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Every now and then I felt the urge to look up and scan the room with my eyes — but for what, I’m not quite sure.
Suddenly, I felt the curtains were taking on a strange shape and I wondered, with heart pounding, whether that clicking sound at the window was of someone trying to get in or … was someone already inside?
Something lurking . . .
Maybe I was overreacting but reading scary books, especially when you are alone at home, can do that to you.
But everything said and done, the horror genre is loved by millions the world over.
If a horror novel is skilfully written, it has the power to send your imagination to places you would never have thought existed. And when it’s bad, it’s really bad.
Books by Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Patterson — known as the three superpowers of horror-writing — are always on bestseller lists.
Each has a distinct style of writing but share a common talent — they connect you to the characters instantly.
I even bought King’s Riding the Bullet on audio book to see if it was at all scary. However, it didn’t quite have the same effect.
Smitten with vampires
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, written in 1897, is still regarded as one of the best-written horror stories.
However, it is not always the big names that can send a chill down your spine.
When I was at school, I was addicted to the Point Horror series by R.L. Stine, Celia Rees, Richie Tankersley Cusick, Sinclair Smith and others.
In fact, my addiction started when I saw my older sister lost in one of the books.
I would eagerly wait for her to tell me what happened next and she would oblige with a great deal of dramatisation.
Soon, I was glued to my very own Point Horror book.
Not too lengthy and eerily gripping, I got drawn into the world of the fictional characters and their surroundings and tried guessing who the evil character would be.
However, irrespective of whether I could guess correctly or not, the endings almost never failed to impress.
They are not exactly your detailed psychological thrillers but back in those days, they did the trick.
That is how my taste for horror stories developed.
There are so many fabulous authors of horror stories that it is difficult to narrow down on a few. So we let our readers decide.
TOP HORROR NOVELS
- Frankenstein, Mary Shelley: Scientist Victor Frankenstein, in his attempt to create a human from different body parts, ends up creating a “monster”.
- Rosemary’s Baby, Ira Levin: A young woman mysteriously becomes pregnant after moving into a new, unusual neighbourhood with her partner.
- Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson: After drinking a strange potion, Dr Jekyll lets his wild and evil other side, Mr Hyde, take over and run amok.
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula: This classic Gothic novel tells the chilling tale of Count Dracula and the world of vampires.
- The Turn of the Screw, Henry James: A young governess is hired to look after two children whose parents have died. However, the governess starts seeing strange figures lurking on the premises.
- I Am Legend, Richard Matheson: Written in 1954, this science fiction novel explores theories of the end of the world and traces the activities of the protagonist, the last human alive on Earth, as he encounters blood-curdling events.
- Psycho, Robert Bloch: Said to be based on real events, this classic tells the story of a man who leads a deadly double life at the creepy Bates Motel.
- The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty: This controversial novel published in 1971 is about a young girl possessed by evil spirits, who undergoes frightening psychological and physical changes.
- The Shining, Stephen King: When a family land the job of caretakers for a deserted, seemingly haunted hotel during winter, the father is gripped with insanity and turns on the family. However, the son has the gift of being able to see spirits and events happen in the future.
- Ghost Story, Peter Straub: Four elderly men form a club where they meet every evening to exchange ghost stories. Terrible things start happening and members start disappearing one by one as a real ghost seeks revenge.
- The Arabian Nightmare, Robert Irwin: A British man is recruited as a spy in Cairo and his fellow traveller is kidnapped. He starts having dreams in which he believes his life is in danger and wakes up with strange bloodstains.
- Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury: Two young boys decide to check out a travelling carnival. It appears fine at first but soon, dark characters and rides start preying on the innocent of the town.
- The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson: Guests are invited to spend the summer at Hill House, where the host attempts to prove the existence of the supernatural. Each guest starts experiencing baffling and frightening events soon after.
HERE’S WHAT READERS SAY:
I think Bram Stoker’s Dracula is scary. Read those diary passages alone at night.
— Christine, USA
An ardent fan of horror tales, I have always been enthralled by this famous real-life story — The Texas Chain Massacre — which was later made into the one of the most famous horror movies of the times.
Other favourite horror stories include The Omen, The Conveyant, When A Stranger Calls, Hard Candy, The Hills Have Eyes, etc.
