus because it is without a doubt the one I found most frightening. I have said it before, and it deserves mention again... I felt somehow unclean after reading it, as if some of that same sour, cursed soil clung to me. It introduced horrible ideas and the situations in which good people would indulge in them.

[Flood1980]

Salem's Lot was the first book I read by SK many years ago. Wouldn't read it after dark.
Immediately fell in love with his writing. Didn't read Pet Semetary, one of the very few I haven't read. Saw the movie though, that was enough. Least scary for me Hearts in Atlantis.

Nah, thats not enough... You have to read the book, the movie leaves out a lot, IMO. So... READ IT DANGIT :eyebrow::eyebrow::biggrin2:

[Soulgotha]

Probably 'Salem's Lot. There are some truly frightening moments in that book.

I'm about 70 pages into IT and if it keeps going the way it's shaping up, it's going to be quite a frightfest itself.

Least scary would probably be Dolores Claiborne, but it wasn't exactly intended to be a scary book.

[Mark R]

Hi,

Well, Sai King said himself -

'When I'm asked (as I frequently am) what I consider to be the most frightening book I've ever written, the answer I give comes easily and with no hesitation: Pet Semetary'.

(New introduction to Pet Semetary - September 20, 2000)

And I can see where he's coming from all right.

For me the least scary were Tom Gordon and Eyes of the Dragon.

Long days and pleasant nights

I have to agree with you John, so far it has to be Pet Semetary without a doubt.:eek2:

[brittrocksus]

I don't know...I really found The Stand to be scary but for different reasons. I think it was scary for me because I really could see our government screwing up like that! Out of all his books it was the one that I could see actually happening! Scary! It was scary but you have to look at it as not really talking about a clown or a big scary monster but the actual evil heart of a community. Anyway, that's just my opinion!
Britt

[kisun]

I have never been scared by a book. But being disturbed? I think IT was definitely the one to disturb me the most.

[nancy cosgrove]

I think "Pet semetary" was a scary book but not in your typical "blood and gore" way-- more of a "You can't always get what you want scare".
It's a terrifying sad-sort of book that lingers quite disturbingly afterwards.

[LongTallSally]

IT. In a heartbeat. IT.

I plan to reread IT someday, but it scared the crap out of me the first time around.

[TheWalkinDud]

Gerald's Game. The Space Cowboy freaked me the hell out. A more realistic nightmare than a lot of what Mr. King writes about.

[candybait]

Salems Lot scared me, I was only a teenager when I read it.

[kingricefan]

Member Robert Grey said Pet Semetary left him feeling unclean after he read it and I have to agree. PS is one of SK's scariest books, not in a supernatural way but in a humanistic way. It poses the question 'What would you do in this situation?' and then shows you the outcome of one of those choices in an unflinching example. The movie really unsettled me when it was released because I have a nephew who was the same age as Gage at the time and I had to go to my sister's after the movie and give my nephew a great big hug! I think what;s disturbing in the book is not the supernatural but the natural horror of having a small child taken from you like that.

[Nebulosity]

Ive always found The Stand to be very creepy, especially when everyone is seeing ol' Flaggy in the cornfield while dreaming. These parts always had a profound creepiness to me for some reason.

Altho the creepiest, The Stand has always been my favorite stand alone novel by SK. However nothing reaches the peak of story telling like the Dark Tower series.

[Prince of Darkness]

Pet Semetary - King says it's his most scary and so it must be the truth!

Least scary is Eyes of the Dragon.

[riknofx]

Obviously Pet Semetary and IT. It was hardcore when I first read IT as a teenager. IT is still on top for me. I think pet Semetary because it has such a hopelessness and emotional ties. I thought Desperation and Regulators and Tak in general very disturbing and amazing too. Oh yeah also I have got a soft spot for thinner as well-nice and gritty curse stuff has always stayed with me since first read.
:ghostface:

[Countrygirl_sass]

Thanks to all of you for posting the scary books, I know now which ones to stay away from. I can watch scary movies all day and night, but you won't catch me reading a scary book. :eek2: It gets in your head way more that a movie could. I remember in Jr. high our English teacher read something( I can't recall the name), and someone wished for a parent or loved one to come back from the dead, they came back alright, with baggage. I still remember that and it has been many years ago.

[LOTUS]

Pet Semetary,without a doubt.I think I've reread it just once,I was completely horrified.Not just by the supernatural,but of the human drama.The way King described it just got to your throat.
Salem's lot and Bag of bones always scared me a lot and it was a bit hard to go to bed afterwards,beacuse I it's not easy to fall asleep and keep an eye open at the same time.:rofl:

[Mistressoftheundead]

Well it used to be ****in The Stand but I just read The talisman time to trade up!

