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Not a book but a short story, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. This story gave me chills when I first read it and thoughts about it continue to have the same effect today. You may see the plot at the link I provided, but you will not get a sense of the relentless terror that lives in the author's masterful language.
Strange Piece of Paradise (True account of ax attack on two bicyclists in Oregon)
Lucky (True account of her rape on the Syracuse U. campus, by "The Lovely Bones" author)
The Boston Strangler (1964 British version)
The Stranger Beside Me (Ann Rule's account of her relationship with Ted Bundy)
To me, nothing is scarier than true crime.
Another one in that vein is Thou Shalt Not Kill (Mary S Ryzuk's true story of John List.) I read it nearly 20 years ago, right after it was published in 1990 and simply have not been able to make myself read it again.
I just got a copy of the Ann Rule account of Ted Bundy and haven't as yet been able to make myself read it. You'd think after 30 or so years worth of Stephen King, these would be a cinch!
I second Helter Skelter...I tried to read it...once. Only made it through a few pages. Made up evil is one thing, but REAL evil...Probably why I've never read In Cold Blood.
The only book to ever give me nightmares: On The Beach
That's the one I first thought of when I saw this thread. Of course, I read it when it's subject matter seemed not just possible, but likely. An absolutely horrifying and at the same time, depressing book.
Same with Fail Safe, of course, again, the context in which I read it made it more so...my dad was a B-52 pilot during the Cold War.
The scariest books are about innocent people who are suspected of and charged with a crime. What makes them so scary is knowing that it is happening to real people every day, and the perpetrators of the horror are salaried employees of the government.
When I was 12 or so I got a hold of my mom's copy and had read most of it by the time she realized I was reading it. She acted like she didn't want me reading it but she let me anyway. It still gives me shivers when I run across that book somewhere.
The Excorcist
Some Stephen King when I was younger
The Road
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