— Hamriya, UAE
Stephen King’s Pet Sematary scared the life out of me.
— Fatima, UAE
Horror stories? No, they don’t scare me. I do enjoy reading them but they fail to drive me crazy.
Books such as those by R.L. Stine — Goosebumps, Nightmare Room, etc — are enjoyable.
— Sania, UAE
I have serious clown phobia, so Stephen King’s It really gave me nightmares. I felt he had somehow tapped into my darkest fears.
— Randall, UAE
I was always interested in watching horror movies. But the only horror book I have read is Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
It was a shocking experience and many a time in between, I would have to stop reading it.
This was perhaps the only horror novel to be translated into various Indian languages.
The effect this horror book had then was more pronounced than when one would read it today.
This novel was extremely popular in its presentation and the style it was written in.
This Bram Stoker masterpiece has also prompted me to watch horror movies and read other similar books.
I believe Stoker’s success lay in the interesting way he narrated the events. For me, Dracula is a masterpiece in the horror genre.
— Ramachandran Nair (above), Oman
Being a horror book aficionado, I think Frankenstein and The Exorcist are arguably the best horror books to be written.
Both the books have gone beyond being just sultry portrayals of spine-chilling sequences, as is generally the case.
Philosophical poignance and a humane angle have made such stories more interesting.
In Frankenstein, the complexity and the range of characters exhibit the author’s literary profundity.
The Exorcist, about the conflict between good and evil, is also one of the masterpieces of this genre.
— Subhasis, UAE
The Exorcist gets my vote. It’s a fine read and absolutely chilling.
— Muneer, UAE
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King is downright horrifying.
— Adam,UAE
Gerald’s Game by Stephen King will give you nightmares. Cujo by the same author is my favourite.
— Wael, UAE
I don’t read horror books ever since I saw The Ring. That’s a story that will send shivers down your spine.
— Shivani, UAE
My favourite author in the horror genre is Stephen King. His books have some of the most thrilling and scary stories I have read.
He is a master storyteller, with a deep understanding of human nature and its eccentricities.
The way he puts a story together makes for some great reading. The characters are well rounded and usually noble and brave in the face of horror.
In some of his books, the protagonists are children and it is here that Stephen King shines. He has an amazing insight into the psyche of children.
Some of King’s stories, written in the 1970s and set in the future, are very scary.
The Long Walk is about a reality show in which a group of young men start a long walk.
The winner will be the last to fall. This is shown live on TV till the participants drop out or collapse from exhaustion.
The scary part is that the ones who stop walking are shot dead.
The Stand is about the final fight between good and evil. It’s fought between the survivors of a flu epidemic that wipes out almost the entire population of the Earth.
For anyone who remembers the outbreak of bird flu and Sars in 2001, this is a chilling story about what could have happened.
King shows an intuitive understanding of the moral balance in which our world hangs. If we aren’t careful, it could go either way.
— Anu Priya, UAE
I love the horror genre and never miss any of the horror movies or books.
For me, the master of horror will always be Stephen King. The stories penned by him are as macabre as they are unputdownable.
I collect books; I have almost all his books and have read most of his works more than once. I don’t know how many times but the book that to this day thrills me is The Shining.
It’s truly a masterpiece. Some other favourites are It, Cujo, Misery and Carrie.
But I have also enjoyed some of his not-so-popular works, such as Rose Madder, The Dead Zone and Firestarter.
Another writer who manages to give me goosebumps is Dean R. Koontz.
But yes, my favourite is definitely The Shining.
— Deepti (above), UAE
I love psychological thrillers, and in that genre, Stephen King’s The Shining is the best.
More so because it is about a child who can see the dead and is terrified by it.
It is King’s narrative style and his understanding of the human mind that makes this book special.
I’ve read all his books — even those he has written under the pen name Richard Bachman.
The man knows how to tap into your subconscious. His stories leave you with an aftertaste.
— Simiran, UAE, Gulf News Reader’s Club member
My three favourite books are:
1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula — it still gives me the jitters.
2. The Monkey’s Paw is quite scary when the cadaver of the son returns to meet his mother. Well, that’s an eerie feeling ... something similar to the plot in Pet Sematary.
3. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.
— Tina, UAE
NEXT FORTNIGHT
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