Happy day four of the 31 Days of Halloween! Today, we’ll be focusing on scary stuff on the page. In most cases, the book is better than the original. But in horror novels and short stories meant to scare, that’s always the case. Here’s a list (which will be continually updated as you send in submissions through our comments section or on social media) of the best scary books, listed alphabetically for your convenience:
- 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
- Bag of Bones by Stephen King
- Carrie by Stephen King
- Cell by Stephen King
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- The Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce
- The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe
- Cujo by Stephen King
- Desperation by Stephen King
- Different Seasons by Stephen King
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Gerald’s Game by Stephen King
- Hannibal by Thomas Harris
- Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
- Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
- Horns by Joe Hill
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
- It by Stephen King
- Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet
- Joyland by Stephen King
- Last Seen Leaving by Kelly Braffet
- Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
- Misery by Stephen King
- Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
- Night Shift by Stephen King
- Pet Sematary by Stephen King
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
- Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet
- The Shining by Stephen King
- The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
- The Stand by Stephen King
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
And there you have it. Check back tomorrow for some more scares!
Lots of great reading on this list!