Accomplished Baltimore crime writer Laura Lippman is known for producing suspenseful psychological thrillers that keep readers awake at night. Her 15th novel is about a woman who was kidnapped but escaped alive. Nearly 30 years later, Eliza Benedict receives a chilling letter from her kidnapper, who’s now on death row. What does he remember about that time that Eliza doesn’t? And does she want to know?
To win a copy — and we’re drawing three winners, people! — leave a comment telling us about the scariest story you’ve ever read before Friday, August 20. Good luck!
Also in BookPage: more reviews of Laura Lippman’s work.
i have not read any really scary bookslately
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen. I remember wanting so badly to stop reading because I was so very frightened for Fran, the horribly abused wife and her son. And yet, I knew I couldn’t stop, because although the genre of the book was fiction, the events happen so very often in real life.
One of the scariest books I have read is the one I’m reading now, Tough Customer, by Sandra Brown. Brown keeps me on the edge of my seat in this can’t-put-it-down adventure.
“Silence of the Lambs” – I still think of the two FBI agents knocking on two different doors in two different states – you think one has the killer and one is just going to interview someone. Scary.
I was reading Pet Cemetary by Stephen King. My husband was away at school and I was home alone with my two children. In the story, the little boy was coming back to life and i was petrified with fear but could not stop reading the book. My kids were asleep as it was about 11pm. I have never been so afraid while reading a book.
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi is the story of Charles Manson and the Tate murders. An horrific account of evil in its purest form. I could not sleep for days.
31 Hours by Hamilton – the thought of an ordinary kid placing a bomb in New York subways was frightening.
Two Stephen King Novels-Christine (a runaway car) and Cujo (a vicious dog). Both are very scary books. I read them at night while my husband was trucking away from home. Wrong books to read when you are by yourself.
Dracula by Bram Stoker. I read it in high school and slept with a crucifix while I was reading it and for some time after I finished it!
Without question, the scariest novel I have ever read is Silence of the Lambs. The tough little FBI agent and the twisted, yet strangely appealing, antagonist were the perfect foils!!
Just finished a pretty unnerving book: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. It’s a debut novel about a 30-something realtor who is abducted. Very good. Very real.
The Shining by Stephen King. I love his books but that one scares the bejesus out of me!
oh and Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark. Maybe because they both possible could happen and just hit an little to close to home.
The most frightening book I’ve read is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I highly recommend.
A house haunted and a group of people, some of them with past haunting experiences, stay to study the house.
Made into a really great movie starring Julie Harris.
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown scared right at the beginning, I never did finish it.
“Still Missing” by Chevy Stevens.
No Time for Goodbye, Linwood Barclay – Canadian author. A page-turning thriller and high speed emotional roller coaster.
A haunting experience…the book was far more disturbing than the movie: The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.
Stephen Kings’ “Salems Lot” I was newly married with a 3 month old baby and my husband worked night shift. I slept with a cross for months after reading the book. I ended up giving my copy to a friend I didn’t want the book in the house!
IT by Stephen King – this is the reason clowns are so scary to people
I have read several mysteries that I found real scary, but the best written ones are the Stephen King ones. Almost anything he writes puts you right on the edge. hard to put the book down. I had never read mysteries until about a year ago, and now I can not get enough!
I read Survival of the Fittest by Jonathan Kellerman which was scary enough for me.
Dracula by Bram Stoker is the most frightening book I have ever tried to read.
The scariest novel I ever tried to read was “The Amityville Horror” by Jay Anson. I started having nightmares and had to stop reading.
The scariest book I’ve read is “The Stand” by
Stephen King. It was a really good story that I
couldn’t stop reading but I remember it being
very scary at the same time.
The scariest novel I’ve ever read had to be “The Shining” by Stephen King. I was in high school and made my sister come sleep with me when I finished it I was so freaked out!
The scariest book I ever read was NIGHT SHIFT by Stephen King.
