Books that Scared the (Poop Emoji) Out Of Me

I'm a bit of a wuss, but I always end up reading books that scare the pants off of me and seriously force me to reconsider getting a nightlight. Here are some of the books that have haunted (heh heh) me after I've read them: 

Coraline

GoodBYE this cover is so creepy.  

My roommate’s obsessed with this book, but it traumatized me. I read it at an “appropriate” age, but I think even as an adult this book would probably still give me recurring nightmares. If you’re into goosebumps-inducing books with female protagonists, this’ll probably be right up your alley. I haven’t seen the movie adaptation because I’m still too scared of it, but my roommate will probably convince me to watch it eventually.

The Lovely Bones

Surprisingly, I like the movie-book cover better than the original book cover. 

This book—and its subsequent movie—are both terrifying and horrifying (and not just because Stanley Tucci plays a kidnapper/murderer/rapist/dollhouse maker—this is not a spoiler). Definitely read the book first, (1) because that’s always a good rule of thumb and (2) because I don’t want Stanley Tucci making it difficult for you to imagine the murderer and (3) because I said so, that’s why. *

The Name of the Star

He may be a murderer, but get a load of that top hat. 

So, Maureen Johnson is known for her YA books. This one is still YA, but oh man oh man is it different from anything she’s written so far (three words: Jack. The. Ripper.). I read this when I was babysitting alone which was a terrible idea. The book’s got two of my favorite things, historical fiction and a female protagonist, and it’s good (so good that my Sister Who Hates to Read was asking me when the sequel was going to come out—the answer was February 2013, and I still haven’t read it. Oof.). The third book just came out in February, so hopefully I’ll get through most of my self-prescribed summer reading list to get to those two. 

Rebecca

The copy I have (above) makes it look like a romance novel, which would have been very misleading had I not already read it. 

Alright, so you’ve probably already read/seen this one, but I re-read it over the summer (it was one of my inappropriately-dark beach reads) and it still holds up. I wish I could read it fresh, not knowing what is going to happen (no spoilers, promise), but as it was, I still really enjoyed it even though I knew the ending. Also, the Alfred Hitchcock movie that came out of Rebecca is pretty durn good, too, but as is usually the case, the book was better.  

The Magic Toyshop

I already did a little synopsis/review-y thing on this one, but it’s still creepyscary and so it goes on the list. It’s got that Gothic, haunted-house-y thing going on, but the real creepiness (like in Rebecca) comes from the people inside. I’ve had this book finished for a while and have talked about it with other people that have read it and I’m still not really sure how I feel about the end, or Finn, who is either the worst or the best, depending on who you talk to. If you’re not convince this isn’t scary enough, look at one edition’s cover:

 

UM  NO THANK YOU

*Also, I just want to reiterate that Stanley Tucci plays the murderer. It’s unnerving.