Ever have a book freak you out?

[LoriKay]

Five Days at Memorial. This one details five days of crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans. It was disturbing.

 

[Skywalker]

Wish I could remember where I read this, but I once read about someone so freaked out by a Stephen King book that they drove on out to a nearby river and tossed it in to get rid of it.

They made the mistake of telling some friends. Those friends went to the store, bought another copy of the book, and then proceeded to get it all wet and muddy and put it back on the original person's nightstand. LOL. Extreme freak out ensued Oh how I wish I could remember the book, I assume it was good and creepy one lol.

 

[Carol_]

The Exorcist, because demonic possession is real. I wish I had never read it and to this day I refuse to read any scary books.

An Exorcist Tells His Story by Father Amorth
Clearly not written by a professional writer and reaaaaally disturbing.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Five Days at Memorial. This one details five days of crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans. It was disturbing.

Yep my close friend’s dad was a doctor there during it. Horrific.

 

[jameybano]

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. True crime book about the Golden State killer. My husband was out of town and we had just moved into a new home. I was unfamiliar with the normal night sounds in our new place and hardly slept until he returned home.

 

[tcufrog]

Wish I could remember where I read this, but I once read about someone so freaked out by a Stephen King book that they drove on out to a nearby river and tossed it in to get rid of it.

They made the mistake of telling some friends. Those friends went to the store, bought another copy of the book, and then proceeded to get it all wet and muddy and put it back on the original person's nightstand. LOL. Extreme freak out ensued Oh how I wish I could remember the book, I assume it was good and creepy one lol.

That reminds me of a prank we played at a community college library where I worked while in library school. The library was built on a hill and there was a door in the basement where you could go under the library. It was a very dimly lit space with concrete walls where you saw huge building support columns and piles of dirt. In other words, super spooky. One day I joked to a librarian that if they buried a dead body in there no one would notice. Well, he ran with it and bought some fake tombstones at a clearance sale after Halloween and placed them down there. A few weeks later, he sent some student works down there to look for some stuff he needed. They had trouble finding it and opened the door to that room, which freaked them out. When they asked him about the tombstones, he told them that he didn't know.

Since the library had opened that summer and we were the first staff working in it, their imaginations went wild. Pretty soon, they had decided that some workers had died while building the library and were buried under it. The rumors spread and pretty soon none of the student workers were willing to go into the basement because they thought it was haunted. At that point, I was afraid we'd get in trouble with our supervisors for scaring the students and I made him confess. I'm not sure they believed us even when we showed them that the tombstones were fake.

 

[low-key]

yes, i seen this threadm but I coudnt think of the name of the book and still cant

 

[Kirby]

IT by Stephen King. I had to put it down after about halfway through the book. Everytime I bent down to brush my teeth I felt like something might be in the drain and I am not connected to the sewer but am on septic.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

The illustrations in this original version (the later reprint had toned down pictures) were especially chilling.

When my kids were younger (8/9 or so), we got some cassettes at our local library and took them camping. We used to listen to these stories around the campfire and in our tent before going to sleep. Some of those stories still stick out in my mind (20 years later). My kids loved these stories and they would ask for these tapes on subsequent trips.

Non-fiction: Helter Skelter about the Manson murders. It had a picture section, too. I found the book at my grandparents' house and snuck it home to read because I knew I'd never be allowed to read it if I asked. I hid it in my room and only read it at night when I was sure I wouldn't be caught. Freaked me out is a mild term, but I read the whole thing.

I read this book in 1979, back when I was 19, and I remember going to the university library and looking up newspaper articles on microfiche. This book scared the heck out of me, and I remember looking at people to see if they had "x's" carved in their foreheads.

This happened to me with the Shining. I read it while on vacation in Disney and spent the entire time watching every topiary convinced they were going to attack me. When I started Dr Sleep I had to put it down for a bit. My husband asked me why and I said I forgot how scary the shining was.

My friend had kind of a similar experience with Jurassic Park (great book, btw). He read it on a camping trip with his family, and every breath of wind in the trees and bushes had him so spooked. lol

The books that stand out for me are 1) a book of short stories by Alfred Hitchcock. Those stories were so creepy, and one about a woman that is followed home only to reach home safely, lock the door, then hear a cough in her house - that one really got to me.

The other book that stuck out a lot when I read it was Watchers by Dean Koontz. It's one of my favorite books, but the first time I read it had me up at night. I still think about The Outsider from time to time. (If you saw the movie - it doesn't do justice to the book at all.)

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

IT by Stephen King. I had to put it down after about halfway through the book. Every time I bent down to brush my teeth I felt like something might be in the drain and I am not connected to the sewer but am on septic.

What about when you're taking a shower and think about that drain down there?!

 

[Timandalicia]

Cujo?

 

[nw6675]

Yes. Reading the Harbinger right now and it’s freaking me out. My Mom gave me the sequel for Christmas...

Me, too! But I haven't been able to get into the sequel for some reason.

Thanks for this thread! Adding several to my list.

 

[Mysterian]

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a classic!

I remember A Simple Plan had me so immersed with the protagonists that I became as paranoid as they were.

In school, one short story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor starts out like a dull day trip before turning into an Oliver Stone film.

 

[Mysterian]

A short video on two of the most provocative books ever published:

 

[TLSnell1981]

Nope. I will close the book and put it down before I get freaked out. Now I may pick it back up....

 

[North of Mouse]

No, because knowing I could never handle them, I will never read violent or scary (to me) books. Reading is for my relaxing pleasure only, and those to me are not in that category. Used to love Nora Roberts, but no more as she's gotten into some very weird writings.

 

[disneyseniors]

Ok, I remember the plot, but cant remember the name of the book at all!
I think it might Stephen King, but?
It has people in a plane and the earth suddenly starts blacking out everywhere. They had no place to land, because maybe the earth wasn't there anymore. really scary and I still can't remember the name (I think on purposeLOL)

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

One Second After. It's set in Black Mountain, NC and is about what happens after a EMP bomb detonation. It gave me nightmares for weeks and changed how I looked at prepping for disasters. The horrifying thing about this book is it's very realistic.

 

[cglaura]

The Shining. Had such a realistic dream I got out of bed and put the book out in my car. Never finished it, can't watch the movie.

 

[schumigirl]

Ok, I remember the plot, but cant remember the name of the book at all!
I think it might Stephen King, but?
It has people in a plane and the earth suddenly starts blacking out everywhere. They had no place to land, because maybe the earth wasn't there anymore. really scary and I still can't remember the name (I think on purposeLOL)

Was it The Langoliers?

I haven`t read that book but there was a three part tv show and that`s the plot, more or less.....it was very odd and I said the book must have been better.

They take off and some fall asleep and when they wake up, most of the passengers have disappeared, they then land at an airport and there`s no one else there, and no sound whatsoever......then the langoliers appear.......