“The Reliable Wife” is a riveting but scary novel. It is unnerving to follow the convolutions of the characters. The book makes you wonder if everyone is like these characters in their hearts.
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum. I was very young, and this tale left quite an impression.
The scariest book I’ve read is”The Shining” by Stephen King. Had to read it during the day and still I was scared at night…LOL
I would love to read Laura’s new book!
I love Stephen King for a scary story. Also, his son,Joe Hill, is very good.
I don’t generally read scary or horror books. Having said that I did read Insomnia by Stephen King and found it very scary and unnerving because even though it was really out there it is conceivable that it could happen. That to me is what is scary.
pet cemetary by stephen king…slept with the lights on!
“The Exorcist” was the scariest book I ever read and I thought it couldn’t get any worse than that. Then when the movie came out and I heard the evil voice, it was ten times worse! And reading about someone’s head going all the way around and SEEING a person’s head go all the way around are, again, two VERY DIFFERENT THINGS!!!
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe King is the scariest story I have ever read… For weeks I slept with the lights on and the bedroom closet door open because I kept seeing an old man standing in the corner !!! Being the son of Stephen Kingmthe apple sure doesn’t fall from the tree in that family !!! He definitely gives me the creeps…. But I am soooooooooooooooo looking forward to scaring myself silly reading his latest book “Horns”……
Hands down, the scariest book I ever read was Stephan King’s “The Shining”. It was even scarier than the movie!
Has to be Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. It was the first book I read from cover to cover in one night. I couldn’t put it down, but by the end of the night I had closed all the windows had and the shades were down tight!
Probably The Shining by Stephen King. I finished it at 4 in the morning and I couldn’t sleep anymore. My room was so stuffy but i was terrified to get up and open the windows. Still have to see the movie.
Stephen King’s novel CUJO and the novella, THE LONG WALK. Both scary but for different reasons. And recently, STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens – I couldn’t read it in bed for the whole first chunk of the book!
Several of the books mentioned in these comments rank right up there at the top of the list, but for me the scariest book of all time has to be “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. I read this when I was in bed with the mumps. I was living in a rural farm house in Iowa and could certainly imagine the horrible situation happening where I was.
Dracula by Bram Stoker. I read it about 35 years ago.
Stephen King’s THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON was a psychological horror ~ it kept me up for nights after reading it.
The scariest story I’ve read lately was The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner. It’s the story of a woman in an abusive relationship. Her husband is a cop, but he’s also a serial killer. She helps put him in jail, but he escapes and begins hunting her. He thinks like a cop and keeps one step ahead of them. I couldn’t sleep for a few nights after reading this one!
Night Sins by Tami Hoag – scary for any parent.
Any book by Dean Kootz. I have NEVER been able to complete a book by this author. and always had nightmares after reading even a small amount of one of his books.
Anything by Thomas Harris. They were all scary.
I can’t think of a specific book, but any true crime story by Ann Rule..
Pet Cemetary by Stephen King – I was terrified to go down to the basement after reading, but had to do laundry and that’s where my washer & dryer were
“Black and Blue”, by Anna Quinlen was scary and heartbreaking. Still, the scariest and a bit gruesome was “Gone, Baby, Gone”. That one was really something. There are probably more, but I can’t think of them right now. Also, “Whispers”, by Dean Koontz.
Fragile by Shiloh Walker
I love mystery and suspense but not so much the ones with stalker plots.
Phillip Margolin’s thriller/mystery “Gone, But Not Forgotten” made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! I enjoy reading in bed at night, lights out, using my book light. But while reading “Gone, But Not Forgotten” I couldn’t do this once I reached the middle of the book. I had to read with ever light in my bedroom blazing! It’s a terrific story! I had a similar reaction to Margolin’s book, “After Dark”!
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Ghost Story by Peter Staub scared me so badly I was afraid to look away from the book, for fear i would see the shape-shifters I was reading about. I know it was fiction, but the feeling was real.
