(Yep, there’s Dan Aykroyd again, this time from the intro to Twilight Zone: The Movie from back in 1983, before – AND AFTER – he asks the question of the driver of the vehicle…)
It’s October, and Hey, I “want to READ something really scary” this month. MY book club is cooperating with its (sort of) annual Ghost Story Month, but I WANT MORE! Friday night, I read about a book titled, A Monster Calls, which sounded great so I downloaded immediately. It was short – only about 125 pages – and was a very good book, but it wasn’t scary enough. My own personal short story reading project for 2011 (Project “Deal Me In!”), which I’m woefully behind on has conspired a little to help me through October. Maybe. I’ve assigned my 52 stories (one per week) to the fifty-two cards in a standard deck (see the “Deal Me In selections” on the “pages” section on the left margin of this blog for the list), and the Spades suit represented largely ghost or horror stories. As luck would have it, I’ve only drawn a few of them so far this year, so there are lots remaining to be picked. Maybe a few will come up in October as I’m trying to catch up…
I’m asking for recommendations from my readers and fellow bloggers. What are some of your favorite scary stories or novels? I will put any suggestions on my TBR list…
Bibliophilopolis 
Alex said,
October 3, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Is it very strange that whenever I think of a scary book, “HP and the Order of the Phoenix” comes to mind? I just remember being completely entranced by the scene where the group breaks into the Ministry of Magic. Spooky!
LikeLike
Jay said,
October 3, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Yes, that IS very strange. 🙂 I think that’s just a different kind of terror/thrill – more along the ‘international spy/espionage thriller’ lines – the fear of being caught when infiltrating the Ministry of Magic is not to be understated, though. (especially if Dolores Umbridge is “in the building!”)
-Jay
LikeLike
Dale said,
October 3, 2011 at 6:22 pm
I’ve always thought of Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” as one of the scariest stories I’ve read. However, it’s fairly well-known and a lot of people, at least those who are avid readers, have read it. I remember reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The House of the Seven Gables” and thinking it was kind of scary, but I read it a long time ago (I think I may have been a teenager) and can’t remember much of what it was about. I still have not read a full-length Stephen King novel, but I have always thought of “Salem’s Lot” as one of the scarier movies based on one of his books. My guess is that you’ve already read this one. I’ve also heard that Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde is scary; however, I think you are the one that told me that! Don’t know if I’ve helped at all, Jay!
LikeLike
Jay said,
October 5, 2011 at 7:01 am
Hi Dale,
I’ve read all those that you mentioned. The House of seven Gables wasn’t that scary to me – maybe atmospherically so – but not nightmare inspiring or anything. dr. jekyl and Mr. Hyde is very good but not “classically” scary. Salem’s Lot I read many years ago and don’t remember much about it; I do generally find King to be “scary enough” for me, though. The Cask of Amontillado is a classic. I keep being reminded of it at work, as our floor is under construction the next few months and our “non-construction workspace” continues to shrink….
LikeLike
Jane said,
October 3, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Not sure you would call it scary, but “Silence of the Lambs” is certainly creepy.
LikeLike
Jay said,
October 5, 2011 at 7:03 am
Hi Jane,
I’ve actually never read any Thomas Harris, although I am familiar with the story from the movie which, if it is anything to go by, would make me tend to agree that it is VERY creepy…
-Jane
LikeLike