primroseport: The Three Scariest Novels

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primroseport) wrote,
@ 2007-09-23 16:32:00

The Three Scariest Novels
Song of Kali, Dan Simmons. A writer goes to Calcutta, taking his wife and baby along, to track down a celebrated poet who vanished eight years ago, presumed dead. He should have stayed home.
Let's Go Play At The Adams', Mendal W. Johnson. A young woman babysits a group of children for seven days. On the first day, she wakes up bound to the bed. There are six more days.
Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo. During The Great War, a soldier wakes up in a hospital and slowly realizes that he has lost his arms, legs, his entire face, and his hearing. And that's chapter one.

Runners-up:
House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski. An award-winning photojournalist discovers that his new house is a fraction of an inch larger on the inside than the outside. Soon, a door opens up in the wall where no door had been. What can a man do but explore?
Deathbird Stories (Short Stories), Harlan Ellison. Forgotten gods die; new gods are born. We have reason to miss the old gods.

To Be Continued

Tell me the scariest novels you have ever read.

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	d1rtyf1lthy 2007-09-23 11:44 pm UTC (link)
	House Of Leaves was pretty fucking creepy. (Reply to this)(Thread)

primroseport
2007-09-23 11:48 pm UTC (link)

I actually forgot about that book while compiling this short list. I agree with you, but, like The King in Yellow, one of my favorite books, House of Leaves had a more... subtle and unconscious effect on me. The more I thought about it, the more it got under my skin. Both books invited me to become obsessed with them, and in so doing, I saw a shape of horror flitting under the surface.

The three I listed went beyond that: they were actively horrifying. They did what so many books claim to do in their blurbs: they made me shudder and shiver.

But House of Leaves is a strong contender.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	d1rtyf1lthy 2007-09-24 01:18 am UTC (link)
	I've never read any of the books you've listed, I'll keep a look out. Cheers! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lil_octopie 2007-09-24 01:48 am UTC (link)
	House of Leaves is definately on my top - it's completely unsettling. loved it. but agreed it's not the scarescare, it's absolutely creepy though. and thanks for the list : ) Johnny got his Gun sounds pretty scary, will have to check it out. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	primroseport 2007-09-24 02:30 am UTC (link)
	I'm glad people have read House--god, when Navidson's riding his bike down the vast slope... (Reply to this)(Parent)

jesiah
2007-09-24 02:24 am UTC (link)

I actually just finished reading Song of Kali a few weeks ago. Definitely fucked up; once i got into it, i heard the Song pounding in my head and i couldn't put the book down even if i'd wanted to. House of Leaves is another great choice, and i'm still meaning to pick up the Whalestoe Letters.

I'm interested in Let's Go Play At The Adams' and Deathbird Stories. I don't have any scary novels of my own to share, as i typically only read...well, not anything really frightening (beyond what i mentioned).

(Reply to this)(Thread)

primroseport
2007-09-24 02:34 am UTC (link)

Deathbird stories is in my runners-up list because it also is a more subtle kind of horror. It makes you feel dirty and disappointed with the world. I wouldn't call it scary, though. It's misanthropic and cynical. But a couple of the stories bring it under one's skin.

Let's Go Play at the Adams' takes you where you don't want to go. And the writing is so lucid, so sober. The ending--well. Just read it.

I hear the song. I hear the song of Kali. I hear the song of Kali when I read dailyrotten.com, which is often. So much gleeful violence in the heart of some humans, some so-called people. I hear the song.

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	immortalrite 2007-09-24 04:00 am UTC (link)
	"At the Mountains of Madness" by H.P. Lovecraft. Hands down. (Reply to this)(Thread)

primroseport
2007-09-24 06:12 am UTC (link)

Ah, interesting...

A story a enjoyed quite a bit--but it did not scare me. Lovecraft's body of work instills in me a sense of wonder and awe; I've spent uncounted hours absorbed in Lovecraft discussions/events/dreams--but rarely have his stories actually evoked fear in me. I do remember getting a shiver after I put down "From Beyond", and maybe during "The Festival", too.

Good suggestion though--thanks!

	firekite 2007-09-24 06:17 am UTC (link)
	oh, i don't know what the scariest book I've read was but I love this list and I'm now very intrigued by them all. My brain candy is usually something like Stephen King stuff... House of Leaves sounds kinda creepy, but I will take your word that it is extra creepy. Is it bloody gross or psychologically twisting? (Reply to this)

	primroseport 2007-09-24 03:23 pm UTC (link)
	That Conan story is the Scarlet Citadel! Great story. That plant is atrocious. Conan is such a fuckin badass that I'm never scared in his stories--he'll always kick ass or at least escape. I haven't read Salem's Lot--that Lovecraft tale is a nice one :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	kingtycoon 2007-09-24 12:51 pm UTC (link)
	I'm not so down with scary books, movies either really. I've only read one of these from your list & I thought it was far more stupid than good. Now, I have been spooked by books but I'm certain that they are ones that you will think are tremendously stupid. I vote for We Have Always Lived in the Castle - shirley jackson I think - the Lottery woman. Yeah, yeah, I know. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	primroseport 2007-09-24 03:23 pm UTC (link)
	I haven't read either of the ones you've mentioned. The one on my list you read--House? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	kingtycoon 2007-09-24 12:52 pm UTC (link)
	Oh and as kids we used to read a lot of books - first person accounts of grey abductions that kinda thing - I'm sure you know what I mean - that'll chill your pre-pubescent blood. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	mordicai 2007-09-24 01:17 pm UTC (link)
	streiber is your boogy man!? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	primroseport 2007-09-24 03:24 pm UTC (link)
	It would have chilled my blood back then, only now I would find it amusing. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	bridge_troll 2007-09-25 11:21 am UTC (link)
	I was never into that kind of stuff, though I did read Ann Druffield's How To Defend Yourself Against Alien Abduction which is scary only because Ann is clearly mad. Mind you, I liked her equating alien abduction stories with myths about Vampires and Djinns. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mordicai 2007-09-24 01:16 pm UTC (link)
	i have deathbird on my table, meant as reading resource for my dnd character. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	primroseport 2007-09-24 03:26 pm UTC (link)
	I'm not sure any of it will help for DnD--many of the gods are, like... car gods and casino ghosts and such. The non-mechanical gods are ones from human myth, changed. I'm halfway through the boo, though, so... Let me know what inspired you. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	mortimer_ford 2007-09-24 01:41 pm UTC (link)
	I've heard things about the Adams' and have no desire to read that. Johnny Got His Gun is also to realistic for me. I won't be reading that one either. Song of Kali and your two runners-up sound like my kind of stories. I'll check them out, particularly Deathbird Stories. Thanks for recommendations. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	ilna 2007-09-27 01:56 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, and for the two other ones : i'd have said <>Johny got his gun</i> too, and also War of the Worlds. That one downright traumatized me. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

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