Scary October Reading! Suggestions?

A friend of mine mentioned she tries to find at least one good scary book to read in honor of October. So now I'm looking for mine!

Any suggestions? So far I have gotten these suggestions:

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber
The Shining by Stephen King
The Monk by Matthew Lewis.
The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

I am Legend by Richard Matheson is a classic as far as scary goes.

I've been into the zombie genre lately. Day by Day Armageddon and Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile by J.L. Bourne is probably 2 of the best ones to pick up. Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies series is another good one despite the 3rd book being a little hokey.

Angelology by Danielle Trusseau cuts into the evil side of God's most beautiful creatures.

Avoid The Exorcist. It's quite probably the worst book that I've ever read.

The Shining isn't bad. It's vintage Stephen King. The Stand is much better. His writing has improved over the years, but he's never told a better story than The Stand.

I don't find most horror novels to actually be scary. One that sticks out in my mind, although it's been a long time ago, is Thomas Tryon's The Other.

The Stand is definitely one of Stephen King's better books. Cell is another one that is up there and somewhat freaky.

Suffer the Children and The Manhattan Hunt Club both by John Saul.

Books by Karin Alvtegen are all psychological suspense.

Get into the heads of serial killers with Joyce Carol Oates's Zombie or The Triumph of the Spider Monkey.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a vampire tale although not particularly dark or threatening at the halfway point.

I read mostly classic books so my choice is a little old fashioned.

From among the well known classics I like Dracula. I’ve re-read it several times and am thinking of doing so once again this year. But of course Dracula is not a good recommendation as I presume most people have already read it.

I'm also interested in discovering little known authors from the past. Among them I found F. Marion Crawford's tales of horror from the late 19th century. I read his For the Blood Is the Life and Other Stories earlier this year. At least two of the stories from that book, The Upper Berth and The Screaming Skull were very creepy and so suitable for the month of October.

Edited to fix typo.

A few years ago I stayed up late to finish The Woman in Black by Susan Hill -- and regretted it terribly for a few nights.

A friend of mine is organizing a Halloween Fright Fest on her blog this month, so that would be a resource to check out.

I would also recommend the less-well-known vampire tale, The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas. Outstanding!

I like a good bit of H.P. Lovecraft - very weird but kinda fun in a creepy sort of way.

Was It a Dream? by Guy de Maupassant is a creepy little tale.

Ohh so many choices! I actually went to the bookstore today to try to find a spooky bump-in-the-night type of book. I asked a worker bee at the store where the horror section was and she led me to the teen paranormal shelves. At first I thought she was joking and found it amusing because the amount of vampire romances IS horrifying...

Then I realized she was serious. That was as close as they got to a 'horror' section. devastating.

I shall have to take my browsing to amazon.

HERE is the Most Disturbing Book group, inspired by a thread - which I remember but have forgotten where the original thread was - which asked members what their most disturbing read has been (if I remember correctly, Perfume and We Need to Talk about Kevin were mentioned a lot).

Anyway, this is a good resource for those who find 'disturbing' not much of a departure from 'scary'. I believe, Army Angel, creator of the group, may have logged all of the titles into a 'disturbing' library also.

For my book club, I am currently reading City of Masks: A Cree Black Thriller by Daniel Hecht and it's quite creepy. I don't handle scary stuff well, so I am definitely outside my comfort zone with this one, but the story is quite intriguing and by reading it only during daylight, I'm keeping my fear in check.

I second Dracula and have to add Frankenstein. The classics are called that for a reason - I may have to get back into The Monk this month if I have time, too.

I'm not a big Stephen King fan, so I'll just keep watching for some more scary suggestions.

Good suggestions, all. Two of the scariest books I remember ever reading are Salem's Lot by Stephen King and The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr. The first time I read Salem's Lot (back in the 70s when I was lots younger and apparently scads more impressionable), I refused for a couple of weeks after to leave the house at night without a crucifix around my neck. The Angel of Darkness is a thriller, not horror, but it has one of the most frighteningly evil characters in it of any book I've ever read, horror or thriller or other.

Turn of the Screw is an absolutely beautiful and creepy ghost story. Aura by Carlos Fuentes has the same feel as Screw. People think of him as a literary writer, but Aura is straight up horror.

