Horror Aficionados discussion

Has anyone else read The Ruins and not been scared in the least? Which books have you read that were suggested to you and didn't scare you at all?

The Ruins definitely scared me. I picked it up in a hotel gift shop for something to read while I was there. Zero expectations. I was shocked by how scary it was.

Hell House by Richard Matheson. I was looking for frightening/scary/terrifying books, and this one kept popping up on lists. I was disappointed. Didn't scare me at all.

Really, how many books do we expect to scare us? I have been made uncomfortable or creeped out by a book and enjoyed them immensely, but rarely am I scared. That said, I am a big fan of The Ruins and gave it five stars.

I can't remember who recommended what to me over the years, but I have only been truly scared by Naomi's Room and Come Closer.

I concur with my esteemed colleague. I'm rarely truly scared by a book, but plenty have given me the pleasure of some genuine chills. And the best ones are the ones that are the building blocks for those rare nightmares I have that really scare me.

I need to track down a copy of Naomi's Room....

I loved the Ruins. It was exciting and fun and I have a plant in my backyard that i am not quite sure what it is... Things taht scare me are more on The Girl Next Door side of things. I like being creeped out more than scared. Maybe its because I'm older

The Ruins contained no fear inducing moments. It was an okay book, but not one I would ever re-read.

Tom, I live in the south and we have vines that take over parts of our yard and every time I see them (and curse them) I think of The Ruins.

I think at my age (49), I experience and have a problem with "dread" in the books and movies I read and watch. This dread feels me with anxiety and there are movies that I don't bother watching too late at night because the jitters I'd experience would keep me awake for hours. I "dreaded" my way through books like Survivor, The Girl Next Door, The Summer I Died; and movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eden Lake. I get a knot in my stomach whenever I think of watching certain movies.

The Ruins didn't have the same effect on me that Karl Edward Wagner's short story "Where the Summer Ends" from did.
Kudzu still creeps me out.

11/22/63 - a mind numbingly tedious books without any chills, much less scares

I live in Savannah so I know exactly what your talking about! Yeah my nephew was all about Purge Anarchy this summer , I wanted to see What lies beneath

That books looks great, Jon. Will have to find it.

Kudzu will take over everyzing!

I loved 11/22/63, but I didn't expect it to be scary. I don't think King has scared me since 'Salem's Lot. (That baby in Dr. Dentons...*shudder*)

I just wish that Scott Smith would write another book already!!!

I loved The Ruins and read it pretty much in one day. It's not necessarily traditional horror, but certainly made me feel squeamish at certain points. Nothing like a gruesome injury described in detail to do that.

As much as I enjoyed The Ruins, I liked A Simple Plan even better.

Tressa wrote: "That books looks great, Jon. Will have to find it.

Kudzu will take over everyzing!

I loved 11/22/63, but I didn't expect it to be scary. I don't think King has scared me since 'Salem's Lot. (Th..."

Little Danny Glick at the window. *shudder* That is probably the last book that actually scared me. Though I have a niggling feeling that I'm forgetting something more recent.

literally sweats terror.

Ooh, I keep meaning to read Animosity. But I bet it's one of those "dread" books I am sometimes hesitant to tackle.

Charlene, 'Salem's Lot is a scary little book.

It is, but it's one of those books you just have to read. It's simply that good.

"I'll see you sleep like the dead, teacher" always gets me.

Jon Recluse wrote: "The Ruins didn't have the same effect on me that Karl Edward Wagner's short story "Where the Summer Ends" from did.
Kudzu still creeps me out."

Jon, that story gives me the extreme creeps. Out of control kudzu and evil little monkey creatures are a nightmare combination. I need to re-read that......I think I have it in the "Dark Forces" anthology.

Everyone kept telling me to read Stephen Kings Pet Cemetery because it was really scary, but it just wasn't. It was just weird if anything. I haven't read The Ruins yet but I keep hearing a lot of people talk about. I may end up reading it sometime.

Tressa wrote:
I think at my age (49), I experience and have a problem with "dread"..."That's my experience as well. I don't actually get scared, but I get a knot in my stomach as my mind races ahead and imagines what I think might be coming. A good example of that was The Road. As the father went down into the cellar of that house, I dreaded what he would find and got very anxious. When it turned out to be even worse than I imagined, I decided this book was causing me too much anxiety and put it down. One of the few books I've never finished due to the anxiety it caused me.

I found The Ruins wonderfully creepy and very much enjoyed it (I kept comparing The Troop to it while reading that book). Add me to The Salem's Lot scared me group. Part of the reason it might have scared me is that I read while staying by myself in a camper van in rural Wales where it was pitch black and the wind seemed to constantly blow.

Michael wrote: "I found The Ruins wonderfully creepy and very much enjoyed it (I kept comparing The Troop to it while reading that book). Add me to The Salem's Lot scared me group. Part of the reason it might have..."

That would do it

I was lent a copy of and the way the book started out I thought for sure it might end up being really creepy or even out right scary but it ended up not being the case. I still enjoyed it, though.

Tom wrote: "Michael wrote: "I found The Ruins wonderfully creepy and very much enjoyed it (I kept comparing The Troop to it while reading that book). Add me to The Salem's Lot scared me group. Part of the reas..."It really was awful. I was only eighteen, first time really traveling on my own and I kept reading the book until it got too much and put it down for five minutes until I felt compelled to pick it up and keep reading. Rinse, lather, and repeat.

The Ruins was one of the two scariest books I ever read. (The other was Ghost Story by Peter Straub.) I gave our local telegraph vine a very wide berth after reading this book.

