Horror Recommendations

Alright 50 book challengers! I need your help. I have broken out of my secure shell and I need some direction.

Everyone I know thinks I fell off my proverbial rocker. Cause Calyn(that's me) wouldn't touch a horror movie with a 10 foot pole(I will argue to the deth that gore movies are not always horror movies!).

I find myslef now having the urge to watch horror movies, all those ghost hunter shows on tv(even at night!) and half my Tivo is Paranormal State. I just finished reading "The Harrowing" by alexandra Sorkoff(SP?) And I have an itch to find more horror stories. I'm not picky but I seriously want a book that will keep me up at night, knock my socks off, scare me senseless!

I know I will probably regret it in the end when my husband goes crazy cause I won't sleep with the light off but if anyone has any recommendations of horror novels please send comments my way.

I liked The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It may seem a little dated but it has some moments that really gave me the creeps with spookiness rather than violence.

The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons is a similar type, creepy rather than relying on violence but not a traditional ghost story.

At the moment I am reading Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist but am not too far in to it to make a good recommendation but can tell you what has happened if you don't mind a possible spoiler summary of the first few chapters.

So far an electrical surge in Sweden has meant that people cannot switch off their electrical appliances and are feeling ill and headachy. Following that there has been panic in the hospitals as the recently deceased patients and all the bodies in the morgues have woken up and are moving and talking and a man is just on his way to the cemetary to see if the dead there are doing the same thing.

I am enjoying it so far and it has been creepy with some moments of horror in the images of the rising dead.

I hope you get some good recommendations.

I recently read an older horror book called The Other by Thomas Tryon. I don't read too much horror these days, but I have just joined a group read that is about to start on The Stand by Stephen King in the 75 books challenge group. Good luck with your quest! :)
--BJ

My favorite Horror books:
Audrey Rose by Frank De Felitta
Cujo and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill is a must! Books don't usually scare me, but this one had me looking in corners and around doors.

for a twist on the standard vampire tale you might try;
The Book of Common Dread/a Novel of the Infernal by Brent Monahan

for ancient witches brought back to life try;
"Uprising" also by Brent Monahan

and for the classic tales you can't beat
The Dunwich horror and others
by H. P. Lovecraft

#5 - How was that book? I've looked into getting it a little while back but for some reason i didn't. Isn't it about a dead mans suit or something like that?

#7 - I'm sorry I was so long replying. Yes, BooGirl, it is, but it's much more than that. That's just a part of what is going on. I thought it was a great scary book. I highly recommend it!

I second Heart-Shaped Box. I just finished that one- it's really creepy and I love Joe Hill's writing. I'd recommend his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts even more.

The Keeper and The Missing by Sarah Langan are also really good. I'd say they're more disturbing than scary overall, but there are some pretty terrifying images and the stories definitely stay with you.

Well...I think Heart-Shaped Box will have to be my next book. I'm reading Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk right now. I was told it was scary but its way more disturbing than scary, but i'm glad i'm reading it cause it's interesting.