Today we have Laura, aka Sister Spooky, with a post showcasing that horror isn't the only thing that's scary!
I love a good old scary story but the scariest thing of all can sometimes be when you don't see the bad guy. Your imagination is scarier than anything you can see. It's the dark that scares you when your little; the things you can't see. So for me the scariest books I've read are what you may not even consider horror stories but they have horrific tales to tell; I can assure you. Here are my favourites and what made them so scary.
1984 by George Orwell
This is one of those "classics" that you may see crop up on school and university reading lists but it's really worth a read even if you're not being told to read it for educational purposes. This book is where the die oaf Big Brother began and not the Big Brother full of z-list celebs and wannabes either. A terrifying look into a world where every step you make is watched and individuality can lead you to being put in the dreaded Room 101 where no one returns from. A word of warning: if you have a fear of rodents……you may want to skip this book or at least read it in the day time.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Another "classic" where a dystopian society seems like a place of perfection but when things all begin to crumble when an outsider goes to the big city and the "perfect" world is a horror he can't even begin to understand. I loved it and think if you like the dystopians of recent times in the YA world then this is worth a look.
Torn by Cat Clarke
Cat Clarke writes likes no one else I know and I loved her first book Entangled but it was Torn that really scared me witless. It all about a school girl prank that goes wrong and the fall out from it but it's so creepy that I had to read it mainly in the day time.
Heart Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne
I ADORED this book like you wouldn't believe because it was about the fear and horror of the human mind rather than anything like the bogey man or ghosts. It's a tale within another tale and both are just as scary because it's the horror within us all as human beings that is the most frightening. Read this. READ
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
The modern master of YA horror in my mind. He finds a way to tap into that part of your mind you keep looked away because it's full of scary things. Midwinterblood is a layer of stories that all interweave and link up in the most amazing way. From romances to murder and the mystery of an island and souls almost lost in time it is a glorious book.
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
What happens when you can sense the dead and it haunts your life? What happens when not only death comes knocking on the door of your small town but a serial killer? This and you think you may be in love with your best friend. Kimberly Derting lets you step into the mind of a young girl dealing with all these issues as well as the mind of a serial killer. This is by far the scariest part of the book because I find reading lets me get into the mind of a character and being in the mind of a killer is weird and awful.
Laura can be found at her blog and on Twitter.
Those are such great choices! I would have to add that books which i found really quite scary and spinechilling were Wake Blood, Kronos and the witches (all 'hammer' books: hammer horror), which even surpassed many thrillers. Thanks for the great post! x
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