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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 27, 2015 0:44:22 GMT
Probably because I read it when young (pre or young teen) it stuck with me, Johnny Got His Gun. About a guy who basically lost his arms, legs, face etc but was still alive and mind worked fine. Prisoner in his own body. Don't know why I picked it to read as I don't remember that being my style, but I did and remember it to this day. OMG, yes!! I read that when I was a teenager, it really affected me at the time. I still have a copy of it, I read it again a few years ago. It was haunting! Funny, scary thing happened to me --I was babysitting one night in high school and I was reading Helter Skelter (Charles Manson, Sharon Tate...) and the lights went out. The entire apartment building lost power. I closed that book and never picked it up again. That would have been so scary!! (Like the time I was a teenager and home by myself watching "Psycho" and my brother and his mate kept prank calling me. ![:grin:](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/TKS2q_7siLiFtq0xPQvx.jpg) ) I also still have my copy of Helter Skelter (I assume it’s the same one that you started to read, it’s written by the prosecutor if I remember correctly.) Great book, I’ve read it several times.
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Post by ~KellyAnn~ on Jul 27, 2015 1:11:11 GMT
I cannot remember the name of the book, but I only read a chapter or two as a tween or young teen, and it still haunts me to this day. I googled "child, sand, pit, skeleton and dead cat" and the book, Suffer the Children, by John Saul came up. Not sure if that's what I started to read, but remember the scene was so macabre and disturbing that I couldn't read any further.
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lesley
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Post by lesley on Jul 27, 2015 1:29:39 GMT
I was really scared by James Herbert's The Rats. It was one we passed around at school, and I remember being too scared to read it in my bedroom. I was also terrified by The Amityville Horror, and I think that was probably the last horror book I read. I don't enjoy being scared!
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Post by tomboymama on Jul 27, 2015 1:43:37 GMT
I don't really like scary books. When I was a teenager, my sister and I found some books in an old shed on some property my dad bought. One of the books was The Other by Thomas Tyron. It's been 35 years and I still remember horrible things from that book.
Another one that scared me was Victim: The Other Side of Murder by Gary Kinder based on a true story of murders in a Hi-Fi store. I was pretty sheltered growing up, and to know that people can truly be that evil is haunting.
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Post by pjaye on Jul 27, 2015 3:30:56 GMT
I'm always surprised Stephen King is so popular, he's just eyeroll worthy for me.. I read/watched some of his stuff as a teen, and I agree that he builds suspense well initially, but then there's always some ultra lame ending (or no ending at all or an ending that doesn't even make sense) and that made me avoid him from then on.
Even Pet Semetary, once they work out that it was an old Native American burial ground and that things buried there come back as violent zombies...here's a clue, stop burying people & animals there...but no, those people aren't that bright, they just keep doing it, ON PURPOSE even when they know what's going to happen next. Like I said, I don't find that creepy, just plain stupid. I think I'm just too logical to read horror. I'm trying to think of a book that scared me - I don't think there is one. I've definitely been horrified and disturbed by some true crime stories and what some people can do to others...but I wouldn't say it scared me.
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Post by Chips on Jul 27, 2015 4:00:16 GMT
The Road by Cormac McCarthy just got in my head!
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Post by keesha on Jul 27, 2015 4:30:17 GMT
The Shining... read as a young adult, knew I wasn't cut out to read more Stephen King books. I can't do horror movies either. Even though I consciously know I should be entertained and not bothered, I will get nightmares. Still do about certain Night Gallery episodes!
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Post by DinCA on Jul 27, 2015 4:44:08 GMT
"The Exorcist" scared the crap out of me. I was a teenager when I read it and can remember thinking it was pure evil. My brother lived in Georgetown at the time, just a few blocks from where the Exorcist "stairs" are located. I wonder if, as an adult, I'd find it as scary as I did back then. It would be The Exorcist for me, too. I wouldn't even sleep in the same room with the book. I was only about 13 years old at the time but the thought still freaks me out! ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) The Other by Thomas Tryon and Cujo by Stephen King are close seconds.