[scared1]

I think night flier was pretty darn creepy. I am not sure if that is really the name of the story but that is the name of the movie. The movie is dated but, I still like it. The story would be in one of his books with short stories in it. I can't tell you which one because all of my books are packed away at the moment. Maybe someone on the board knows the answer to this.

[Moderator]

It's in Nightmares & Dreamscapes (http://www.stephenking.com/library/story_collection/nightmares__dreamscapes.html). You can always check the Library section of the main portion of the site (http://www.stephenking.com/the_library.html) to find out what collection a story is in if you don't have your book handy. :smile2:

[TheWalkinDud]

I think night flier was pretty darn creepy. I am not sure if that is really the name of the story but that is the name of the movie. The movie is dated but, I still like it. The story would be in one of his books with short stories in it. I can't tell you which one because all of my books are packed away at the moment. Maybe someone on the board knows the answer to this.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes has some really creepy stories, especially Suffer Little Children and the Ten O'Clock People.

[Leslie168]

The Stand scared most of the hell out of me. It was too close to reality.

Salem's Lot, sans David Soul - extremely scary!

Children of the Corn. OMG.

[Insomnia]

Gerald's Game: There is someone on the shadow looking at her...it is real or only in the woman's mind?
Only for these pages...it makes one of my favourite books

[lilredkdn]

I think my scariest picks would be Pet Sematary (though I haven't finished it, I get the jist), It, and 'Salems' Lot. There definately is a major creep factor in all of those.

[aspergillus]

Nah, thats not enough... You have to read the book, the movie leaves out a lot, IMO. So... READ IT DANGIT :eyebrow::eyebrow::biggrin2:

Didn't read it due to the advice of someone at the time whose opinion I respected. Will remedy that soon as I can locate a copy. Need something of SK read at the moment. Thanks.

[giantsfanatic55]

While all Stephen King books are scary, I truly haven't been scared by the books that I have been reading. This may seem odd, but I have not had bad dreams for instance from reading one of his awesome books. As for books that I consider to be scary, IT is high up on the list as well as Pet Sematary. Personally I thought that Different Seasons was a little bit tamer than the rest of them, accept for of course the novella Apt Pupil that is hidden among the other stories.

[JRLauer]

The scariest book for me would be IT or Cell.

The least scariest is Eyes of the Dragon.

[Vegetable in Glasses]

Thanks to all of you for posting the scary books, I know now which ones to stay away from. I can watch scary movies all day and night, but you won't catch me reading a scary book. :eek2: It gets in your head way more that a movie could. I remember in Jr. high our English teacher read something( I can't recall the name), and someone wished for a parent or loved one to come back from the dead, they came back alright, with baggage. I still remember that and it has been many years ago.

I think you are thinking of The Monkey's Paw. It was their dead son who came back, if memory serves.

My two scariest are Pet Semetery and Apt Pupil from Different Seasons. Just the ideas in Apt Pupil made me nauseous for weeks afterward.

[Agincourt Concierge]

Books don't scare me. (some people do, though)...anyway...
Creepiest SK book....Nightshift...still have vivid memories in my head with those short stories.

[vetta]

Pet Semetary read at about 15 scared the S**T out of me I threw it away no lie but now will add to my collecting of all Stephen king books

[Count Blake]

Personally I've read a few Stephen King book, and

[DianaJ]

Geralds Game creeped me right out! And classic, The Shining... I was reading it when someone knocked on my door & I managed to jump off the sofa 3 feet! :eek2: "Black House" with Peter Straub was heebie jeebie too.

[boogerb53]

Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot and Bag of Bones. Most gruesome and the only one I'll never read again, Gerald's Game. Once was too much!

brittrocksus, I'm in Conway- Where are you?

[Flood1980]

Didn't read it due to the advice of someone at the time whose opinion I respected. Will remedy that soon as I can locate a copy. Need something of SK read at the moment. Thanks.

Yeah, its a good read, makes ya wanna take a shower or two afterwards. Any book leaving you feeling that way is a good IMO, but maybe you're friend just didn't dig it. To each his own, though, right? :biggrin2:

[teejay17]

The one that freaked me out the most, or (shall I say?) scared me was Desperation. I've never felt so spooked during a reading of a novel.
Reading it was great fun.

[mefistofeles]

PS is creepy like you all say, but i found more disturbing moments in IT. And since Salem's lot was the first "real" book i read by him it also has a special place in my heart, its damn scary aswell.

