Comments on: The Scariest Books I’ve Read

By: Amateur Reader

Amateur Reader — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:52:04 +0000

How is Goldilocks scary - the bears, dude, the bears! Also, having someone else eat your porridge.

By the way, Brad K’s “origin of Goldilocks” up above is completely wrong. It’s not from the Grimm brothers, but from the poet Robert Southey. The characterization of Grimm’s Fairy Tales is also inaccurate.

The wikipedia entry on Goldilocks and the Grimm brothers cover this pretty well.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:32:55 +0000

How is the Goldilocks book scary?

By: armani

armani — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:00:20 +0000

hey i am a 16 yr old pupil doing my gcses and i was browsing through the net because i am currently studyin h.g wells the red room foe my gcse litreture exam i had a look trough your site and found that it was usefull keep up the good work stay cool armani shef

By: Radar Detectors

Radar Detectors — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:35:58 +0000

I haven’t read any of those books except 1984, and I have to agree with you, that is one, if no the scarriest books that I have ever read.

By: CircleReader

CircleReader — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:12:12 +0000

Thanks for the tip, Ian. There was war among the plugins–oh, the inhumanity!

All fixed now, I hope.

And thanks for the story-starter, a good beginning to a post-a-day in November (NoBloPoMo).

By: Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:58:48 +0000

I think I need to read Dracula again, Heather. I may have put it down in Junior High. I definitely didn’t finish it.

And Frankenstein, yes! I’ve been meaning to read that for a while, Circle Reader. I think that’ll be a good winter read.

BTW, Circle Reader, thanks for contributing a post. I tried to comment over there but my comment had a fatal error. The Horror! I started off with, “I think I love this post.”

It might be a problem with comments.php or something. A perfect time to upgrade to the latest Sandbox, I think. It could just be WordPress too though.

By: CircleReader

CircleReader — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:32:34 +0000

Agreed, Heather T. Care for Frankenstein next?

I’ve taken a stab at your Moorlock Challenge, even though I missed Halloween. Let me know what you think!

By: Reading Circle Books » Storytelling and Fear

Reading Circle Books » Storytelling and Fear — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:19:42 +0000

[...] over at Upper Fort Stewart in The Scariest Books I’ve Read says: There’s two days left till Halloween. If you’ve got any scary stories yourself why not [...]

By: Heather T.

Heather T. — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:51:16 +0000

Morlocks - eek!

I recently finished reading Dracula for the first time and that is one creepy story!

By: Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:24:09 +0000

hi, yourself!

By: lisa

lisa — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:12:48 +0000

hi!

By: Brad K.

Brad K. — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:21:39 +0000

Sorry, Ian - I don’t recall ready any books that I found to be scary.
http://www.itsaboutmakingbabies.com/2007/10/29/about-scary-books/

Granted, I read mostly SF and Fantasy. I did mention a couple of ghost stories, etc.

About Goldilocks - remember, that was from the Grimm Brother’s collection of stories we now call ‘Fairy Tales’. Originally the stories were collected folk tales told to caution children about dangers - like running off, getting into someone else’s property, running away (Hansel and Gretel). As I recall reading, the books sold better than expected - and the clamor was for more gore and fantastically horrible bad ends to envelop the unwary. So the stories morphed from simple cautionary tales to lurid excursions of fantasy about monsters and witches, etc.

By: It’s About Making Babies! » Blog Archive » About scary books

It’s About Making Babies! » Blog Archive » About scary books — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:16:33 +0000

[...] Ian Stewart of Upper Fort Stewart ask about what scary books we (I) have read. [...]

By: Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:37:52 +0000

I’ve wanted to look at Blindness for a while but—talk about horror!—the punctuation! I can’t see any! I should probably try and read it before I watch the movie though.

Luckily, Elliot, we had Gilbert Kitty Chesterton. The big, fat, laughing light at the end of the tunnel.

By: johno

johno — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:09:46 +0000

Sorry to double-post.

…and of course some of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

By: Elliot

Elliot — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:07:53 +0000

Reading quotes in which H.G. Wells and other enlightened liberals of his generation talk cheerfully about the extermination of non-whites or disabled people has always frightened me. It’s horror non-fiction. I guess I put a lot of stock in reason and intellect, and it’s disturbing to see how those can be led as badly astray as emotion, intuition and the spirit can.

By: johno

johno — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:05:36 +0000

I’m with you on 1984. I thought Perfume was also pretty scary (perhaps “disturbing” or “unsettling” is better).
My other top scary or disturbing reads are:
Coin Locker Babies–Ryu Murakami
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids–Kenzaburo Ōe
Blindness–José Saramago

The last one, Blindness, is one of my all-time favourites; a wonderful, wonderful book.