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grrlsmom
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Post by grrlsmom on Jul 27, 2015 4:51:11 GMT
Frank E. Peretti's books - This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness, and there are a couple more. Demons, demons, demons! Lovecraft is scary, too.
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Post by ceepea on Jul 27, 2015 5:08:40 GMT
It makes me so happy to see so many people mention Stephen King! I love his books and stalk his twitter. For me It was really scary, I can remember reading it and actually throwing it on the floor. I didn't even want to hold it any more, lol.
Scary books and movies are probably the one thing that I am not afraid of. I watch all the horror movies on Netflex.
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Post by slicksister on Jul 27, 2015 5:15:24 GMT
This one of my all time favorite books. Top 5 I think. Scary as hell. I had the same reaction to it. I do every time I read it.
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Post by lbp on Jul 27, 2015 12:54:24 GMT
The Mirror was very disturbing to me, especially the ending! "It" was terrifying and I couldn't put it down. I hate clowns! Also Harvest Home was very scary, it was also made into a movie for TV that was very good.
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Post by Kelpea on Jul 27, 2015 13:26:51 GMT
The Shining. OMG. Read it at too young an age and had to sleep with my overhead light on for about a month. lol
Rosemary's Baby? Close second.
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Post by redayh on Jul 27, 2015 13:42:24 GMT
One of the most disturbing things I ever read was a short story by Stephen King called, Survivor Type (I think). It was about a medical student/doctor that decided to traffic heroin and he gets stranded on an island while doing it because of a plane crash. All that he's left with is his medical bag and the heroin. There is no food and systematically, he cuts off parts of himself and begins to eat them because he is starving. At the end, there is very little of him left, but he thinks he'll make it through because he's a "Survivor Type."
Something about that freaked me out COMPLETELY when I was a teenager.
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Post by gajitldy on Jul 27, 2015 14:10:09 GMT
Definitely Helter Skelter.
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Post by casii on Jul 27, 2015 15:00:36 GMT
In a book of 4 stories by Stephen King, there were 2 stories that freaked me out. "The Library Policeman" and "The Sun Dog". The Library Policeman in particular.
Another one that skeeved me out was The Metamorphosis by Kafka.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2015 15:12:00 GMT
That's my most favourite story ever. It's just so sad and creepy and weird!
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Post by Zee on Jul 27, 2015 15:45:09 GMT
I see lots of people mentioned Pet Sematary, but I think that's just because so many of us were young and more easily frightened when it came out. Read it now, I bet you don't think it's scary anymore. Ditto Christine and all the rest. It was a good cautionary tale though...Don't try to resurrect your pets, they won't be the same! ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
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Post by vpohlman on Jul 27, 2015 16:02:09 GMT
I've been thinking about this and the short story The Road Virus Heads North by Stephen King is pretty bad! Scary bad. Not written bad! I will randomly think about that story and it always creeps me out! It's in the book Everything's Eventual.
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Post by cbet on Jul 27, 2015 16:06:33 GMT
I am so glad to read about others here that were scared by The Amityville Horror - scary books never really bothered me, but that one did. Slept with the light on for a couple of nights, and kept the curtains closed so as not to see Jordy's red eyes.
Then I watched the movie when it came out, and laughed most of the way thru it. The book was definitely scarier!
The problem with Stephen King books being made into movies - a lot of the terror in the books comes from the imagination of the reader. Hollywood special effects don't compare; and a lot of the terror is psychological, which is pretty hard to convey on screen.
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Post by duchess on Jul 27, 2015 16:12:38 GMT
The Exorcist - I threw it out because it bugged me every time I walked past the bookshelf in the hallway. My mom and dad never asked why it was missing. Maybe they thought it was evil too.
