Scariest Book!

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clyee0227

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
32
87
New Orleans, LA
I think that might be partly true for you, as you had read other SK books before it.
It was my first sk book at a young age. I had never read anything like it.
(I remember thinking, "This guy curses in a book! How can I laugh one page and be terrified the next?"

I'm laughing at your post because it hits home with me. I read "Carrie" in the 4th grade and I remember thinking "Wow! He just says it like it is...curse words and all!" Oh yea, I was hooked at that point. I think I read Cujo, Firestarter, Christine, and Pet Cemetery before I hit Salem's Lot. And although I had read all of those, Salem's Lot has been the only book to ever give me a nightmare. To this very day. I loved it. Pet Cemetery is creepy as hell too though...but you can say that about all of his books. It's really really hard to pick a favorite.
You guys agree?
 

clyee0227

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
32
87
New Orleans, LA
I almost had a heart attack! My room mate brought home 'salem's Lot from the library and I thought for sure it was a first edition, but it was the book club edition and not the *holy grail* of the four first editions that missed the last minute price change by DD. Those babies goes for 40 grand+. I am re-reading it as it was my first King novel. In 1976 I was stationed at the now defunct Presidio army base in SF and the barracks had to be circa WWII. The door to my room had a transom window up top and only God knows now, a big space at the bottom of the door...like a bathroom door in a restroom. (so the ghosties could get in) There was only one other woman who stayed there as most lived off base. Nice to see the Golden Gate bridge from my window but that was the only charm this fire trap had (mental image of a sign that says: Wanna see a big fire? Throw a match on me!) There was an overpass almost on top it and the first time a truck drove by I thought for sure we were having a freakin' earthquake. Reading this book there scared the ****e out of me!!

I've read it 8 times so far and it's just as scary every single time I read it. It's been a long while since the last time, but I would absolutely LOVE for them to consider a film adaptation done of it up to the same caliber that "It" was done. I was highly impressed by that movie. But Salem's Lot remains the only book to date to cause me to have a nightmare and that's an incredible feat....lol. I get so into Stephen King's books that I'll read for hours and hours into the night, but reading it in an old Army barracks that was pretty much abandoned well, I just don't know if I could have done that. That really had to be creepy!!
 
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clyee0227

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
32
87
New Orleans, LA
Lol, I like how different things scare different people for whatever reason. It didn't even occur to me to get scared at any point reading Dreamcatcher. I was way too busy being totally grossed out and asking myself, "What in the hell am I reading?!?" That book was like a literary version of Fear Factor or Bizarre Foods lol.

I agree with you. While "Dreamcatcher" was a great book (as all of SK's books are), it didn't terrorize me as much as some of his others.
 
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clyee0227

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
32
87
New Orleans, LA
the lot...hands down

it is also the only (full length) book that, once i picked it up...i only set it down to a) eat once or twice...b) sleep (very little, as i remember)

i read it all in less than one weekend...started on a friday afternoon and finished it early sunday morning...

the mist probably would come in second...'cept it's a squidgy little short thing compared to most...still, it packed a mighty fearful wallop !

PS was creepy and spooky..and sad and demented as all get-out...but so was cujo...and the shining...

I did the same thing when reading his books when I was in school. I would go to school with 2 or 3 hours of sleep because I just couldn't put them down. Especially 'Salem's Lot'. What was going on in Salem's Lot was more important than sleep of course! I read 'Carrie' in 4th grade and was hooked from that point on. I remember going to the book store with my dad and knowing exactly what I was there to get...my new Stephen King book. I'd start reading it in there and have a good chunk of it read before my dad was ready to leave....lol. (He's a very avid reader and would spend forever in there, which I didn't mind.) I absolutely loved 'The Mist' myself and have reread that one quite a few times too. It was definitely the best story in 'Skeleton Crew' by far. Of course I'll never ever forget 'Survivor Type' when
this guy was literally eating himself to stay alive.
That one stuck with me....lol. I actually just read that Stephen King said adaptations of 'The Stand' and 'Salem's Lot' could be up next! 'The Stand as an extended television series (possibly on Showtime) and 'Salem's Lot' as a feature.
I'm in agreement with you though.....'Cujo' was scary too....and 'The Shining'....and 'The Stand'...and....if I keep that up I'll be typing up a list of all his books.....lol.
 
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César Hernández-Meraz

Wants to be Nick, ends up as Larry
May 19, 2015
605
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Aguascalientes, Mexico
Oh absolutely!! It is the only book to this very day that gave me a nightmare. And that's saying a lot bc I never have nightmares (unfortunately....I actually like having them...I know...weird huh?).

Same here. Sadly, I rarely remember if I had dreams or nightmares. I suppose I do, since they ay we always dream, but I wish I could remember my (bad) dreams.
 
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MandarkC

Active Member
Mar 11, 2014
26
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London, United Kingdom
Oh absolutely!! It is the only book to this very day that gave me a nightmare. And that's saying a lot bc I never have nightmares (unfortunately....I actually like having them...I know...weird huh?). I've read Salem's Lot about 8 times since I first read it in 8th or 9th grade about 30 years ago....lol. I lived in the sticks the first time I read it, so I can relate to the small town scenario. (Not the New England small town setting though so I live in the muggy south.) Stephen King has an incredible knack for making the unbelievable seem VERY believable. And I think that his style of writing is somewhat hard to covey to film. He's able to make you really understand how his characters are feeling and thinking....and that's tough to get across. At least I think so. I'd be the first in line to buy tickets to a new Salem's Lot movie done at the extremely high caliber of translation that the IT movie was done.
Have you read The Shining yet? It's pretty scary in it's own right....

I actually didn't find the Shining to be that scary! I loved Kubrick's version which I watched before ever reading the books (for some reason it didn't connect in my head for YEARS that the Shining was actually in book form first, even though I knew it was based off a book...yea...super slow lol). But then I read the book and it made so much sense and added so many layers to the story. So I wasn't so much scared as incredibly fascinated. I love both the book and the movie so much!
 
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Devourer

Member
Oct 8, 2017
8
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Scary, no, but I also can't remember a time when I wasn't into monsters. The only thing that freaked me out as a youngster was clowns, especially ones who like to hang out in gutters.
 
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