this post was submitted on 07 May 2026
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Recommend me your favorite horror (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago by boopickle1310@lemmy.world to c/books@lemmy.world
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Without going into specifics so the creature/entity/plot is given, I'm looking for horror that is keep-you-up-at-night level. A good wendigo or poltergeist or even disease epidemic book would be greatly appreciated.

I loved books like Pet Sematary, the Troop, The Quiet Boy (short story), Contagion. I try to go into horror blind so I am fully unaware of what to expect, so I've read a lot of duds lately. Psychological horror is ok, if it's unpredictable/not just "normal person gaslit into thinking they're crazy" type trope.

The only horror I was unable to finish was Tender is the Flesh. My kudos to you if you got through that one.

Thank you all for your advice

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[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Cycle of the Werewolf - Stephen King
Cujo- Stephen King
The Music of Erich Zann - HP Lovecraft

[–] boopickle1310@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thank you for the recommendations! Which of these is your favorite? I'll start on that one first

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 day ago

Music of Erich Zann is a short story, like basically everything of Lovecraft's. It is tied for favorite with Cycle of the Werewolf, which by Stephen King standards is also a short story, I think it is under 200 pages. It is also illustrated, as it was originally a calendar. The artist approached Stephen and asked for a blurb about each month's illustration. Instead King wrote a book.

Cujo is great because it is a horror with no magic, no supernatural, just woman vs nature. To me that is far more scary, as it could happen to you or me today. It is also the longest of the 3 works.