SK or NOT , Your favorite horror novel

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staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
15,210
48,848
Alberta,Canada
Well, The scariest book i ever read was Pet Seneatary. Thats not Kings best Book but it was the one that scared me the most. But, i most say, right up there is Shirley Jacksons Masterpiece The Haunting of Hill House. Terrifyingly good.
the-haunting-of-hill-house-by-shirley-jackson.jpg
One of the very best.
 

Flat Matt

Deleted User
Apr 16, 2014
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I'd probably have to go with Pet Sematary to be honest. It's King's darkest and scariest (closely followed by The Shining) and that's what horror is all about.

I have to admit that there are a lot of very famous horror books that I haven't read though.

The Exorcist didn't really scare me. I prefer a bit of subtlety and psychological stuff and The Exorcist is just a little too in-your-face to scare me. It's still a great book, but it just didn't scare me at all.
 

TheRedQueen

And Crazy Housewife
Dec 3, 2014
1,346
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Fernley, NV.
As far as "favorite" horror novel, I'd have to go with Bram Stoker's "Dracula". It was one of the first adult horrors that I'd read, and as young as I was, (9 or 10) it impressed the heck out of me.

As far as scariest or most disturbing, though, I'd go with Pet Semetary. I managed to read it once, and even though it was well written and held me to the end, I've never read it again. It gave me a serious case of the whim whams.

And, for the moment, my favorite movie would be "Mamma".
 

CrimsonKingAH

LOVE & PEACE
Jun 8, 2015
5,539
17,003
East Texas
Well, The scariest book i ever read was Pet Seneatary. Thats not Kings best Book but it was the one that scared me the most. But, i most say, right up there is Shirley Jacksons Masterpiece The Haunting of Hill House. Terrifyingly good.
the-haunting-of-hill-house-by-shirley-jackson.jpg


I will have to find that book online and read it.. nothing like a scary read!!!! Thanks
 
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Chuggs

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2012
3,777
6,426
Arkansas
My favorite horror novel would have to be IT. It was a long book but didn't feel long. As someone else wrote, the chills just kept going. The scariest scene in a horror novel came out of The Stand, at least for me.

As far as movie, I think I have to go with Event Horizon. I saw that movie as a teenager and it is the only horror movie that has stuck with me as the creepiest, even after all these years.

I have not read nor seen The Exorcist.
 

Maskins

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Jun 16, 2015
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H.P Lovecraft short story 'Pickman's Model ' didn't sleep for a week after that. Was my first taste of real horror. Movie wise, the Exorcist still gives me the the shivers. For S.K though - Salem's Lot. The kids at the window... brrrr
 

Liselle

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2006
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England
I don't think I have a favourite horror story as such, I have favourite horror authors. I used to enjoy reading an author called Clare McNally, I also enjoy reading John Saul - who I know some people don't like because he always writes about children and he as written a story that touched a nerve with me because it was very close to home and it was called Suffer the Children. I enjoyed the Exorcist as a book but thought the film was awful.

I couldn't pick just one SK book because they all have different elements that I have really enjoyed so it is hard to pick one over another.
 

Aericanwizard

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2011
218
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
I have kind of a weird relationship with horror, and particularly Stephen King (but reading some of the other comments, I see that others have similar issues).

My favourite novel is "'Salem's Lot". (The book that brought me back to King.)
I think his best is "It". (The weaving of the timelines is magical.)
I think his scariest is "Pet Sematery" (Then again, I have a thing about zombies...)

Horror is a strange genre, in that the more we read, the more resistant we become to its charms. I think part of Mr. King's long term success within the genre is because he writes a good story first, and it just happens to concern horrific events. I read in another of the forums a comment about authors writing horror that seems "to be written to become a bad movie", and I agree.

Bad horror tries too hard for the scares, without earning them. Sure, vampires can be scary, but what makes "'Salem's Lot" so fun is that Mr. King spends a good portion of the book building up his town (and making you care for the town), only to tear it down piece by piece. In my opinion, good horror gets under your skin, even before things go wrong. You get the feeling "Hey! This was labeled as horror! Everything can't be as good as it seems." You start to look for horror in the shadows, before it even arrives. I rarely get scared by horror anymore, but when I do, it's of this sort.

Long days and pleasant nights.