[aspergillus]

Yeah, its a good read, makes ya wanna take a shower or two afterwards. Any book leaving you feeling that way is a good IMO, but maybe you're friend just didn't dig it. To each his own, though, right? :biggrin2:

Right.

[mogget3]

For some reason the short story ''the boogeyman'' scared the bejesus out of me!
Not one other story or novel by Stephen has done that...and that's not a bad thing! I find them all the greatest adventure! It's all I ask of my fave author!

[bopropadop]

I don't know which book by itself is the scariest for me. They all kind of creep me out in some way. Rather, sections of each book have dramatic impacts on me that I think about afterward. Two in particular - the storm sewer in It and from Pet Semetary when Gage dies and comes back.

[mista]

Pet Semetary without a doubt was the most scary SK book I have read. But then again there was The Cell that was scary cause you never know when something like that will really happen considering everyone toting cell phones.

[Leslie168]

''the boogeyman''
----

To me, "The Boogeyman" is the opposite of "Needful Things". Some things scare the living sh out of people, and other things give people some peace. For example, if there was a clown living in my sewer, I'd call the local water company. But if there was a spider on my arm, I'd run screaming from my house like my hair was on fire.

[Ninersphan]

As a lot of you have said "Pet Sematary" was probably his most frightening book to me, but it wasn't the most scared I've been reading a SK book.
True story, when I first read Salem's Lot, it was in the dead of winter and I used to sleep in a room with very loose windows that would rattle at the slightest breeze, well I was reading, at night of course, and got to the scene where Ralphie Glick pays Mark his first visit by knocking on Mark's second stroy bedroom window, and wouldn't you know, just as I'm reading that part of the story, the wind blows and my window rattles. I tell you I've never been more terrified reading a book in my life. I had to put it down and continue in the daylight hours.

Salem's Lot remains one of my favorite King books to this day, and that moment may be a big reason why.

[marew1]

I found Carrie, It, Cujo, The Shining and Pet Semetary very scary. The ones that weren't scary were Lisey's Story, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Dolores Claiborne.

[Natjen26]

Pet Sematary would be my absolute number one.

[RandallPennywise]

I would agree nothing much scares me in reading things... but they do make me think about things... I will say the geralds game,dolores claiborne,rose madder trio was some of least favorite King work. BUT the ones I loved and have re-read far outweigh the ones i didn't like so much. King books for me are like pizza even if you try one you don't like so well it's still pretty good :)

[johnny39]

I remember at the time I read it, I think IT scared the hell out of me. Just the idea that It was unstoppable...

I just read Salem's Lot for the first time though, and that was scary as hell. Had I not seen the movies a number of times before I read it, I think The Shining would probably be the scariest of all of them.

[Drakeness]

I haven't read Pet Semetary yet, althougth i've heard and read (here actually) that is very scary... But, the scariest one of the books y have read is definitively IT... Specially at the beginning of the book when i didn't know what was IT and all the characters where acting so weird like if IT was the devil itself... That was very scary for me...

[Christina_Mladenova]

I say "Salem's Lot" and may be "IT"

[OhmyGod!]

I couldnt sleep when I was reading misery for the first time. Kept thinking that Anne would marching in and do some godawful things to me..

IT made me scared for showering late at night...and lisey's story made me feel weird about having a mirror in my bedroom (yeah I know).

[blurredmindset]

Tak....Regulators and Desperation....Imagine being stuck with that guy and having your body and soul taken over..."You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to have an attorney. I'm going to kill you!"

[Sterling]

I have to see IT is the scariest from my personal experience.
Thanks To All!!!

[DrClaw27]

The one that comes to mind is Children of the Corn. I find a lot of the short stories scarier than the full length novels.

[scared_of_clowns]

the scariest for me is probably It
i was scared of clowns before the book and now i'm even more scared after reading it!

[crazycrashink]

The one that comes to mind is Children of the Corn. I find a lot of the short stories scarier than the full length novels.

I agree... while I found It and Geralds Game to be especially creepy, it seems that some of the short stories pack a very frightening punch!! The Boogeyman, Crouch End, Gramma, etc

[Annarkie]

I consider Rose Madder to be the scariest because most of it is stuff that happens everyday and COULD HAPPEN TO YOU! I love IT. That's got lots of freaky S**t in it. Because of seeing the movie when I was little, I'm still too scared to read Pet Semetary. Man, that really makes me look like a wuss... saying it in print

[Susanne]

Salem´s Lot scared me. I lived on my own in Munich when I read it. I had a big apartment and big windows and I made the mistake to read it in bed...

[goatfarmer123]

Am I the only one that would nominate Christine? ... That one got me. :P Salem's Lot is definitely on that list for me as well. I read Pet Semetary when I was pretty young, and I don't remember a lot of the details. This thread has convinced me to read it again though, I bet it would be scarier now that I'm older and would understand more of the subtext. :)

[Dipso]

Pet Cemetary is definitely the scariest book I've ever read.

I see most people think so too and - no surprise.
I don't think it scares people because of the dead animals and people.

You see, the most horrible thing that can ever happen to a human being is loss of a family member.

I may not be very good in English to express the feelings of a person who's lost the closest person on Earth, but I also can't find proper words in my native language.

The very idea of losing a close family member is dreadful.
This is the deepest fear we all carry through our lives trying not think about the fact that someday somebody we love will die. And when we face the situation we encounter the primeval horror, infinite and paralyzing sadness of realizing our own loneliness.

Stephen King brilliantly managed to dig to the bottoms of our souls and take out this deeply hidden fear.
And being a genius of words he showed us how it can be by creating an extremely vivid and lifelike situation.

Too lifelike I'd say.. heh.

[finalfantasyVII]

For me it was problably IT and Storm of the Century, like JohnD. said also Tom Gordan was the least but I liked it...seems like that one would make a good camping out tale since it's somewhat short..I like to do...woods and camping..thus the reason for my avatar...good reading...Mark FFVII:blush::oh:

[finalfantasyVII]

:eyebrow::dunno::umm: Can someone fill me in on this book Eyes of the Dragon?? I've never heard of it and is it a SK book or a Bauchman work..my library doesn't seem to have it and/or what's up with it??? Good reading..Mark FFVII

[LadyHitchhiker]

The Stand.

Incurable diseases.. SCARY!!

[seanryan]

Salem's Lot. Scared the s%$t out of me.

Must read it again.......

[Jojo87]

Pet Sematary and Shining. Really creepy books.

[DelvianBlue]

For me it was probably IT. Of course I read that book when I was still a child, so that made the plot even more scary.

[smooth operator]

IMHO, Salem's Lot was the scariest. I feel as some of you do about Pet Sematary - it was scary, but it was also heartbreaking. It is the one SK novel I could never go back and read again - I only saw the movie once, as well. I felt actual physical pain (maybe from my broken heart) from what happened to these poor people.

[Angel182308]

For me it was Pet Semetary and It. Just putting myself in those situations really freaked me out.

[delores 74]

:eyebrow::dunno::umm: Can someone fill me in on this book Eyes of the Dragon?? I've never heard of it and is it a SK book or a Bauchman work..my library doesn't seem to have it and/or what's up with it??? Good reading..Mark FFVII
It's a SK book, definitely not in his "genre". He actually wrote it for his daughter Naomi since she wouldn't read his work. It's a fantasy-type story set in an imaginary kingdom with a prince, his aging father and a very bad magician who is eerily familiar to readers of The Stand. I highly recommend it.

Now, I agree with the general consensus that Pet Sematary was by far the scariest SK novel. It was my first SK novel, and I read it at 12 years old. I've been hooked ever since.

[nosila]

I've never really been afraid by any SK novels, but I did have a very peculiar nightmare about both The Shining and Cell. Least scary: Carrie. Amazing book, but I never was frightened by it, only slightly disturbed.

[iSkane]

Definitely Pet Semetary . That book kept me up all night when I read it. (Luckily I didn't finish it on a school night. The last lines still send shivers through my mind. *Shivers*:grinning:

[spaced_7]

I admit I have not read many of his books, only three (and a half) to be specific.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was the first, and unlike everyone else, it was slightly scary. But as a personal opinion, the ending didn't make it seem to bad after all

Night Shift was the second, and most of the stories in the got to me, mostly Children of The Corn or The Boogeyman

The Shining was after that which did scare me , was pretty much gruesome at parts, and was definatly classic.

Needful Things is the one im reading now and I am finding it very very disturbing, not in a supernatural way, but the way he mixes the mystery, sex, and past of the town into the novel creates a scary atmosphere.

So far I think Night Shift was the scariest, however I have got Cell, Misery and The Tommyknockers on my read list.

[karend3]

Pet Sematary and IT are scary, the Stand has some scary moments in it. The Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile are not scary.

[Lina]

To my mind, one of the scariest books is It. Pet Sematary is also creepy enough. And, besides, when I read The shining the first time - I was about twelve at that time, it scared me too.

[michal]

Pet Sematary - not because Mr. King said its his choice, but simply because read it first, and It because MY GOD, that final scene of the book and some in the middle and the beginning, and every other part of the book frightened me half silly when I was 14. And most of them still do.

[Ace16]

The scariest book is either "It" or "The Shinning" he got the idea for "The Shinning" from the most haunted hotel in Noth America wich makes it a true horror story.

[Ace16]

I would say "It' or "The Shinning" The Shinning is already called the scariest book ever written..He got the idea by staying in the most haunted hotel in North America..:wow:

[JRM]

So far, I'd have to go with "Bag of Bones"

However, I haven't read that many King books yet (though, I have a bunch ready for action, haha). I've also read "Insomnia"...didn't think it was scary at all...just trippy. :eek2:

[SnowriderJ]

I think an honorable mention should go out to "Survivor Type" from Skeleton Crew. Highly disturbing and flat-out gross. It's the one besides Pet Cemetary that's stuck with me the most.

[Manxkitti]

So far, for me anyway, has to be Pet Sematary. I just finished reading that one (for the third time) and still scares me. But I still love it.:love:

[Sugar Marie]

"Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" (EE) did a bit of a number on me. Doesn't seem to be that far of a stretch either, I've seen a maitre d' or two who seemed so tightly wound, that it wouldn't take much prompting to pop a couple of those strings.

Creepy.

[glyde69]

Desperation, IT, Pet Sematary, and Salem's Lot come to mind when I think of books that creeped me out.

[brandon]

Thanks to all of you for posting the scary books, I know now which ones to stay away from. I can watch scary movies all day and night, but you won't catch me reading a scary book. :eek2: It gets in your head way more that a movie could. I remember in Jr. high our English teacher read something( I can't recall the name), and someone wished for a parent or loved one to come back from the dead, they came back alright, with baggage. I still remember that and it has been many years ago.

Man ,now that is bugging the crap out of me. I read that story too and it was pretty interesting. If you can think of what it was called please reply

[Smikes]

For me it was Gerald's Game. Short of death itself, there's nothing scarier than what the human imagination can come up with. I was so tense reading that book. I'm not saying it was his best— and there were moments in It that came close for me, but on a personal level it was the most scared I've been reading one of his books.

Live, love, laugh & be happy,
Smikes

[Sony02]

Desperation and The Shining! WOW

[Chelle71]

I am so with JohnDalgish...Pet Sematary was very scary and Tom Gordon....not at all, loved the book though.

[Maddie]

I think Rose Madder

[JohnDalglish]

Man ,now that is bugging the crap out of me. I read that story too and it was pretty interesting. If you can think of what it was called please reply

Hi,

Just rediscovered this thread.

I think the story you're both thinking of is 'The Monkey's Paw' by W.W. Jacobs, discussed at length in Danse Macabre and obviously a huge influence on Pet Semetary (IMO).

The Monkey's Paw

W.W. Jacobs

Long days and pleasant nights

[randallFlaggfan1]

Wow. Well said, Robert Gray, couldn't have said it better! And I completely agree: Pet Semetary does leave the reader with that unclean, tainted feeling.

[Snaggletooth]

Cujo scared the crap out of me, mostly because I could visualize such a scenario occuring in "real life". It's the most tragic of the SK novels that I've read, IMO. And not just because of what happens to Cujo. Pet Sematary would come in second, but it's pure fantasy/horror, and therefore easier to shake off...at least for me. Cujo literally gave me nightmares, and I'm an animal lover.

[91rewoT]

Oh yeah, Pet Sematary scared the bejeesus out of me. But a close second is The Shining...a specific incident, which I won't spoil for you. (and it's NOT an incident I've heard other people talk about being the scariest part of the story either.)

[jcasey]

Low men in yellow coats didnt scare you?!?! for some reason, that whole thing creeped me out...

[Craig Zadow]

My top five gotta be....

1. It
2. Salems Lot
3. Pet Semetary
4. Bag of Bones
5. The Shining

With honerable mention to Duma Key. I didn't find it all that scary throughout but it deserves mention for that damn Lawn Jockey! One of the single most creepy things he has ever put in a book. Also I wanna add that of all of his short stories Gramma is the scariest.

[Bryan James]

Did not read the whole thread.

King's scariest book to me is On Writing.

~BJS

[riklegaree]

Least scary by my frightmeter[there were a few]soulgotha stated Doloris Claiborne and I have to agree; Most scary is brittrockus choice the Stand and for his reasons/2nd to this [TV Mini-series}is Langoliers for me [time standing deathly still while any life around you is consumed by something thats only purpose is to consume everything alive] time tampering is a very scary concept to indulge and throw in a few creatures features; I just wanna climb into Jules Vernes "Time machine" and go be safe anywhere here or there.

[Suzana]

Pet Sematary... and The Shining. I felt really scared with the Shining. To the point of wanting to sleep with the lights on. And I was already a grown up when I read it LOL

[xkittyx]

Gerald's Game scared me the most out of what I've read recently (which hasn't included Pet Semetary or the Shining, it's been at least 10 years since I read those ones). But the part in Gerald's Game with the man in the shadows. Shudder! Creep me out. I'm pretty much scared of the dark as it is....

[Pucker]

I couldnt sleep when I was reading misery for the first time. Kept thinking that Anne would marching in and do some godawful things to me..

I've told this story in a couple of places on the forum but I'll repeat it here, as the context seems perfect. Misery was the first Stephen King book I ever read. It was given to me by my best friend who read it while laid up in bed with two broken legs. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like reading about dear, demented Annie while lying helpless in bed. It makes me shiver just thinking about it now . . . perfectly healthy . . . 23 years later . . . in broad daylight.

[Becks19]

I vote for Misery and will also throw in the Stand! Because either one is a scenario that could actually happen. Flu's and psycho stalker people are actual everyday things now.

[PunkrX]

have to admit pet semetary was pretty good, but misery is the best imo

[GNTLGNT]

IT-nuff said...:wink2:

[Churchill502]

Pet Semetary without a doubt. Had many many sleepless nights over that one. And is by far one of his greatest books.

[Terry B]

I have to agree with the originator of this thread way back when - Salem's Lot is the scariest IMO but I will have to vote for Misery as being the most disturbing.

[Rand]

Why is this the top thread in the Novels By Other Authors section of the board?

[Rachie]

I think the creepiest for me is Desperation, I actually got goosebumps when I read that book.
The 'Tak!' thing creeped me out and the speech the cop gave with 'I'm going to kill you' shoved in there.

Dreamcatcher didnt so much scare me, but I thought the idea of the 'aliens' who talked how they did a bit creepy aswell.
The wasps nest in the Shining definatley scared me... and the small bit where Jack is chasing Wendy I raced through because I was so nervous.
The Long Boy in Liseys Story scared me a bit, the description throughout the novel was much scarier than what it actually was though.

I havent found any of them particularly scary, just small bits like that.

[larstriplj]

This is a tough one! I hope short stories count, because two of the scariest things I ever read by SK were stories in The Night Shift.

The Boogeyman and Grey Matter.

[PunkrX]

i find them disturbing, and making me want more... LOTS MORE!

i have never been 'scared' but frightened for the character yes. Pet Semetary DEFINENTLY gave me the chills, i finished that book in a week and a half... and thats something incredible for me.. usually its 3-4 weeks a novel... i usually only read in bed HAHA

Misery tho... well... it started to freak me out a bit... it could be real...so real...

[roblov89]

the scariest book to me would actually have to be the short story "the bogeyman" i actually made sure my closet was always closed for many many dark nights, sometimes i slept with some lights on :D ! The monster in "the girl who loved Tom Gordon" was very greatly detailed and had me scared for her, also with "the man in the black suit story" shew lets just say all of them keep me on the edge, "misery" and all...but i love it, that's just the way it is with me, just like with a scary movie...i want it to SCARE me, i want to see them and i love' em.

[nate_watkins]

I haven't read IT, or Pet Semetary. So I guess the scariest SK book I've read would be Cujo. Haven't been scared of many of his books though. And I do plan to read It and Pet Semetary

[kyleckm]

misery is the scariest and from a buick eight was not

[JellybeanJay]

For me the scariest so far was a tie between It. It still makes me shy away from clowns.

Least scary was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

[Madame A]

IT probably freaked me out the most and had the most lasting effects (clowns are just bad news in my books now), but I think that Pet Semetary is right up there, especially since becoming a mom to a little boy. I love the story, but I'm not sure I could read it again without having nightmares. :eek2:

[Dinky]

I think for me so far the scariest has been Insomnia. I read it when I was a teenager and didnt sleep for weeks.

Least scary: Eyes of the Dragon.

[markdlong]

For me it's a tie. I had thought The Stand scariest because I can imagine governments making a "super flu" and it getting released; then someone mentioned Cujo. Trapped in a car, on a hot day, by a rabid St. Bernard; again, a 'real life' situation. SCARY!

[JellybeanJay]

Ooops guess I didn't finish that one! I meant to say it was a tie between It and Bag of Bones.

[Silhouette86]

Pet Sematary. No doubt about it.

[sarar]

I'd say pet semetary!
just the idea is terrifying i think, that's without even reading it!
it's written so beautifully as well

[Andre Linoge]

I would pick The Shining........didn't want to turn the page (several times)............but I did !!!!!!!!

[JamesMWatts]

I would have to say it is a toss up between Pet Semetary, 'Salem's Lot, The Stand and Misery. Being freshly published, Misery strikes me with terror. Just thinking of a crazed fan like Anne Wilkes...shivers.

[Andre Linoge]

Actually, yeah.......Pet Semetary was pretty creepy :eek2:

[fredandy]

I, too would have to agree with KennethHurd, Pet Semetary and It were probably the ones that grabbed me the most, although the movie version of It came no where near to doing it justice.

[BlunkLaura]

I read It at the age of,oh, ten or 11 (I was an advanced reader even in grade-school..) and It scared the bejeezus out of me....I am very visual....and I remember reading it one rainy night, and getting SO scared I screamed and threw it clear across the room.
I never looked at it since.I had to have my dad hide It from me (ha!).
Then,I just finished It a few days ago....I shouldn't have re-picked it up.
I am stay wayyyyy jumpy and have problems sleeping with my back to a a door or window (well,more than I already had).
No other book has creeped me out as much as It has !!!!
I'm going through and re-reading as much of SK as I can,so far I've gone through:

Lisey's Story (LOVED it !)
Insomnia (not dull like others said, but long time to get into the story)
Eyes of the Dargo (good for a YA-fantasy type book)
It (oooooh boogery jeez, I am NOT going to read It ever again !!!!!!)
~and~
am currently reading 'Night Shift' ,which is prett good.The short story the Mangler made me chuckle out loud.

But,I am getting off subject.
The short-and-short of it (no pun intended) is that....It scares me.
Not Pennywise.
Not the movie.
The BOOK.

Bool ! The End !

[cormac]

Looking thru this thread it looks like 'Pet Sematary' is hands-down the winner and ... I'd agree ... I read Pet Sematary in one night because it scared the hell out of me ...

The Shining ... This is so creepy and frightening ... both the peril Danny is in because of something he was born with ... the alcoholism of Jack and these passages where he is thinking of a drink, just one drink, are frightening in the power it has over him ... and Room 217 ...

Salem's Lot -- pretty darned scary as well lol ... just the thought that there might be another explanation for ghost towns ;)

Misery -- has to be right up close to these as well ... people who i know that saw the movie and didn't read the book would always say how horrible the 'hobbling' scene was ... weeeelllll ... :D

[Emdee]

Oh, i'd like to say that all of them are scary ;) but the two books i've had night mares from are Pet sematary (dead guy in red shorts who resembels my brother a lot is in my doorway with a crazy smile) and Firestarter, which i actually had two night mares from. (Rainbird got me in both. Bleh.) So i suppose that my subconsious finds them the scariest. X)
While awake I think that Misery and the shining are the scariest ones. Insanity, crazed fans and som more insaniy. Whee!

[zachjames]

Pet Sematary is probably the scariest. Misery the most intense I've read.

Under the Dome although a great book didn't seem very scary, but I haven't read even close to half of his books so I can't give a good opinion.

[Garriga]

The Stand is the scariest book, because it could actually happen ( I have a B.S. in biology it is possible to engineer a virus that keeps mutating antigens )

[Carolyn Carlisle]

There are only two SK books that actually made me leave my bedroom and go out into the living room with my parents because I was so scared when reading them. 'Salem's Lot and The Shining. Also (and I've said this in another thread) his son's book The Heart Shaped Box scared the living crap outta me. It actually kept me up at night and gave me nightmares. :eek2:

[Carolyn Carlisle]

also when I was in high school, I got my best friend into Stephen King books as well. She called me at 3am because she had stayed up reading Pet Sematary and the part where it described the green trash bag fragments in Church's teeth freaked her out and she wanted to talk to someone so she wouldn't be so scared and could go to sleep LOL. She also read IT, and told me that she couldn't have it out in her room at night, she turned it face down under some clothes in her dresser every night before she went to sleep. :)

[Horror_Fan924]

i have to say within reading stephen kings books, pet sematary, and IT was the scariest ones that i have read. i have read alot of his books and the least scariest would probably be the man in the dark suit- short novel, and autopsy room four. most of the other ones they were scary,but not terrifying, and im not saying they were bad. just some of the books you can tell he didnt intend for them to be scary, but really good either way. BIG THUMBS UP!!!!!! FOR MR. KING!!!!!!!!!

[Ebony]

I haven´t read all books yet (can´t believe it ^^), but in comparison with the other ones I read "Pet Semetary" was definitely the scariest one.
Well, it´s all about your own fears. To be honest, this is one of S.K.´s books that´s really scary.
The other ones are not quite "horror stuff", just something to think about...but that might be scary enough.

[DogMom]

OMG, scariest book hands down was Misery. For me it was the fact that there was absolutely no supernatural elements to it, just one super CrAzy fan who went waaaaay too far overboard. It scared me the most because there are people out there who are that uhmmm..... extreme shall we say :)

[Unregistered]

I also think it's Pet Semetary, it left me really quite unsettled. I don't really want to explain why, because then I'd spoil the plot for you though!

Also I found Cell pretty scary.

Least scary... Girl who loved Tom Gordon probably. Or From a Buick 8. Both kept me enthralled though.

Cell Wasn't Scary at all...

[blunthead]

Of the sK I've read, so far Gerald's Game is the scariest. He describes the protagonist's isolated and desperate situation in such a way that I was actually frightened to read about it. I found IT to be very scary in places (my favorite part being when the kids found themselves back in distant time and the spaceship lands. Oh, was that powerful to me, and the feeling of abject terror the kids felt...too good!!!). I found Bag of Bones pretty scary, too.

[JellybeanJay]

Scariest for me was Pet Semetary

Most uncomfortable was Gerald's Game

Least scary was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

[not_nadine]

It was The Shining for me. I was working in a hotel at the time I first read it. Pulling back those shower curtains was no fun.

[tmac61]

Salems Lot probably scared me the worst. The idea of a child vampire really got next to me when I first read it, and it still creeps me out today.

[Daniel Lee Severn]

For me, the scariest are IT, Pet Semetary, and The Shining

[AchtungBaby]

I'm gonna have to say The Shining is the scariest, IMO. 'Salem's Lot and Cujo are right behind it though.

The least scary was Lisey's Story. That one was just fine storytelling.

[Leeanne]

I have not read all of SK's book so I cant really say. I haven't read Pet semetary but from what you'all right here I probably should.

"Lisey's story" and "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" was really good story telling a typical sit on the sofa and enjoy books!!

[Chessie]

Scariest - It! I had to walk around while reading some of that book because I couldn't sit still.

Most disturbing - Misery. Again, lots of walking around in the house while reading but this time because I was so darned ... stressed ... worried

[CCAL]

This thread has been out here a good long while yet a comment was posted only an hour ago. Which tells me others are still finding it interesting to read.I know I do. I simply cant decide on a 'scariest' one though. I think we all find something in particular about certain books and it gives a good case of the willies.I'm safe (so far) in that my greatest fear is the pressure of deep water and heights. course getting stuck in dark caves brings on the panick as well...other than that-I'm good.I think. Ofcourse we never know we fear some terrible thing until we experience it-right?? I admit to having nervous moments in Geralds Game, Duma Key,Dolans Cadillac etc. okay maybe I should have said SK just finds a way to get to us every time. There, that about covers it!

[Jake R]

Bag Of Bones was pretty scary, in my opinion. The Shining had the scariest scene I've read, but Bag of Bones had the most uncomfortable moments for me. I never thought IT was scary.

[HevyMinik]

Scariest: Pet Semetary, Salem's Lot as a close second. Lisey's Story - The parts where Scott's brother was in the cellar creeped me the f*** out!

For short stories, it might be I Am the Doorway. N.'s obsessive compulsion was really creepy though!

Not scary: Hearts in Atlantis

[AchtungBaby]

Most of King's stories are scary on a more psychological level, not a blood-and-guts level (although there is plenty of that too!).

Scariest novels: 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Misery (it could happen!), Gerald's Game, IT, Cujo, and Pet Sematary...

Scariest short stories: All of Night Shift is at least creepy, The Monkey, The Mist, The Raft, Suffer the Little Children, Riding the Bullet, Big Driver, N....

Wow, I feel like a baby. Ha. :biggrin2:

[Chris1974100]

For its Desperation and IT

[not_nadine]

It will always be Salems' Lot for me. First read at 12 or 13.

But The Shining. close call.

[shookme]

Full Dark No Stars would have to be the scariest for me. It is truly scary what people (even "normal" people) are capable of, and those stories are very symbolic of that.

Then, probably It. Damn clowns...

[SharonC]

Full Dark No Stars would have to be the scariest for me. It is truly scary what people (even "normal" people) are capable of, and those stories are very symbolic of that.

Then, probably It. Damn clowns...

For me. I find pretty much the same thing. The Stand did have some elements of the supernatural and that was pretty scary but the most frightening was that this scenario could actually become fact (less the Randall Flagg element, that is.) Otherwise stories that show the dark side of humanity scare the crap out of me. Mankind (and please don't go pc on me cause personkind doesn't sound right and I've already used humanity) should have evolved to a point where we realize we all share a planet but just live on different streets. Some just take a longer road trip to get to.