Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
I scare really really easily so I haven’t actually read many books I know are going to freak me out….. But I’ll try my hardest to actually contribute scary books (and not just Goosebumps!).
1. The Passage – Justin Cronin
I read this for the Dymocks101 Challenge – it was a good book, but a bit eerie. An apocalyptic story involving vampiric creatures, it is a reminder that we should never trust the government!
2. The Stand – Stephen King
Another Dymocks101 book, The Stand was made much scarier by the fact that I had a cold while reading it; in the book, 90% of the world’s population is wiped out by a superflu. It was a great book until the Devil and God became involved – then it got weird and confusing…. (And yes, scary….)
3. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs
Not particularly scary but super spooky. The images scattered throughout the books, on which the story is based, were found by the author at old garage sales. And they are WEIRD! But also kind of cool…..
4. Struwwelpeter – Dr. Heinrich Hoffman
I am still totally freaked out by this book, seventeen years after first seeing it. Mum, why is it still in our house? If the cover alone isn’t enough to scare you away, the stories inside will! They include a little boy having his thumbs chopped off because he wouldn’t stop sucking them, a girl who literally cried her eyes out and a gluttonous child who tried to eat honey straight from the beehive and was attacked. It’s a wonder I’m not more scarred by this book!
5. Tell-Tale Heart – Edgar Allan Poe
We studied this in Year Nine as part of our gothic/horror component and I don’t think I slept for a week. I was so scared I wanted to vomit. The narrator dismembers an old man, but he continues to hear the beating of his victim’s heart. EWWWWW!
6. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
I probably need to reread this one. I read this for the same component as the Tell-Tale Heart, and was ridiculously freaked out. While I have come to appreciate the classic novel and its brilliant first line – Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again – I haven’t yet tried to reread it and relive my absolute terror as it built to its climax. I’m sure I would be less scared of the story if I revisited it now.
7. Goosebumps – R L Stine
I don’t think I actually managed to read any of these, terrified as I was of the covers! I literally had to hide my face when I walked past their section in my primary school library. I still don’t like them very much….
8. Dark Places – Gillian Flynn
One of the few books I never finished. It was just too disgusting! I couldn’t keep going for fear of giving myself nightmares (yes, I am a total wuss) or making myself physically sick (I don’t deal with horror very well….) If anyone really thinks I should revisit this, let me know…. Same goes for her Sharp Objects– I did finish it but it was too gross!
9. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
This book actually is terrifying! How the hell can people be this messed up?!?!?! The best psychological thriller I’ve ever read – if you read the blog regularly, you’ll know my struggle to find one as good!
10. Fifty Shades of Grey – E L James
And the scariest book of all – how on earth did this book make it to the bestsellers? Not only is the writing dreadful (shudder) but the content is just appalling! There aren’t even any good sex scenes! Disappointment to the max!
What are your top scary books for Halloween?
The Book Addict 