What's the Scariest Book You've Ever Read?

In the spirit of Halloween (which I can't believe is less than two weeks away...I've already had nightmares about all those germy children ringing my doorbell), let's discuss the scariest books we've ever read!

I read a lot of scary books. I've read at least half of Stephen King's oeuvre, and most of them don't really scare me in the traditional sense. Most of the "scariness" comes more from King's adept portrayal of the human condition, showing how, under the right conditions, anyone can do evil. King isn't afraid to use a good jump scare, of course, but his preference is for those insidious scares that get under your skin and keep you up at night.

With that in mind, one of the scariest books I've ever read—and the book that King says scares him the most—is Pet Sematary. (I've never seen the movie, but I've heard that's pretty terrifying too.) Believe it or not, he never intended for Pet Sematary to be published; after writing it, both he and his wife agreed he had "gone too far," and he put it in a drawer, intending for it to stay there. But when he needed a quick exit from a contract with a publisher, he dug it out and sent it to them, figuring no one would want to read it.

He was wrong, clearly; decades later, he's still surprised about this, but I'm not. Pet Sematary, at least for me, wasn't super scary the first time around; it took me a few reads for it to really sink in, and it's one of those books that really sticks with you. Without giving anything away, the basic idea is this: a doctor moves to rural Maine with his young family. Their road isn't busy, but it's one of those country roads that large tractor trailers occasionally zoom down, and inevitably, their daughter's cat gets run over. An elderly neighbor lets the father in on a secret: beyond an abandoned "Pet Sematary" in the woods behind their house lies the ancient Micmac burial grounds, where the two of them bury the daughter's cat.

The next day, the cat comes back. And this cat is not nearly as cuddly as the one that wears a hat.

It gets steadily more horrifying from there. Perhaps the best way to sum it up is one of the more famous lines from the book: Sometimes dead is better.

Pet Sematary has its share of jump scares, but the scariest part is the way King delves into the deepest reaches of the human heart in the face of tragedy. It's a masterpiece for sure, despite being tough to get through in a lot of ways. But if you want something scary to read this Halloween, give it a try!

What's the scariest book you've ever read?

Tahleen reviews: "The Diviners" by Libba Bray

Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Rating: 5 stars

It's the Roaring Twenties, and Evie is positutely ready to trade her boring hometown in Ohio for the exciting New York City, even though she is in a sort of exile after revealing the less savory side of the town golden boy through a special gift she has. When she arrives at her uncle's Museum of Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, she's thrilled to be in a city of glamour and a swinging night life with her friend Mabel at her side and few new friends she meets along the way; but her uncle's profession ends up giving her more excitement than she bargained for. Soon she finds herself right in the middle of an investigation into a series of occult-based murders throughout the city. But when they get a bit too close to discovering the truth, Evie finds that she might be next.

Libba Bray has delivered with this one. It's a great period book, and the way she infuses the supernatural aspects are riveting. It's historical fiction steeped in American folklore and magic, leading to a thrilling chase of a dead killer around the city. It's told in third person, so we see various points of view, including the murder victims', though the story mainly revolves around Evie and another guy named Memphis, who lives in the heart of Harlem and deals with a special gift of his own (and the consequences of having it). Every character has his or her own history, clearly well thought out on Bray's part, though not everything is revealed in this volume. I'm eager to learn more about everyone and their pasts.

Bray dips into every part of New York City during Prohibition, into each group of people and many kinds of neighborhoods. We have African Americans in Harlem, immigrants in Hell's Kitchen, dancers who are stars, and pickpockets who are trying to just get by.

The plot itself will drive you to keep turning the pages until you know how it all ends, and even by the time you get to the end of the book you know there will be more. This book certainly has its own story arc, but throughout there is a setup for big things to come. I'm really looking forward to where it might be going.

Disclosure: Received from review via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

Ten Books Perfect For Reading Around Halloween - Top Ten Tuesday With Jamie

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme here at the Broke and the Bookish. The Top Ten Tuesday schedule and information about the meme can be found on the features tab.


I (Jamie aka The Perpetual Page-Turner) am always looking for a good creepy or scary book to read in October especially nearer to Halloween. Whether it be a scary Halloween book, something creepy or just something that feels "Fall-ish" to me. So here's my list of books that would be perfect reads for Halloween!

1. Fury by Elizabeth Miles -- Not so much SCARY but it certainly had its moments of being creepy. I think this could be a ridiculously creepy movie for sure but this book would seriously be a great Halloween read for some creepy Fury madness.

2. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin -- While this isn't a scary Halloween book, I think the WTFness and the creepy things that happen make this worthy of reading around Halloween!

3. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting -- I read this around Halloween last year and thought this was perfect creepy (but not SO creepy) read! I mean, how creepy would it be to be able to hear the echos of dead people. Imagine who might be after you after you stumble upon a murder victim's echoes!

4. The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow -- This adult fiction novel was a great mix of literary fiction, suspense, mystery and a smidge supernatural. Definitely a good book to read if you want something that's not really scary!

5. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance by Katherine Howe -- When I think of Halloween I think of witches! This book was a great historical fiction novel dealing with Salem witches and a young woman's exploration into her family's history.

6. Rebecca by Daphne du Murier -- I love love love reading any sort of Gothic novel in the Fall and at Halloween. I feel the atmosphere created...I feel like I can just FEEL everything so intensely like the coldness of the house. This book was creepy and thrilling (not like in a thriller novel) and messes with your mind. This is always a reread for me around Halloween!

7. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield -- Again, not a horror novel but this Gothic novel just is a great read for somebody who doesn't want to be scared but wants something to fit the Halloween/Fall mood!

8. Something Wicked Comes This Way by Ray Bradbury -- I love Ray Bradbury. It's been ages since I've read this but I also found his short stories very creepy!

9. The Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris -- Nothing like a good vampy book to indulge in around Halloween.

10. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman -- This is a great MG read for Halloween and you can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman in general. Am I right or am I right?



Also, am I the only one who devoured anything RL Stine or Christopher Pike as a child/teen and now feel like I want to reread them especially during Halloween? That Fear Street Saga scared the BAJEEZUS out of me.

What books do you think are perfect Halloween reads? Read any on my list? Also, TELL WHAT YOU ARE DRESSING UP AS FOR HALLOWEEEEN...if in fact you are dressing
up!