What is the scariest book you ever read?

1. Johnny Got His Gun Gettring trapped in your own body and not being able to communicate is scarier to me than any monster or haunted house.
   — kltys


2. My parents forbade me to read goosebumps. The school librarian kindly showed me h.p. lovecraft...soooo much more intense.
   — shafee34


3. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
   — gift-of-the-nile






4. "War Day" by Whitley Striber and James Kenutka. In the late 1970's the U.S. Department of Defense conducted a thorough study of possible consequences of a "limited nuclear exchange" on America. They defined a "limited nuclear exchange" as only a few cities being destroyed, and all underground ICBM launch sites hit by multiple bombs. This study is available on-line if anyone wants to read it. In "War Day" the authors write themselves as the main characters, that is they are Whitley Striber and James Kenutka. In the book they have survived in a badly damaged America for five years after a one day nuclear exchange. They decide to travel around the country interviewing other survivors and collect stories for a book. The scenario they paint is taken from the actual study by the Defense Department, and portrays the political fracturing of the country, the disease and famine, economic collapse, and the lingering after effects of nuclear contamination.
   — requisitename


5. It was a short story called The Green Ribbon or The Girl With The Green Ribbon, something like that. A boy and girl fall in love and he always wonders why she wears a green ribbon around her neck but she won't tell him. They grow up, get married, have kids and she still doesn't explain the ribbon, until she's on her deathbed. *shudders* Edit: spelling
   — JeSebella


6. Just a short story, but the Yellow Wallpaper. Its about a woman with postpartum depression. Her doctor-husband prescribes bed rest and a vacation so she can recuperate. Oh-my-fucking-god-it-does-not-work-jesus-christ-that-story-scared-the-pants-off-me! You're reading it, totally fine, as it builds suspense, and then the end creeps you the fuck out. I read it once, years ago, and I honestly could not sleep in a house with yellow fucking wallpaper.
   — iamasecretthrowaway






7. Gerald's Game was honestly the first book in a while to freak me out. It built suspense really well and the imagery is just unnerving...
   — sillystarfishy


8. It's a short story, but "The Jaunt" by King. It's probably the most terrifying fate imaginable.
   — Videoboysayscube


9. The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre This was the collection I read when I decided I should check out Lovecraft. I knew he was really influential in the horror genre and that's why I picked it up, but I figured he was also from about 100 years ago or so, and I thought his stuff wouldn't be THAT scary. I was wrong. Damn, that man deserves his reputation.
   — Dendarri






10. Pet Sematary. The book creeped me out so bad. The movie was just silly, though.
    — strum_and_dang


11. The Shining. I read it when I was a kid, maybe 12. I got the the part where "the woman in the tub had been dead for a long time," stopped reading, threw it across the room, and didn't take a bath for at least a week. Have reread as an adult and love it, but still.
    — strawcat00


12. *Rat,* by Andrzej Zaniewski. It's the life of a common rat, living in a medium-sized city. It's totally realistic: the rat doesn't talk or wear clothing or anything like that. Maybe "scariest" is the wrong word. I was revolted. Felt like putting it down several times and finally did about halfway through. I just couldn't go on reading it. I've never done that with another book, before or since.
    — autoposting_system






13. *Coraline* by Neil Gaiman has some pretty great, unnerving bits if you're a preteen or younger reading it. For adults, he also writes some pretty creepy short stories here and there. In particular one that sticks with me as actually horror in the traditional sense is *Feeders and Eaters*.
    — tunabuttons