You should read Horror + 5 books that scared the absolute crap out of me

When I mention I love Horror (whether in film or in books) to someone, they usually react in one of two ways: either with instant, joyous agreement, or they wave their hands, plug their ears, tell me "Oh my god NO!" Very few people say, "you know, I like it a little bit."

Me? I’m one of those freaks who loves all Horror, in its monstrous, ghostly, ghoulish, gory, creepy iterations. 😏

Now, that doesn't mean I will read or watch just anything. I've never searched the dark web for a snuff film (nor will I). Anything truly obscene/has no artistic merit, I won't watch that. I also won't tolerate torture-qua-torture, and definitely not if there's a kid involved. But...I will watch a kid, or anybody, get the crap scared of them.

Now why is that? Am I just some deranged sicko? Well you wouldn't be alone in thinking that. I've had a workshop instructor refuse to read my submissions in this genre (to be fair to her and to me: I realized much too late the instructor had no interest in genre fiction, let alone Horror; but she also did not advertise this disgust for the genre in the course description). I'm pretty sure she would have called the authorities on me if the class lasted much longer.

But I posit that I'm no deranged sicko (or is that what a deranged sicko would say…?). Anyway, here's why:

• Horror is a primordial art form that taps into our most base desires and fears. It's quite literally the human id on the page or on screen. It's why we like rollercoasters, or get a thrilling sensation when we drive too fast. Put another way: it's a natural, innate thing to enjoy the feeling of fear.
• Horror (like comedy, actually) is a safe place to question systems of authority and oppression. In this space, you can circle a main point through imagery, symbolism, and good ol' jump scares without going into full-on didactic ranting.
• Horror, when done well, will keep your mind in the present. It might sound crazy, but if you turn on a scary movie when your brain is going full anxiety breakdown mode, it will cool you off. That’s because it's very difficult to ruminate when you're scared and you're fully present in the moment.
• Most Horror fiction isn't as scary as walking around in the world for many people. Especially for minorities and women. Watching this truth play out can be very cathartic. For example: yeah, the idea of Jason chasing you through the woods with a chainsaw is scary, but what about when you're walking across a pitch-black park at night to get to your car? As a 5'2" woman, I've felt very threatened in situations like this far more often than I’ve been chased by a monster (which is to say, never). You have a much greater chance of being attacked by a regular guy than you do a supernatural serial killer.

I started watching Horror movies (and then eventually reading Horror novels) when I was the most stressed out and miserable I'd ever been in my life. This genre became a safe space to decompress. Feeling like spiders are crawling all over your brain? Watch Midsommar or read a book like it. You will forget about those spiders.

When you imbibe this sort of art, you'll see an extreme so out there that you'll feel a sense of calm and relief after. Why? Well, because the thing causing the fear–the book, the movie–is over. You've gone through the rollercoaster of fear, relief, fear, relief, FEAR, and then...relief. Maybe it didn't end in a tidy way, but good stories and movies rarely end at the peak of the fear. You've completed the cycle of the natural anxiety response to stress triggers. Plus–you have now an entirely new set of facts to consider in opposition to your own troubles. Sure, COVID-19 sucked, but at least we're not all flesh-eating zombies now.

I'm not trying to trick you either. Emerging science supports the idea that watching Horror from a safe distance gives people the opportunity to learn to manage their fear responses better, and even work through trauma. People who reported watching Contagion Horror prior to the pandemic felt more prepared for it and had an easier time managing their emotional regulation during this time.

One caveat: I understand why some people avoid Horror (in books or film) because they can't tolerate 'squick.'

What's that? Squick is an interjection expressing physical disgust at an object, action, or situation.

Stated a little more plain: squick in art is typically done for the sake of drawing out the disgust response. When this technique is used, the auteur wants queasiness from you—it’s because they want you to know this thing, person, idea, situation is very, very bad. Squick is the extra gore onscreen, the squelching sound a kidney makes when it's yanked from a live body, or a villain eating something disgusting and taboo.

I personally can handle a lot of squick. This took time though: I had to build up to it. But I can tolerate much more now. However, I don't think you need any squick at all to scare the crap out of people (as the book list I'm going to give you will show). Some of the scariest movies I've ever seen boast, for all intents and purposes, nothing gory or gross (e.g., Funny Games, The Others, Blair Witch Project, Rosemary's Baby).

OK, so assuming you're still with me, let's dive into some Horror novels to which I give FIVE STARS (with all the trigger warnings and caveats you might need to give it an earnest try)!

Also: in last week's post on great books by Black authors, I included two works of Horror fiction—one a novella (by Victor LaValle), one an awesome short story collection (edited by Jordan Peele). Had I not reviewed those already, I'd include them here (note the squick factor is on the high end for both). So check those out too!

'The Shining' by Stephen King
Squick Factor: 1/5
Super Short Synopsis: Jack, a recovering alcoholic, takes his wife and son to a remote mountain hotel to work as caretaker for the winter. The kid has an uncanny connection with the Invisible, and the hotel is haunted. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: It took me way too long to read this book, and when I did, I was reading it on my Kindle, under the covers, at night. I couldn't get up to go the bathroom until the morning.

You may assume The Shining is a terrifying roller-coaster ride. It's really not; rather quite a slow-burn. Creepy at times, sure, but it takes a long time for the really wild stuff to go down. And the squick factor is low. The ickiest scene takes place in Room 237, heads up, and it's really not that bad.