I loved The Ruins. Nice and creepy. I love Scott Smith's style, though unfortunately he's not prolific enough. A Simple Plan was terrific. I've been recommended many authors in the horror canon who just didn't do it for me (Clive Barker, Richard Laymon, James Herbert, Richard Christian Matheson (his dad was, and still is, one of the best), Dean Koontz (his quick-fire thrillers are his best output), John Saul, to name a few). I'm afraid Stephen King can't do it anymore for me, although I keep buying them and hoping that one day he will. I think his books these days are too over-written. Cut by a third they'd be a lot better. His old fat volumes are fabulous, but those starting from (I'm showing my age now), say twenty years ago are garbage. Best recent book? 11-22-63. Again, it could be cut by about a third, but I think it's a great homage to Jack Finney. Oh, check him out by the way.

I loved "The Ruins" but not scary at all. The one book that scared the crap out of me? "The Woman in Black" but only because I had the bright idea to purchase the audiobook and listen to it in the middle of the night! :P

Yeah, I too have read the book and listened to the audiobook. Quite chilling! I've always loved being read to. My mother used to read me Hans Christian Anderson and my father Edgar Rice Burroughs!

Have you tried other Susan Hill books? The Small Hand is pretty spooky.

no other Susan hill books. I've got "the small hand" on my tbr though. hope to read it soon.

I haven't had the chance to read the ruins yet. but now I've seen this topic my interest has perked up!

I am in a huge minority here but I hated this one. gave it 1*

Can you say why you only gave it 1?

I read it so long ago I really can't say. I remember not liking any of the characters and the whole feel just did not resonate with me.
It was the same with Gone Girl which is wildly popular. I could not empathize with characters and thus did not like the book. Though I did like Flynn's previous novels quite a bit.

Gone Girl is a very good point. A friend suggested it to me. I thought hmmm, okay, I'm give it a go. I honestly couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I was appalled when David Fincher insisted on filming it. I saw the movie recently and was bored shitless. I found it wooden in the extreme and couldn't wait for it to finish. I saw it with my daughter so had to be polite. But even she said how it dragged. But you're right, Gillian Flynn has written better stuff. Sharp Objects is quite a good one.

Holly's review says it well for me. I don't know how to put that link in a post.

I think I'll be able to find it.

I found Holly's review. It was hilarious. Okay, she has a point. It is a little nit-picky but I found it a solid argument. Again, though, I like style and I think The Ruins is very well written. We are, after all, only reading a bit of fantasy, and not something we should take too seriously. I still think it's a brilliant idea, but, like Holly says, it has for a few holes. One of the reasons why I struggle with Stephen King now is that his books are so padded with superfluous crap that I find then indigestible. The plots tend to be pretty good (well, sometimes), but the verbiage needs a better editor than he's got at the moment, I'm afraid.

I hated the Ruins and the movie. Nothing happens. So much more could have. It had a set up that could have been great but it was not.....at all. I couldn't understand the hype in the least.

Have you read the same author's A Simple Plan?

I have not JOhn. Please tell me it's better

Haha! It's a thriller. Er ... If I had to stick my neck out, then, yeah, it's better. Check out the reviews. There must be some. Oh, and it's a movie, if you didn't know. Sam Raimi directs. Not bad, but a very diluted adaptation of the novel.

Hate to say it but The Ruins just was an average read for me especially since I had waited years for Scott Smith's follow-up to one of the most engrossing reads I have ever had with A Simple Plan. I will argue that A Simple Plan was FAR scarier.

That's the problem with Scott Smith; are they worth the wait. Thomas Harris is the same. What was his last one? Hannibal Rising? How long ago was that?

John wrote: "That's the problem with Scott Smith; are they worth the wait. Thomas Harris is the same. What was his last one? Hannibal Rising? How long ago was that?"

I agree, it's actually really annoying to diligently keep tabs on an author year after year looking for any sign of a new piece of work to find year after year nothing is in the pipeline.

Tressa wrote: "Tom, I live in the south and we have vines that take over parts of our yard and every time I see them (and curse them) I think of The Ruins.

I think at my age (49), I experience and have a proble..."

That pretty accurately sums up my experience. Sometimes when I watch horror movies, I feel so anxious watching them I wonder why I'm doing so! LOL. Then I do it again. But there are some movies I just won't watch cuz I know they'll mess with my head.

As for The Ruins. Loved it!

I have read The Ruins and didn't find it particularly scary but enjoyed the book. A Simple Plan was excellent.

The Shining .... everyone thinks its sooo awesome... I dont know why, but I've tried to get into it several times and I'm always left bored. Definitely NOT scared. -Shrugs- (and yes I have forced myself all the way to the end)

Okay, then. But what is the most frightening book you've read, Maria?

Didn't like The Ruins at all.

Scary books for me would be Jonathan Maberry's Dead of Night and Fall of Night. Both books have the feel of something that could really happen. They gave me nightmares.

John wrote: "Okay, then. But what is the most frightening book you've read, Maria?"

hmmmm good question... Lovecraft definitely has the power to creep me out. Some of Poe. I've had one or two that set me on edge a bit, but I've never had a book really freak me out so bad I had to turn the light on. (or more on as the case may be) Maybe it's because I've had such spectacular nightmares for my entire life that they just don't effect me that bad? I'm not saying that I don't have my fav horror books, but nothing really stands out in my mind that kept me up at night. (except for being so good that I didnt want to stop reading it)