I’ve probably read scarier stories since, but they never affected me like the Ray Bradbury story I read as a kid: Something Wicked This Way Comes. I was afraid to finish reading the book – and I was afraid to STOP reading the book. I lay awake one school night and finished the whole book because I was so scared I couldn’t stop! For days afterwards I was afraid to go anywhere in the dark by myself!
Steven King always scares and fascinates but The Exorcist kept me awake and gave me nightmares for weeks!
The scariest book I ever read was ” ‘Salem’s Lot” by Stephen King. I read it when it was first published in the mid-70s and it set the bar for vampire stories. I slept with a night light on ever since reading that book. And I loved the short story prequel (“Jerusalem’s Lot”) that was in King’s book of short stories called “Night Shift”. My husband said the scariest story he ever read was also by Stephen King, called “Pet Sematary”. He said if it wasn’t the scariest story he ever read, then it was the most disturbing.
The scariest novel I’ve read by far was “It” by Stephen King. Still gives me the shivers!!
The scariest story I ever read was THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. I was scared to look at the window, thinking I’d see a pair of eyes staring back at me. Also, my friend’s house looked like the one in the book. Even the music in the movie freaks me out.
2 others are THE BAD SEED and ROSEMARY’S BABY.
I concur with Steven King’s “IT”. I remember throwing the book on the couch, covering it with an afghan, and not going in the living room for a week!
place last seen was the scariest book ever imho
I think the scariest was The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. I was babysitting, many, many years ago and a window slammed, I nearly peed myself. That’s scary!
Neverland by Douglas Clegg. I could only read with the lights on and when not home alone. And I think I slept with the lights on for weeks after I finished it.
I can’t remember the name of the book, I was probably about 9 and it was a science fiction book of my Dad’s. It involved a huge meteorite falling and wiping out all the people on earth except for a few. The book was the story of what they had to go through. For the longest, I was worried it really would happen!
After reading “Dracula”, I had nightmares for weeks…. I kept dreaming I was carrying Dracula’s head around in a box….
I think I have to agree, it’s got to be a Steven King novel, either ‘The Shining’ or ‘Salem’s Lot’. Can’t decide which!
Almost all of Stephen King’s are scary but my favorite was “Misery” which was a page-turner for me and the movie was just as good.
During college in the early ’70′s I participated in a mission trip to Antiqua. In my spare time during those 3 weeks, I read “The Exorcist.” As if the book were not scary enough, several of our hosts told us hair-raising stories of people on the island they had known who had been demon-posessed and the church had to perform exorcisms. I’ll never forget that middle-of-the-night potty break in the big old house where we all stayed–no air-con so all of the screenless windows were open. When cats began fighting right outside the window where I was standing, let’s just say “the urge” had completely vanished!
Michael Connelly’s Echo Park was exciting and scary.
Neil Gaiman’s Coraline freaked me out well and good.
The scariest one for me was The Pit and the Pendelulum by Edgar Allan Poe.
The Amityville Horror or Blindness by Jose Saramago. Two very different extremes of scary. But so good!
It has to be “Pet Sematary” by Stephen King…bar none!
I did enjoy #65 Becky’s story though…and, yes, “The Exorcist” was very scary, too!
Please enter me in your contest…I enjoyed reading everyone else’s entries…:>
The scariest story I ever read was based on a true story, Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody. It’s been 20 years and I still think about this woman and what she had to go through to get her kidnapped daughter back.
Definitely “The Haunting of Hill House” … both the book and the movie.
I would say Fail-Safe was scary because since I read it while the Cold War was still going on I wondered when and if something like that could ever happen.
Love STEPHEN KING, AND DEAN KOONTZ. MAYBE IT BY KING, OR BLACK ORDER BY JAMES ROLLINS. REGINALD HILL’S ON BEULAH HEIGHT WAS REALLY GOOD TOO. SO MANY BOOKS SO MANY CHOICES. HARD TO PICK JUST ONE.
Has to Be Amityville Horror. Probably because I grew up in the town next to it and for week imagined the same thing happening in my neighborhood. Everytime I hear or see something about Amityville it gives me the chills.
stephen king, either Bag of Bones or Duma Key most recently
“the passage” scary but very depressing…
“The Shining” by Stephen King.
I love thrillers, but one that presented disturbing visuals and possibilites that stayed with me for some time was “The Ruins”.
I tried reading one of Anne Rice’s first vampire book and didn’t even make it through the first chapter. It was too scary for me.
Scariest true story I have read was how an eleven year old child was abducted right off the street in the same area I live around 3pm in the afternoon. I have an eleven year old child, that story hit home and there is nothing more scarier than that.
Steven King is very scary I only read 1 of his books and can’t remember which one–too scary for me.
The scarest book I read was Shiver by Lisa Jackson.
Yes I agree that alot of the Stephen King Novels are very scary, but, the Hannibal series is as well. Those are my favorites.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
I agree that almost all of Stephen Kings books are scary but ‘It’ really scared the heebie-jeebies out of me! lol!
Please enter me, thanks.
ruthiekb72@yahoo.com
The all time scariest, and til this day the most
frightening story I have ever read in my life is
The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty.
I made the mistake of reading SALEM’S LOT by Stephen King when I was alone in the house. I never turned the lights off that night – or for several weeks after that!
Hands down, the scariest story (at the time I read it)? ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. I was alone in my bedroom reading when a tree branch, petted by the wind, started go scritch-scritch-scritch on the window. Like a cartoon character, I jumped so high, I left my skin behind.
I try to avoid scary things – I have an overactive imagination. Nevertheless the scariest book I have ever read was Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Just the thought of her “other mother” with buttons instead of eyes gives me the willies. Brrr.
The scariest book that I have ever read was the non-fiction by John Grisham, “The Innocent Man”. The main character was found guilty of murder and inprisioned. It took many years before he was set free.
The reason it was so scary to me was because it was true.
Most scariest was ‘The Exorcist’ by William Blatty.
Poe’s the Tell Tale Heart!
A few summers ago, at the urging of my son, I read The Ruins by Scott Smith. without giving anything away, it scared the “be-jabbers” out of me! It was a mix of psychologically dark and physically gross!
One of the scariest stories I ever read was Where Are The Children by Mary Higgins Clarke. I read the book as a young adult and the story stayed with me. I still recommend the book.
In Cold Blood – it was too real, could not read alone.
From an old collection of short stories called “Not at Night” – the scariest story I ever read is called “The Purple Cincture” – spider bites and revenge gone BAD!
I think the scariest story I ever read was The Shining by Stephen King. I read it when I was a teenager.
The scariest book I’ve ever read has to be The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. Had nightmares for the longest time after reading it!
“Pet sematary” by Stephen King – author seems to be a popular choice.
By far “the exorcist”
The scariest story I’ve ever read is an oldie – “The Fifth Child” by Doris Lessing.
The Blue Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver. You will never feel comfortable with a computer again.
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton…every time a new “pandemic” hits the news, I think about that story!
Kiss the Girls by James Patterson was the scariest story I ever read! Not one, but two horrible murderers, stalking the main character – ugh.
I’ve read a LOT of scary stories – but the most recent one that I had a nightmare about was The Passage by Justin Cronin. Although I didn’t find it that “scary” it did infiltrate my dreams in a very frightening way!
The Shining by Stephen King
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
“Rosemary’s Baby”…I had to remove it from the house, even looking at the book paralyzed me with fear!
The Exorcist – kept me awake at night
It by Stephen King
I thought The Stand by Stephen King was both terrifying and hopeful. It is the only adult book I’ve read over three times.
has to be it by stephen king
IT by stephan king
punish the sinners by jonh saul
Kiss the Girls by James Patterson. Part of it set near where i lived so made it so real and even scarier!
The Exorcist scared the beejeebers out of me the first time I read it.
The scariest story I ever read was as a teen. I don’t remember the name but it was one of the RL Stine/Christopher Pike/etc books. The setting was in a mall, complete with two-way mirrors and secret corridors. I still hate changing rooms to this day.
lovethemall
In Cold Blood b Truman Capote is
something you should never read in an empty house at night. I stayed up till dawn listenng to every sound,wondering…
The Shinning by Stephen King. It had me frozen with fear.
I try not to read scary stories but for me it would have to have been Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. Totally horrifying!
I found Stephen King’s The Shining to be pretty scary!
I try not to read really scary books so I can’t remember what the scariest one would be. Maybe “Yukon Alone” would be a scary one.
By Far “In Cold Blood”
Since that read, I don’t do scary!!!
scariest story i ever read was rosemary’s baby I had to stop reasding it after a fes pages, so it took me about 1 month to finish it LOVED IT TO DEATH
everything from stephen king he is one sick writer, but i love his books
After I read ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, I slept with the lights on the windows closed for weeks. I still can get into tales like Twilight because King convinced me vampires are evil.
I think the scariest book (or novella) that I ever read was “The Birds” many years ago. I think it was scary to me because I was a teen and the images of the birds are so real.
There are some political books that are pretty scary these days such as what Dick Morris writes about because it also is real.
Laura Beyer
“In Cold Blood” because it actually happened and could happen again at any time.
There’s a book by Avi called The Seer of Shadows. It was very spooky, and perfect to share with middle school students, too! It’s about a boy who loves photography, but his pictures never turn out quite right because there’s an extra person in the photos…and the person is no longer living!!!
Secret History
“The Road”, by Cormac McCarthy, terrified me. So much so, that I stockpiled food for awhile. I still have dreams about it sometimes. I mean, what if something like that really happened????!!!
The scariest book I ever started to read and was afraid to finish was a Mary Higggins Clark book, Loves Music, Loves to Dance. I am sure it had something to do with my situation, starting to date after the end of a twenty year marriage, but the whole begging of the book creeped me out big-time.
The scariest book I ever read was Misery by Stephen King. Actually, several of his have really scared me, such as The Shining, Fire Starter, and Cujo. But I think his best book of all is The Green Mile. I thought it was so good.
Steven King’s ” Gerald’s Game” not traditionally scary more psycologically scary where a couple is having kinky sex involving handcuffs in a wooded cabin only to have the husband die while she’s handcuffed. Creepy stuff to me anyway.
The Exorcist, I was afraid to go check on the children if I heard a noise in the night.
The Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Killing Kind by John Connolly has one of the creepiest killers I ever read about. He uses spiders.
Enough said.
When I was reading In Cold Blood my husband was out of town. It was dark outside and I went downstairs to do some laundry. I heard a noise, turned around and saw eyes shining through the small basement window and nearly jumped out of my skin. It turned out to be my dog, but because I was so into the horror of the book it scared the beejebus out of me.
The Exorcist is the scariest fiction book I’ve ever read. Kept me awake at nights for at least a week after I read it. The scariest nonfiction book I’ve read was The Hot Zone by Richard Preston – ebola.
Demon Seed by Dean Koontz had me covering my head with the sheet in bed.
The Ruins by Scott Smith was the most terrifying book I’ve ever read – and I’m 74; avid reader since age 3!
Stephen King’s Night Shift short story collection really creeped me out – particularly “Strawberry Spring.”
The scariest story with such a “normal” atmosphere and unexpected ending is Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
“The Lottery” with its “normal” atmosphere and unexpected ending.
I’m currently reading Justin Cronin’s The Passage and it is the scariest book I’ve read in a very long time!
It’s hard to pick but I’d have to say “Intensity” by Dean Koontz.
