Scary Reads - Staff Picks - (part 1)

Scary books come in all formats, both fiction and non fiction. Surprisingly some of the scariest ones are not even classified as horror fiction.

In anticipation of Hallowe’en I asked some of my co-worker what their favorite scary reads were. The statements in quotes are their own words on the book they selected . We hope you enjoy this list and maybe get goose-bumps from one or more of them.

Hell House (M)
by Richard Matheson

"When a co-worker listed this novel I went “Oh Yeah!” I read it many years ago and it literally still “haunts” me"

Heart Shaped Box (M)
by Joe Hill

“Which was a fantastic and unique ghost story. I stayed up wayyyy too late to finish reading it because I. Had. To. Know. How it turned out!’

The Collector (M)
by John Fowles

I read in high school. It is a terrifying tale of a man who collects women just like someone would collect butterflies. He kidnaps Miranda for her beauty and feels that it time she will come to love him. This reminds me a number of kidnapping cases that have happened in the U.S. lately.

Silence of the Lambs (M)
by Thomas Harris

The beginning of the genre where imprisonment and torture of women became popular fiction.

On the Beach (M)
by Nevil Shute

“I read this in about 1980 sometime and I was only 15. I had nightmares about the world ending for a year. I was so sure that the world was going to end in 1984…”

Kiss the Girls (M)
by James Patterson

This is one of his first novels featuring Alex Cross and I feel the best.

Harvest Home (M)
by Thomas Tryon

A couple move to a small isolated town in which not all is quite as it seems. Some have compared this to Stephen King’s Children of the Corn.

Whispers (M)
by Dean Koontz

Hilary becomes the target of a deranged psychopath, despite the fact there is a death certificate with his name of it.

Hanging Hill (M)
by Mo Hayder

“British mystery….took a very, very disturbing turn towards the end. While it isn’t really a “scary book”, I’ve never been able to get rid of that ending….I have nightmares about that one still.” Also recommended by the same author is the novel Birdman.

I, and I am sure fellow readers, would love to heard any suggestions you may have. So come one, Dear Readers, help us get into the moods with your favourite scare.