Mostly, The Shining is just all vibes and holding your breath, looking around the corner for a boogeyman to jump out, but it doesn't. Until it does. Really, if anything, the kid (Danny) is the creepiest part, because he talks to his imaginary friend 'Tony', and Tony is a real weirdo.

The book is pretty different than the movie, but both are equally perfect in their own way. If you've watched the movie, and liked it, read the book. You're really in for a newish treat.

'Incidents Around the House' by Josh Malerman
Squick Factor: 0/5
Super Short Synopsis: A child is friends with 'Other Mommy', some sort of supernatural entity, and only the child sees it for a while. It begins to demand more from the child, and thereby is seen by others, including her parents. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: 'Other Mommy' is the scariest monster I've ever encountered in fiction. And there isn't an ounce of squick in this book, by the way. The story is unique because it's told from the perspective of the main character, an eight-year-old girl. So the voice is very childlike. Honestly that makes it scarier.

I don't know how Malerman (of Bird Box fame) manages to create actual jump scares on the page, but he does it—in a way I've never found in another novel. If you want to have the pants scared off you, but you can't handle any gore, this is the one for you. I slept with the hall light on the night I started to read this.

The girl’s parents are the worst. But it makes sense why. If you liked the parents too much, I'm not sure how tolerable the outcome would be. This really isn't a spoiler: there is no chance you guess what happens. It's THAT good . . . or, well, nuts.

'Mary' by Nat Cassidy
Squick Factor: 4/5
Super Short Synopsis: A perimenopausal woman returns to a town where she once lived, which is famous for numerous Jane Doe murders. She moves in with her mean aunt. Something is very weird about the town. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: Mary is a classic unreliable narrator, and when she shows up to this creepy small town in Arizona, all sorts of freaky stuff starts to happen. She digs into the mystery, but in doing so, resurfaces previously forgotten memories. Her aunt is a heinous woman, and is very cruel to her, acting as an excellent avatar for the type of treatment Mary has received throughout her life.

This story has some real "Good-for-Her" elements that I just love about this genre. The town has a secret, and when we (along with Mary) find out what it is, we want to burn the whole place down. In a future post, I'll dig deeper into the "Good-for-Her" Horror sub-genre, which ROCKS, but if you want a sneak-peak, check out this SDSU grad student's awesome thesis about it.

This book is very gory, so you need a strong stomach. But when I was getting used to squick, I found I could usually handle it in the "Good-for-Her" setting. The book is overall excellent. Mary is a story worth reading if you can build up the squick tolerance.

'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson
Squick Factor: 0/5
Super Short Synopsis: Eleanor, a young woman, is finally free of the clutches of her mean mother when the mother dies. She gets an invitation, along with a few others, to stay for a while in Hill House, to see if their presence can awaken the rumored ghosts there. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: I love the idea of a house being so full of evil it becomes evil itself. The scary scenes are SO 👏 SCARY 👏 and there is no gore, nobody's getting stabbed, nothin'. I was holding my breath, squinting through one eye reading these pages.

We are in the head of 32-year-old Eleanor, who is not the most likable woman. One can understand why, though. And she is a fabulous unreliable narrator as well. I hear the Netflix mini-series is very good, and I'm going to try it.

And Jackson is just a master of writing tension. But she knows when to give you a break too. I love her writing—it's very luscious, old-fashioned in a good way. It is evident within the first paragraph that the author is an excellent writer. Love books like this. The more you read, the easier good ones are to discern from meh ones, so fair warning: Hill House could make you a little less tolerant of the not-so-good stuff.

'Grey Dog,' by Elliot Gish
Squick Factor: 3/5
Super Short Synopsis: A spinster (who is in her early late 20s lol) moves to a new town to act as Head Teacher of the solo school house. Something is weird about a few townspeople, and also the woods. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: This was a surprise 'loved it' for me. It snuck up, I forget where I heard about it (it certainly wasn't on the socials), and Grey Dog is Gish’s debut. I’m also focused on writing female-driven horror, and this is one of those books that made me think: "Just quit, you'll never be as good as this, abandon all hope ye that enter here."

Our FMC is a disgraced teacher who manages to snag one more chance to do some good teaching students in a town called "Lowery Bridge," which basically is in the middle of nowhere. This is in pre-revolutionary colonial America. So we've got some fantastic puritanism going on, as well as lots of people doing very non-puritan things and getting in trouble for it.

The woods have a secret, and something is luring our FMC, as it did her teacher predecessor as well. What's the deal with the woods? Some of the, uh . . . items . . . she finds in the woods are truly disgusting. This is the most ‘Body Horror’ type of the books I've selected here, and it can be a bit gross at times. I think it's worth it and tolerable, but I am warning that when this stuff does come onscreen, it'll make you shudder.

The end is BANANAS. Also the scene writing is great. Even though the people of Lowery Bridge sound like the absolute WORST, I still want to go based on the physical descriptions provided by Gish. I long to escape to the woods and become a scary old witch living in a cottage covered in mushrooms, so this totally checked the boxes for me.

Thank you again for your support! I hope I convinced you to give Horror a try, or if you're a well-read in this genre, you pick up some of these so we can talk about them. Next week I'm going to share some details about my own novel-in-progress (eek!) and audaciously review some comps (i.e., books to which my book is similar).

Have a great week and read banned books,
Charlotte Chambers