Scariest Book?

bernmodi

Tolstoy's novel the death of Ivan Ilyich. Not really a thriller, but the way he describes the process of dying is quite disturbing.

DinghyDog

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Byrnzie

g under p wrote:

Also in Junior High this one scared me in what it took to have the thought process of being a white person then disguising yourself as being a black person then traveling the South in 1959. I mean traveling Mississippi, Lousiana, Alabama and Georgia on a Greyhound bus. The experiences of hate he went through and at my young age i put myself in his shoes and I was straight up terrrified because this story was real. :shock:

Peace

I've not heard of this one before.

Byrnzie

bernmodi wrote:

Tolstoy's novel the death of Ivan Ilyich. Not really a thriller, but the way he describes the process of dying is quite disturbing.

Have you seen the movie 'Ivans XTC'? It's based on 'The death of Ivan Ilyich'. It's an amazing film.

Got a hard hard head

Stephen King's It did actually scare me quite badly. It's not easy sleeping after reading about an evil entitiy, masquerading as a clown, that lives in the drains....

I think if I'd heard someone say the words "they float" in the dead of night, I wouldn't be here today!

Who Princess

Byrnzie wrote:

g under p wrote:

Also in Junior High this one scared me in what it took to have the thought process of being a white person then disguising yourself as being a black person then traveling the South in 1959. I mean traveling Mississippi, Lousiana, Alabama and Georgia on a Greyhound bus. The experiences of hate he went through and at my young age i put myself in his shoes and I was straight up terrrified because this story was real. :shock:

Peace

I've not heard of this one before.

I'm surprised but maybe it's not well known outside the U.S. It raised quite a stir when it was published and is still frequently read. It's a good read for understanding the extent of legal discrimination during the Jim Crow era. Often assigned reading for high school students who are now pretty far removed from those times.

It's not his only book but it's the one he's known for. As I said above, I knew the Griffin family when I was young and I liked them a lot. If his daughter hadn't told me he wrote the book, I would never have known he was somebody "famous."

rrivers

I always think of a scene in "Gerald's Game" where the woman handcuffed to the bed wakes up and there is someone standing in the corner. I can remember exactly where I was when I read it and it's still creepy all these years later.

unlost dogs

Anyone remember the book that King wrote with an introduction talking about how powerfully you can create a state of fear through literature? There was a segment that addressed the "dear reader" who was reading in bed and asked the reader to imagine a cold hand coming from under the bed and grabbing their ankle.

Do you know, to this day I am acutely uncomfortable going to sleep without at least a sheet over my ankles. Ever since I read that line.

:shock:

small town beck

rrivers wrote:

I always think of a scene in "Gerald's Game" where the woman handcuffed to the bed wakes up and there is someone standing in the corner. I can remember exactly where I was when I read it and it's still creepy all these years later.

Me too.

I've always found it the scariest because that could really happen. I mean the clown coming out of the sewer isn't very apt to happen but letting your husband handcuff you to the bed and he has a heart attack could...creeped me out.

JaneNY

Enkidu wrote:

One of the scariest non fiction books I read was In Cold Blood. I didn't sleep for weeks.

I just read that recently, and I read a few chapters in bed each night before I went to sleep. Fascinating and creepy but it didn't keep me awake.

The worst for me was when I was 12 or so, and read a few choice pages of The Exorcist with my friends. I slept with the overhead light on in my bedroom for at least a week.

sj.brodie

Byrnzie wrote:

bernmodi wrote:

Tolstoy's novel the death of Ivan Ilyich. Not really a thriller, but the way he describes the process of dying is quite disturbing.

Have you seen the movie 'Ivans XTC'? It's based on 'The death of Ivan Ilyich'. It's an amazing film.

This was the only time i recall having to put a book down due to being overwhelmed. Tolstoy really believed in 'affecting' people. My personal favourite writer (but definately not a horror writer!)

smarchee

JonnyPistachio wrote:

it wasnt so scary, but the creepiest/suspenseful book i've read is "Intensity" by dean Koontz. I've never liked any of his other books though.

that was really good, and really creepy

I think The Shining scared me the most when I read it, I remember being bothered a couple of times

acrossssSsssshittt

bernmodi wrote:

Tolstoy's novel the death of Ivan Ilyich. Not really a thriller, but the way he describes the process of dying is quite disturbing.

Tolstoy rocks... as does that novel... death illustrated in a most negative way...it did suck me into a hole.. terrifying in a very real sense...