UNDER THE BEDCOVERS
PROVOKR Staff's Picks For Scariest Reads
Terror, shock, mystery, and fear are the best components of a scary novel. Horror fans will say there is nothing like the thrill and adrenaline rush of having the wits scared out of them. If you like to curl up with a book that frightens the bejesus out of you, check out Provokr’s staff of chilling picks. These scary books might just force you to stay under the bedcovers and sleep with the lights turned on.
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Never did I go to the carnival again after reading Ray Bradbury’s masterpiece at age 12 and I would never see the Disney movie for fear of ruining the book. I just remember I couldn’t stop reading it and couldn’t sleep. I thought this can’t be a kids book but kept on reading obsessed. Still today when I hear any loud ticking watch or dry leaves blowing down a sidewalk I get the chills.
Silence of the Lambs
What can one say about the greatest page turner of all time? I loved eery minute of it and I loved that Clarice Starling teamed up with Hannibal Lechter to catch Buffalo Bill. The abducted girl down the dark hole in the basement still gives me the utter creeps as Buffalo Bill calls down to her, “It puts the lotion in the basket.” He wants that size 14 skin no matter how she begs.
The Green Ribbon from In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories
The Green Ribbon from In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories, need I say more? The short story about a girl named Jenny who always wears a green ribbon around her neck has been scaring children for decades. In some iterations of the story the ribbon is red, or another color, but the outcome is always the same. And it is always terrifying.
The Seer of Shadows
For me, the scariest part of any horror edia involves mirrors or people showing up in pictures. The Seer Of Shadows evokes that horror element through old-fashioned photography — literally. It takes place in 1872 in New York City where a ghost skeptic has supernatural beings pop up in the photographs when he develops them. Yea, the ghost isn’t nice, either. Along the way, though, you learn some pretty cool stuff about early photography.
Marina
Best-selling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón is known for his creepy (but beautiful) supernatural mystery novels, all of which take place in the stunning city of Barcelona. Although not technically a horror novel, I remember reading Marina before bed at night as a teenager and being too scared to fall asleep. It narrates two parallel stories, and the characters are brilliant. It all begins when the main character, a boy named Oscar, meets a mysterious girl named Marina, who shows him places and tells him stories that will change his life forever.
The Stand
This isn’t really a horror novel but in the context of the pandemic we’re currently in, it is. Stephen King’s dark and twisted thoughts are put on display here as various characters attempt to survive an outbreak of a virus nicknamed Captain Trips while god and the devil are engaged in their own battle that eventually draws in these various characters.
The Haunting of Hill House
Much eerier than the 2018 Netflix adaptation, the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel is a psychological horror that crawls under your skin in all the right ways. While the story was inspired by real-life paranormal investigations, it’s at its most unsettling when it delves into the loneliness driving the actions of its protagonist Eleanor.
Interview with the Vampire
This vampire epic paved the way for Twilight, Vampire Diaries and pretty much every other blood-sucking story. Anne Rice weaves historical drama into her supernatural tale, giving this creepy story an unsettling touch of realism.
