Read anything really scary ??

[High Eight]

Short ghost stories that scared me:-

Blackham's Wimpy by Robert Westall (haunted World War II bomber)

The Scarlet Lady by Keith Roberts (haunted - or maybe just plain evil - classic car. Written years before Stephen King wrote Christine and does it better at about a tenth the length.)

The Upper Berth and The Red Lodge have already been mentioned.

Just about anything by M R James.

[Duchessprozac]

A book that I read quite some time ago that put the willies up me and made me sleep with the lights on was Ghost Train By Stephen Laws.

It wasn't the haunted train that scared me but the demonic wardrobe that was exactly like one that loitered in my nightmares as a toddler.

It was also very grizzly with some very nasty imagery.

[HardScienceFan]

A Clive Barker Novelette in the Mag of F and SF
"' Why Spoilers Bleed"
Good Stuff,frightening

[j. d. worthington]

As for supernatural short stories that pack a punch (usually delivered in a deceptively mild manner), I'd also like to suggest "How Love Came to Professor Guildea", by Robert S. Hichens:

How love came to Professor Guildea (1900) by Robert Hichens

which has one of the most frightening hauntings conceivable, I think, and "Lukundoo" by Edward Lucas White:

http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a1499.pdf

is quite genuinely a nightmare -- as were several of White's stories.

[High Eight]

Ye gods - I've just found out that there is an old folk's home in York called Red Lodge!

Could be worse, I suppose. It could be in Wakefield.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by High Eight

Ye gods - I've just found out that there is an old folk's home in York called Red Lodge!

Could be worse, I suppose. It could be in Wakefield.

LOL! Well, there is, after all, a Cold Harbour, too... and after reading Young's novel of that name, I'm not sure I'd want to visit there, either!...

[Sathai]

The Shining and Salem's Lot by Stephen King kept me awake for many nights. I first read them back when I was a teenager. I also thought Ghost Story by Peter Straub was eerie.

[Critical Matt]

I thought the Rising by Brian Keane was pretty creepy. My brother read it and said he had to put it in the freezer at night.

[tangaloomababe]

Hi Tarl , well you got me thinking here, I seldom read really scary books (I like a peaceful nights sleep)
I have a book on order, am expecting it this week. Vampyrrhic by Simon Clark, said to be the scariest and goriest vampire book ever written (apparently one where you sleep with the lights on afterwards) I shall get back to you once I have read it.(if I am able to read it that is.) I might get to scared.

[Sathai]

Originally Posted by tangaloomababe

Vampyrrhic by Simon Clark, said to be the scariest and goriest vampire book ever written (apparently one where you sleep with the lights on afterwards) I shall get back to you once I have read it.(if I am able to read it that is.) I might get to scared.

Sounds good. I'm curious now to how scary it is.

[Tarl_Cabot]

I think I may have read Vampyrrhic, or possibly a sequel, but I cannot find the book now to check. I think the vampires lived in a lake !! One thing I do remember is that I enjoyed it.

[suupaabaka]

Try Clive Barker's The Books of Blood. There are a couple of stories there that are homoerotic in nature, which may upset some people, but almost all of them are incredibly disturbing.

[Sathai]

Originally Posted by suupaabaka

Try Clive Barker's The Books of Blood. There are a couple of stories there that are homoerotic in nature, which may upset some people, but almost all of them are incredibly disturbing.

Some of the stories are quite graphic, but I liked them nonetheless. I first read them in the early nineties, and they were the most original horror I had read.

[stinking_dylan]

Lovecraft for me, very uneasy reading... Particularly the lurker at the threshold and the thing on the doorstep. Try listening to them on audio whilst lying in bed with the lights out.

Something that hasn't been mentioned, and I still swear that it's the creepiest story I've yet to read, is a short by Stephen King, 'The Boogeyman'. Not sure what collection it comes from (perhaps Skeleton Crew).

[j. d. worthington]

S.D.: Just looked it up, as it's been a while since I've read much King... It's in Night Shift, which I've not read in about 25 years (hence my not remembering which collection).....