The Medusa in the Shield is a collection of horror short stories that includes classics (Lovecraft, James etc) as well as modern stories. The Clive Barker story, Dread, in Medusa is just chilling. And a bit stomach churning as well. Don't read it if you're a vegetarian. Trust me on that!

#14. I don't know. Have you read Twilight? It's pretty creepy. Just think how one series of books has been able to turn so many people into crazed parodies of humans.

ROFL.

I go more for classic, gothic horror, myself. this October, I'll be reading The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales edited by Chris Baldick. I've peaked at it, and it looks wonderful, offering Gothic short stories from the Eighteenth Century to present.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley will probably always remain my very favorite horror novel. It's an amazing piece of literature!

I also love Poe, and, of course, Stoker's Dracula, and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

Another book I plan to read this October is Angelica by Arthur Phillips. It's supposed to be a ghost story with a mix of gothic and modern. I'm not sure yet what I'll think of it, but found it intigueing enough to give a try.

I tend to go for short stories, as I think it's less difficult to keep the tension wrought up high enough over a shorter span of time. I'm a big fan of Robert Bloch (Psycho) and T.E.D. Klein's stuff. I found The Dodd Mead Gallery of Horror to be a pretty good collection. If you can find an anthology that has Jerome Bixby story "It's a Good Life" (more famous as a Twilight Zone episode, but I think it's creepier in print), read that. And if you like some sci fi in your horror, try Connie Willis's disturbing "All My Darling Daughters."

I agree. Horror short stories often keep the horror going better than the novels. Lucius Shepherd writes great horror short stories. They're on the longish side, but not quite novellas.

#22 & 23 I totally agree. As it is I love reading short stories. Short stories are a great vehicle for the horror genre. How can I ever forget the fear I felt at the end of Daphne Du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now? Or Martin Armstrong’s The Pipe Smoker? No full length novel (barring Dracula) has ever done that to me.

I love a Roald Dahl short story that my mom used to read to us every so often and that I continue to read for its creepiness..... "Royal Jelly".

The message above that mentioned Thomas Tryon reminded me of another oldie but goodie - Peter Straub's Ghost Story.

I also thought Heart-Shaped Box was nightmare inducing.

#27 is a new user who has been trolling various threads today. I strongly recommend not replying at all and using the 'Block this member' link on his profile. You will get an error message, but the block will be effected.

For a different take on the "old vampire bite, make another vampire story", you might like to try;

The Book of Common Dread/a Novel of the Infernal

A private library of ancient books and scrolls is donated to Princeton University. One of these scrolls contain the true story of creation and the war between good and evil. All copies of these scrolls and their translations have been destroyed though out the years. But by whom and why? (A vampire!)
This was not your normal vampire story or gothic tale. These vampires feel pain and can be wounded, but are not effected by holywater, garlic or crosses, and they don't burst into flames in the sunlight. The pace and the way the stories unfold is more like a fine mystery book.

Blood of the Covenant: A Novel of the Vampiric

This book 2 and must be read 2nd or you will be lost at what is going on.

both by Brent Monahan

#25 Royal Jelly is pretty creepy. But it felt a little overdrawn. The ending would have been far more effective if the story had been a little shorter, in my opinion.

#1 I found the Exorcist provided a good fright. I found the book scary and the film not scary at all.

Don't bother with House of Leaves. It is too much trouble for what it's worth. It has interesting techniques and experiments; leads you up different garden paths and then changes direction again.

If you're going for Stephen King's The Stand, avoid the uncut edition. It is about 400 pages too long. The story isn't that scary.

If you can dig up some Thomas Ligotti stories, such as Teatro Grotteso, or The Shadow at the Bottom of the Earth, you will find them rewarding.

My husband is loving Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.

If you're looking for something new, this one came out in March of this year. He says it's really scary. I don't read scary books but he is recommending it to everyone he knows.

I mentioned this last year, Among the Shadows by Lucy Maud Montgomery has its frightening moments.

I just read Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs. They are both disturbing and awesome.

Those two Thomas Harris books are the ones I thought of for this thread, too. Very creepy and disturbing.

The thread on this subject in the Reading Globally group might be of interest.

Yes, we're all completely sick of vampires, BUT...

Consider Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindquvist. Not sexy or phony romantic. Swedish and gritty. Story of two lonely preteens (don't let that scare you off), a boy at the very bottom of the the pecking order and a girl he doesn't realize is a vampire. Surround them with a well drawn cast of vicious kid tormentors, seedy bar flies, and a vile but sadly pathetic caregiver of the girl. It's on the shelves now under the title Let Me In to tie in with an American remake of the poetic Swedish film version from a couple of years back.