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Post by georgiapea on Jul 27, 2015 16:18:15 GMT
We Need to Talk About Kevin. I read it after the Kip Kinkle tragedy and found it horrifying.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jul 27, 2015 16:41:00 GMT
Amityville Horror scared the shit outta me forever. To this day I won't keep my blinds open at night for the fear of red eyes staring in at me. I've seen this book mentioned a few times and I'm so glad I'm not just some big baby!! I read Amityville Horror when I was a teen living with my dad. He was gone a lot (at the bar) and I was home alone all the time. I remember being so scared that I moved the book out of my room ![:blush:](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/R6yG4nI0YHiVm0wktwl4.jpg) I saw Friday the 13th a year or so before that and between the two I rarely if ever watch or read horror. Which is interesting because I love to read true crime and two of my kids love Stephen King books, who I won't read at all ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/MNrJDkDuSwqIMVw33MdD.jpg)
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Post by oldcrow on Jul 27, 2015 16:48:58 GMT
Cujo always stuck with me because it was something that could happen - trapped in a hot car by a rabid dog. Just seemed so mundane it could happen. WHen I was a kid, I read the "Witch" series by Phyllis Reyolds Naylor and it creeped me out. There was also another kids book about a Dollhouse that came to life at night - I could only play with my dollhouse during the day for a while after that! Was it The Dollhouse Murders? I read that book when I was a teenager and absolutely loved the idea that the dolls and the house came alive every night to try and tell someone about the way the family actually died the night they were killed. The dolls and house were exact replicas of the family that lived there at the time. I wonder if I still have that book. Did they make a movie or a Twilight Zone of The Dollhouse Murders? I may have read it but I feel like I saw it. I can visualize scenes from it.
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Post by khaleesi on Jul 27, 2015 17:13:29 GMT
I loved The Dollhouse Murders when I was a tween/teen! Creeped me out so much that I kept a flashlight under my pillow and my dolls hidden in the closet with a trunk pushed over the door to keep them in!
The other story that creeped me out was The Lottery. I think it was a short story. We read it in middle school. That one messed with my head in a big way.
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Post by Regina Phalange on Jul 27, 2015 17:16:23 GMT
This one of my all time favorite books. Top 5 I think. Scary as hell. I had the same reaction to it. I do every time I read it. Was that the movie with Richard Gere and Ed Norton? GREAT MOVIE! I can imagine how good the book was!
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Post by Bridget in MD on Jul 27, 2015 17:25:01 GMT
Cujo always stuck with me because it was something that could happen - trapped in a hot car by a rabid dog. Just seemed so mundane it could happen. WHen I was a kid, I read the "Witch" series by Phyllis Reyolds Naylor and it creeped me out. There was also another kids book about a Dollhouse that came to life at night - I could only play with my dollhouse during the day for a while after that! Was it The Dollhouse Murders? I read that book when I was a teenager and absolutely loved the idea that the dolls and the house came alive every night to try and tell someone about the way the family actually died the night they were killed. The dolls and house were exact replicas of the family that lived there at the time. I wonder if I still have that book. yep! I think that was the one!!!!
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Post by sharlag on Jul 27, 2015 18:30:19 GMT
Another vote for Stephen King's work, only it's this book of short stories: The Skeleton CrewThe story about the evil lake, in particular, is still with me. But I don't purposefully read scary stuff in general...
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Post by katieanna on Jul 27, 2015 19:08:35 GMT
I'd read a lot of Stephen King's books when I was in my teens and 20s and I truly believe that he is one of THE most prolific and awesome story tellers of all time. I sometimes wish he'd change his genre, though, as I don't read the scary books like I used to. Wasn't The Skeleton Crew a collection of short stories? If it's the book I'm thinking of, it was awesome! Some of those stories weren't so much "scary" as just pure genius as far as building tension and powerful denouments(sp?). Anyway...the one book that I remember as being one of the most creepiest and scariest books that I'd read (up to that time) was The Other by Thomas Tyron. That book's stayed with me all these years.
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Post by chlerbie on Jul 27, 2015 19:10:59 GMT
I LOVE Stephen King but he doesn't really scare me. And I find "Pet Sematary" pretty sad--to me, it's also a book about grief and how you deal with it.
I was another one freaked out by "Amityville Horror". I read it when I was about 13. My mom was playing cards with some friends and I picked it up off my aunt's shelf and read it. And then got home and hung a cross on my bed and was terrified all night.
As an adult, the scariest book I read was "Intensity" by Dean Koontz.
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