by Barb, enjoying the glorious fall foliage
Wickeds–what book had you up late at night, heart pounding, dying to turn the page because you had to know what happens, and dreading it at the same time?
Liz: Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts was pretty terrifying – a modern day Exorcist-like tale about a daughter who may have been possessed by evil spirits and what happens when the family agrees to do a reality show about it. Stephen King had recommended it one year as one of the scariest books for Halloween time so of course I immediately got it! Highly recommend if you like that kind of scare.
Edith/Maddie: I do not have your steel nerves, Liz! I read one Stephen King short story, and that was it for me. I used to love Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta books, until the bad guys got so scary I was terrified to go to sleep at night, for fear one would be outside my bedroom window like he was outside Kay’s. Uh, no thanks. Can’t do it.
Julie: Edith, I’m with you. I don’t read scary books. Suspense, I’m in. But scary? Can’t do it.
Jessie: I stayed up all night and read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None under a blanket with a flashlight when I was 10. I couldn’t stop reading it until I knew who was responsible for the crimes, but I had the heebie-jeebies the whole time!
Sherry: I don’t read scary books anymore. The last one I attempted was Pet Cemetery by Stephan King. I got a third of the way through and said, “nope.” I do remember reading., probably fifteen years ago, a creepy gothic novel about a young woman who went to live in a mansion with an old woman. I can’t remember the name and doing a search didn’t help. At all. You know the book — it had a cover and pages…
Barb: I guess I don’t make the distinction between reading suspense and scary. It all gets to me. The last book I remember staying up wa-a-a-y too late and turning the pages furiously was Hallie Ephron’s Come and Find Me. I was on vacation but I knew the family would be up bright and early and eager to do things. I knew I should be sleeping but…
Readers: What is the last book that made you heart go pitty-pat?
The Wickeds 
I am not a horror fan of books or movies…but way back when THE EXORCIST was first published in 1973, and I was in college, friends shamed me for being such a baby. So, I read their suggestion of THE EXORCIST, I was enthralled yet scared silly and disturbed…I finished it around 9pm one evening, then had to sit up in bed with the light on and I didn’t sleep all night! A girl needs to protect herself, so I got out my vial of holy water (me being Catholic) and doused the entryway to my room, as well as me and the bed!
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That is a great story about the power of words on a page.
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John Connelly’s Charlie Parker series was pretty scary to me! Lots of Stephen King books. I love a good scare, but not gory books. What’s everyone’s picks for a good ghost story?
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I really like your distinction between scary and gory.
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The only book of Stephen King’s I read to “The end” was THE STAND – he’s just to evocative for me in the others.
Mary Higgins Clark did that to me on a regular basis, though – just needing to turn the page and find out what happened. Another one that jumps to mind is Hallie Ephron’s THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN.
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I loved There Was an Old Woman.
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I am currently reading, “How to Sell a Haunted House” by Grady Hendrix and it is weird, creepy and did I mention….. weird? I am really enjoying it.
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What a wonderful title!
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I read a pretty exciting scene last night in the book I’m currently reading. The main characters were in the water with a shark swimming towards them…. (I’m reading THE GENERAL’S GOLD by Lyndee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin).
I don’t tend to read true horror books, however. They don’t appeal to me. But I will find suspense scenes that get to me in the mysteries I read.
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I love the Lyndee/Bruce collaborations.
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I’m currently reading Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue for my annual Creepy Spooktober fest. Last year, I read The Turn of the Screw. It was fantastically creepy!
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I haven’t read Turn of the Screw since high school. Must read it again to experience it as an adult.
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Don’t do scary anymore. The last was Stephen King’s Pet Cemetery. Yikes
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Yikes, indeed.
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I’m don’t read either scary or suspenseful books anymore. That’s why I love cozies.
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We love readers who love cozies!
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The last book I read that made my heart go potty pat was Step On A Crack by James Patterson.
Saved this book as well as other books from a humongous book burning
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Seriously, a real book burning? James Patterson.
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