Also, if you're not tired of vampires, go back to Stephen King and 'Salem's Lot. His vampires are repulsive as cockroaches. No teen girls begging them to take their virginity. His small town Mainers put up a good fight without much success.

The movie for Let the Right One In was very good, and I'm at a horror convention this weekend, and Lindquvist's work has been getting a lot of positive buzz, so I'm betting boulder_a_t has given us good advice.

Joe Hill's The Heart-Shaped Box creeped me out. Steven King's Salem's Lot and Bram Stoker's Dracula may be old fashioned but still scary. H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch and Shirley Jackson are also big favorites.

I love horror a lot, but probably my favorite Halloween read is October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween, an anthology edited by Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish. It contains both short stories and non-fiction pieces by authors like Poppy Z. Brite, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Ramsey Cambell, and Ray Bradbury. =)

Something Wicked This way Comes by Ray Brandbury and Needful Things by Stephen King

Ray Bradbury's story, The October Game, came up in a conversation at work the other day. This is my favorite halloween story. A coworker mentioned that she found Shirley Jackson's story, The Lottery, to be creepy. I said that The October Game was much creepier, and I pointed her to a copy on line. After reading it, she agreed with me.

http://www.scaryforkids.com/halloween-stories-october-game/

>42 fredbacon: Wow, Fred, that. that was the creepiest thing I think I've ever read! That Bradbury! Thanks for sharing!

Edited to correct misspelling.

You cannot go wrong with The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. I'm reading his Curse of the Wendigo on my K3 right now and it looks be a pretty good follow up so far.

Phlox72> The Monstrumologist gave me maggotty dreams. I'll have to get Curse soon.

Try Gene Wolfe's An Evil Guest or The Sorcerer's House.

I agree on The Manhattan Hunt Club, definitely a thrill ride.

#41 I quite agree with what usnmm2 said about Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's a cracker.

Last night, I read The Doll by Algernon Blackwood. An unsettling tale, and if you don't like dolls to begin with, Blackwood will do nothing to change that view.

I haven't read Algernon Blackwood yet but people I know that are really into gothic horror seem to agree that his short story, The Woods, is one of the best. I think I got the title right. I've got to put him on my list.

I am currently reading The Little Stranger which is an extraordinarily satisfying Gothic tale. Compelling, well-paced, spooky, and scary! Worth your time.

Okay, I just picked up The Haunting of Hill House from the library and cracked it open. The first paragraph is one of the most subtly menacing I've ever read:

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone."

>Storeetllr Brrrrrr

@jillmwo - I second your feelings about The Little Stranger. A very good scary read!

@Storeetlr - I love that quote. It makes me want to go back and reread The Haunting of Hill House.

Storeetlr, I haven't read that but I want too now.. sounds deliciously creepy.

On my nightstand is The Dream of a Beast by Neil Jordan and I'm half-way through Just After Sunset :)

I agree. The Stand is one of his best books to date. I keep hoping that there will be a movie on it but meh.

#51 Your quote has put The Haunting of Hill House on my to be bougth & read list.

Thank you! (I think!)

Keith Richards has just published his Life. That might be pretty scary!

abealy> LOL. He is undead.

I read The Haunting of Hill House a few months ago, and it was pretty good. My wife liked it as well.

>58 abealy:: I just bought Life from Audible and am about 30 minutes into it (I've only had a chance to listen to it while doing dishes this morning). It's hilarious! And Johnny Depp does the narration. Definite plus in my opinion!

For my Halloween reading, I'm finally finishing off Peaceable Kingdom by Jack Ketchum. It's a great collection of short stories, most of which are horror (some aren't, but they're still good!).

I'll put some originality in this post. How about the weenie books by David Lubar. Some of those short stories are creepy.

I read A Rose for Emily this morning and again to my wife later on. It's the first time I'd read William Faulkner and the tale seemed even better the second time around, although my wife said she could see the ending coming.

A Rose for Emily is a good piece, but I can see why your wife thought she saw the end coming. In it's time though, I'm sure it was a bit more startling, especially with the gender issues.

They did make a movie out of the the stand It was a 3 part mini-series for a total of 6 hours starring Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald.