Story that honestly creeped you out????

[TJCams]

This spawned as a result of a post I just posted in the "Rate the movie you last saw" thread (or whatever it is titled.)

Has anything you have read truly creeped you out in terms of being a scary read? I am not talking about gross out factor - that's pretty easy to find. I think Phantoms by Koontz was one where reviews had some people saying it truly scared them. I read that one, and as good a book as it was, I wasn't scared/frightened at all. I think the closest recently would have been Prey by Masterton. I want a book that will make a lasting impression as far as being a creepy story.

I am sure it depends on the person reading the book too - different people have differing sets of beliefs, fears, etc.

[srboone]

Ghost Story by Peter Straub seriously freaked me out. When I read it in 1981, Dr. Rabitfoot the Bate brothers gave me nightmares. WHen Ireread the book 30 years later, nightmares had become spine chills, but the book still unnerved me. That's why it is my favorite horror book.

[TJCams]

Ghost Story is one of the books I really want to get my hands on actually.

If You Could See Me Now, by Straub, was a good read too. It would probably make a good movie too - kind of has everything in it, booze, violence, sex, and a pretty good story to incorporate it all.

[srboone]

The problem with rereading a book is that you risk losing the feeling of the first time and it can lessen the book's power. Not the case for me with GS.

[TJCams]

I totally agree with that! I will have to keep my eyes open for a good copy of Ghost Story - no rush, but still want to grab it.

[Xiabei]

Geez, I hate to say it, but at the moment I can't think of any. Of course, there's a lot of good stuff I haven't read yet.

[RJK1981]

Something that scared me? Nothing that I can think of right now, and the same goes for movies. The most powerful in terms of a book that had a part that made my jaw drop in surprise was Blatty's The Exorcist. One part in particular is what made that happen when it came to how descriptive it was in a certain part. Definitely was not expecting it at all. I have not reread that book yet, though I will when I get the Lonely Road Books edition of the Anniversary edition of that book.

[Sabrina Morgan]

I just finished A Book of Horrors and the short story Ghosts with Teeth by Peter Crowther was really good. I'm not sure if it was all the gore or just the creepy ending but it stuck with me for days.

[Xiabei]

I just finished A Book of Horrors and the short story Ghosts with Teeth by Peter Crowther was really good. I'm not sure if it was all the gore or just the creepy ending but it stuck with me for days.

Reading this now, so hopefully I'll find one!

[srboone]

I have to add The Shining to the list. Like Ghost Story, TS gave me nightmares in 1981, and gave the chilly willies when I reread it last year.

[Martin]

For me it was a rather surprising story. Stephen King's The Library Policeman. It is the third novella in Four Past Midnight and it did not come out until I was an adult. I read the first stories at night when I was going to bed. I began The Library Policeman and found that when I read that before going to bed I was not able to go to sleep. It is, to this day, the only story that I was unable to read at night because it kept me awake. I switched to reading this during the day and had trouble finishing it because of how much it disturbed me. When I finished the story I could not bring myself to read the fourth story in the book. I put to book on the shelf and did not pick it up to finish it for over a year.

[Xiabei]

For me it was a rather surprising story. Stephen King's The Library Policeman. It is the third novella in Four Past Midnight and it did not come out until I was an adult. I read the first stories at night when I was going to bed. I began The Library Policeman and found that when I read that before going to bed I was not able to go to sleep. It is, to this day, the only story that I was unable to read at night because it kept me awake. I switched to reading this during the day and had trouble finishing it because of how much it disturbed me. When I finished the story I could not bring myself to read the fourth story in the book. I put to book on the shelf and did not pick it up to finish it for over a year.

I think I'll give that a go now! I don't remember if I ever read it.

[ozmosis7]

Stephen King's The Library Policeman.

^Agreed.

[Sock Monkey]

I also liked The Library Policeman. Probably my favorite from Four Past Midnight. "The Likeness of Julie" is one of my favorites. Not really one that keeps you up at night, but it kind of lingers afterwards.

[Sock Monkey]

"Again" by Ramsey Campbell. Holy crap did that story creep me out!