Jillian asked if I'd post my favorite horror novels. I can never resist an invitation to discuss one of my favorite genres. Here they are, my favorite horror/thrilling reads listed in no particular order. These are the books that kept me up late at night wondering what that mysterious 'noise' was in the kitchen. These are also the books that made me afraid to go down to my basement alone. I read these wide eyed, biting my nails.
None of these are for the faint of heart.
10. The Ruins by Scott Smith
I randomly got this one at a library sale for 25cents. It's one of the scariest books I have ever read. Four young American tourist couples are vacationing in Cancun Mexico. They wind up going deep into the jungle and stumbling upon ancient ruins. Little do they know, the horror that awaits them once they set foot on these ruins. This one was fast paced and scary with no chapter breaks in between.
9. Misery
Retired psycho nurse Annie Wilkes 'rescues' her favorite author Paul Sheldon from a car crash and nurses him back to health in her home.
Remember the hobbling scene in the film? When she hobbles Paul in the book, it's much worse.
8. Heart Shaped Box
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Stephen Kings's son seems to have inherited his fathers gift of telling a good scary story.
Famous musician Judas Coyne collects rare and grotesque items.
When his personal assistant tells him there is a ghost for sale on the internet, Jude buys it for $1000.00. The package arrives at his door, it is a black heart-shaped box, inside is a suit belonging to a dead man. Jude just puts the box away in his closet and forgets about it until one day he sees an old man in his home, wearing the suit. Sound creepy? It is.
7. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
This books villain is Gretchen Lowell, a female serial killer.
Gretchen is the female version of Hannibal Lecter, minus the cannibalism. This is one of the best female villains I've read. The relationship between Gretchen and the detective on the case is intriguing to say the least.
6. The Taking by Dean Koontz
When a married couple living in a small town awakens one morning to a soft rain that just doesn't seem right, they soon realize there is an odd weather phenomena across the world. Before they know it, power lines are down, a strange fog has taken over and the townspeople get together in hopes of finding out what is going on. This is an end-of-the-world story that will send chills down your spine. One of my favorite Koontz reads.
5. The Shining
(see a recurring S.K. theme here?)
Recovering alcoholic Jack Torrence, takes the job of caretaker of the 'Overlook Hotel' for a few months in the winter. His family will be in complete isolation in the hotel with no quick way to leave and barely any contact with the outside world. Once the snow falls they will be stranded. This hotel is located in Colorado and is famous for housing some famous people. It's also known for a triple murder/suicide that occurred there from the previous caretaker who suffered from 'cabin fever'.
Just the idea of being isolated during a blizzard in a haunted hotel with someone who is slowly going insane is terrifying.
4. Interview With the Vampire
Beautifully written and dramatic. Anne Rice's vampires are deliciously wicked, gorgeous and flamboyant.
I developed a crush on the vampire Louis while reading. This one has a child vampire within the story, Claudia, that really creeped me out.
The New Orleans setting was great, the story was better, and some of the vampires have a touch of humanity that makes you root for them.
3. Salem's Lot
Stephen King's vampires scared me to bits. Again, King makes the story believable.
Writer Ben Mears returns to the town he was born Jerusalem's Lot in Maine.
He wants to write a book about an abandoned mansion in town called the Marsten House which is now inhabited by a vampire. Little by little, the townspeople are all becoming vampires.
2. Undone by Karin Slaughter
I had to include Undone on my list. This book has everything a good crime thriller should have. A sadistic serial killer, complex characters and plot twists and turns.
This one had me on the edge of my seat while reading, I was unable to put it down.
1. Pet Sematary
This is the scariest book I have ever read.
With a horrifying plot and well written characters Pet Sematary had me hooked from the start. S.K. makes this story almost believable, I think that's what makes it so terrifying. Turning the pages felt scary to me, I feared what was next while reading this book, but I just couldn't stop reading.
I don't know which was worse, the grave robbing or the creepy Zelda.
Those are some of my favorite scary reads. As the years go by, I hope to add plenty more to the list.
Have you read any of these? Can you recommend any scary reads?