Boneman’s Daughters by Ted Dekker. I had to look at the end of the book to make sure it would turn out OK before I finished reading it. It really freaked me out.
“The Exorcist” by Wm. Peter Blatty. I could not be in a room alone for days after reading it.
the Boston Strangler was the most heart racing, scary, suspenceful I couln not even read the book alone. I still keep all my doors locked and are very supicious of utility and delivery men at my door.
The book about Charles Manson
So many years ago that I don’t even remember the name of the book, I read a Stephen King novel that scared me so much that I never read another of his books, nor did I have any desire to see any of the many movies made from his books. Positively creepy!
still . like the excorsist, but also still get chills from the grudge, creepy kid , form under the covers of her bed.
I read the short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edar Allen Poe when I was young. It haunted my dreams for years and still gives me the spooks when I think about that beating heart beneath the floorboards. *shiver*
One of the most compelling, if not scary, reads is Green Darkness by by Anya Seton. What a gripping tale!
Definitely “Helter Skelter”. When I was reading that book if everyone left the room I would walk, still reading, into the room where people were. There was no way I would be alone in a room with that guy even if he was only on the book page!
The scariest story ever was the Pit and the Pendulum by Poe, which I had to read in 7th grade.
I read Rosemary’s Baby on a train trip when I was 12 returning from a family visit. I was completely creeped out and my Mom was aghast that my aunt gave it to me to read. . .
I read The Cabinet Of Curiosities by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child about a year ago. This one gave me the chills. I loved it so much, I plan to read it again. Their books are great.
“The girl who loved Tom Gordon” by Stephen King.
Stephen King’s IT is the scariest story I ever read and only added to my fear of clowns.
The Shining. I can still remember the garden coming to life and the chase through the snow. Really creepy!
I was 12 years old and babysitting in a strange house while visiting an aunt. I was reading a book “You Are Never Along” and was scared out of my wits as thunder roared outside and lightning flashed.
I remember lying on the floor in our dining room around age 14, reading _The Amityville Horror_. Suddenly the door flew open and my mother walked in. I was so startled, on top of already being terrified by the book, that I screamed bloody murder. Now I’d probably scream bloody murder about the terrible writing in that book!
The Shining & IT by Stephen King both creeped me out. Swan Song by Robert McCammon stayed with me for along time too.
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart was one of the scariest stories I’ve read. Many years ago I saw a film version of The Pit and the Pendulum that was incredibly frightening.
Anything by Chelsea Cain. Her books are the scariest I have read so far. Her story line pulls you in and makes you hope there is not really someone like her main character out there! If you have not read her three books, I highly recommend them.
I just read “Sworn to Silence” by Linda Castillo. The murder scene was nightmarish! Very graphic and scary!
“It” by Stephen King gets my vote!
I thought Stephen King’s It was scary too.
I would love to win Laura Lippman’s new book, I have never read any of her books, so it would be nice to discover a new author.
“The Chill” by Ross Macdonald is a mystery (and perhaps the best one of the genre), but the shocking, twisted revelation at the end made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
“The Birds” by Daphne DuMaurier
The scariest book I ever read was The Shining by Stephen King!
I always thought “Love You Forever” by Robert N. Munsch had a disturbing ending.
Sweetheart, HeartSick and Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain will definitely have you leaving the lights on at night.
The scariest thing that I have read of late is not a book but unfortunately the newspaper.
The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, read it by candle light, and was afraid I was going to lose my mind just like the narrator.
I know I’m showing my age by entering this title: In Cold Blood. I thought this story was absolutely threatening.
That’s a difficult one to answer. I’ve always loved the movie Frankenstein. The monster is horrible if you think about what he’s made of. Parts of dead people. I finally read the book by Mary Shelly. It really was a scary book. The descriptions of getting the dead people to build the Monster are frightening. Just thinking about something made from dead parts. Ugh! Thank you.
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