I’m joining in with Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer‘s book blogger hop again this week, where they post a question which you and other bloggers answer, hopping from blog to blog to see people’s answers. This week, the question is…
Name one book that scared you so badly that you couldn’t finish reading it.
This will be a short response this week because I’ve never been so scared by a book that I haven’t finished it. I have stopped reading books that I found too gory – Rats by James Herbert springs to mind and I know there are others but never because they were too scary.
That doesn’t mean I don’t find books scary I just like been scared. I love horror films (of the non-gory kind) and horror stories. My taste is more bump in the night scary though and gothic horror. So ghost stories are a big hit for me – books by authors like Susan Hill and books like The Woman in Black or The Small Hand.
The one that kept me up the first time I read it though, wanting to sleep with the hall light on for the first time since I was little, was Dracula. It completely freaked me out, which I hadn’t expected given it’s age and how well I thought I knew the story but it did nevertheless. Glutton for punishment that I am, I now read it every year around Halloween and love it.
What about you? Have you ever been scared out of reading?
Emma
One Readers Thoughts 
I loved Woman in Black and I took the children to see the Westend production – we got remaindered seats on a sunny summer afternoon, so were only two rows from the front. It is genuinely the most frightening experience I’ve ever had in the theatre – several people in the audience screamed – but also wonderful:). Thank you for sharing this.
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We were the same with the screaming. It’s so simple but so scary.
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And the ending is a blinder!
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I have never been to scared to finish a book either!
Stormi
Friday Meme
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We must have heard hearts and steely stomachs.
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We saw The Woman in Black in play form. Going in I thought “how could a play be scary?” turns out it can be really really scary! Like you I’ve never been to scared to finish a book but there’s been some that I’ve had to only read in day light!
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The play really is scary. I had the same reaction. Loved it though!
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I do love the occasional scary book…especially if there is a mystery involved. Thanks for sharing…and enjoy! Thanks for visiting my blog.
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Yes something that isn’t just gore is what I need. I like to jump.
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I’ve never been too scared to finish reading a book, but there have been times when I’ve put a book down of a night time to continue in the daylight hours! I love Susan Hill’s ghost stories – her newest collection doesn’t disappoint either. The story of The Woman in Black is one of my all time favourite spooky stories, in any format – story, play, film.
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I’ve picked a Susan Hill for my first Halloween read a thin read. I just think she does ghost stories so well.
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Rats??? That title definitely will keep me away.
Scary isn’t a genre I read.
I hope you are having a good weekend of no scary books. 🙂
Happy Hopping!!
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Blog Hop Answer
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Yes, it was many moons ago. I was a teenager when I read it and I haven’t every forgotten it.
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[…] also wrote about what stories scare me and signed up for a Halloween read-a-thon, which starts tomorrow and I’m looking forward to. […]
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Great post! Only once I was too scared to continue reading. I was reading the Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith. Aliens werr experimenting
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On aliens. I hate aliens. About a year later I finished the book but I didn’t really like it
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I just find it so hard to not finish books. I would have done what you did and go back eventually to try and finish.
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I love gothic horror too, especially Poe! I need to read Dracula! Like you, it’s pretty hard to really scare me with a book! Happy reading! 😀
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I haven’t read Poe in years. I may revisit for my read-a-thon. Thanks for stopping by.
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Haha good post – I’m a reader that isn’t easily scared either and I completed Rats by James Herbert in my tender teens when someone started passing it around the school – it still haunts me to this day!!
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I was the same. Read it in my teens. Never forgot it. Scarred (or scared) for life!
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[…] wise I finished The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill, which I mentioned in last weeks post and Pop Goes the Weasel by M J Arlidge (link to goodreads). both should be reviewed next week along with Dark Water that I […]
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