Can books really give you nightmares?

[bamf64]

Okay so even though im only 14 years old, i have always loved scary movies and things of that nature. But recently, i was told by my english teacher that some books scare him more than any horror movie. So i decided to do a study to see if someone can acctually be scared by reading a book. I loove to read but havent really read any "Scary" books. So if you would like to contribute to my study, please post a comment below reccomending a book that you have been scared by and/or a past experience with a scary book. Really exited to do this!


Thanks!

[aybe.sea]

I don't know if i can recommend any books, but I agree with your teacher. I read fear and loathing in las vegas years before I saw the movie and all I can say is reading it was way better. It lets you imagine what is being described, rather than it being showed to you. I imagined way cooler things than the movie showed

In the same way that a book describes scary scenes, it leaves it up to you to imagine what is being explained. A ten second 'scary' scene in a movie could easily take a page or two of detailed writing to fully describe in a book, and for me that leads to a greater reaction. Instead of seeing a mangled body for a few seconds in a movie, you're left imagining it for how ever long it takes you to read.

I hope that made sense haha.

[BPHERP]

Yes, books are windows into other worlds, and sometimes other worlds can be scary.

[coldblooded]

Books can be way more disturbing than movies, to me. I guess it's a personal preference. I don't really watch movies but I'm a bookworm..

Some of the scenes in Steven King's "Dark Tower" series come to mind

[bamf64]

Some of the scenes in Steven King's "Dark Tower" series come to mind

Yea i just got back from the book store and got Cujo by Steven King. Im gona read it this weekend and see how i like it. And my freinds mom has a ton of steven king books so ill check em out

[WingedWolfPsion]

I'm pretty much immune to fear due to over-saturation from books and films by this point, but the following are pretty nice and spooky:

The Elementals, by Michael McDowell
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
Psychlone, by Greg Bear
Dreamcatcher, by Stephen King (gross)
The Color Out of Space, by HP Lovecraft (more a short story or novelette).

Several of these have been made into films. Dreamcatcher the movie is probably at least as disturbing as the book. Neither the old nor the new version of the Haunting of Hill House properly captures it, though the old film does a much better job than the new.

[singingtothewheat]

Yea i just got back from the book store and got Cujo by Steven King. Im gona read it this weekend and see how i like it. And my freinds mom has a ton of steven king books so ill check em out

This is a great book. Most of the Stephen King are great books, much better than the movies! There's one book of his called "Salems Lot" there's one part in it that scared the ___ out of me!

[Argentra]

Hmm, coincidence? My answers are also Stephan King books. Namely 'The Stand' and 'Salem's Lot'. Those are some intense stories! The movie of the Lot, however, was crud crud crud. Oh well, can't win em all.

Any medium can frighten, if the recipient is using their mind in the way the author/creator intended them to. I have had nightmares after watching my dear BF play certain video games! Books have had me jumpy for days (see the above titles). Even some artwork can invoke fear.

[mykaija]

if you like the type of scary, omg this could actually happen scary, michael crichton has some. timeline, next, and rising sun are some of his i found disturbing to say the least

[Seneschal]

I like books so much better than movies...the detail in them is wildly beyond anything that a movie could come up with. Try "Meg" by Steve Alten. It was made into a movie, and damn, the movie was a JOKE...