 Flashman14  | 13 Sep 2016 3:31 a.m. PST |
Title, author, and link if possible? |
| nnascati | 13 Sep 2016 4:39 a.m. PST |
|
| Norman D Landings | 13 Sep 2016 6:05 a.m. PST |
Full length: "The Haunting of Hill House". (Shirley Jackson)
without exception, THE masterclass in keeping things ambiguous. It's never possible to pin down exactly how much is real (and if so, to what extent caused by human, rather than supernatural, agency) and how much is in the imagination of the victims. And yet… the story is equally effective regardless of what interpretation the reader chooses to apply. Short: "O Whistle and I'll come to You, My Lad." (M.R. James)
Classic stuff: go poking around in ancient ruins. Find mysterious artifact. Use said artifact and see what happens.
Bonus points for taking the 'bedsheet ghost' cliche and making it genuinely threatening. Creepypasta: Ted the Caver.
(LOLWUT? Oh yeah, I'm totally down with teh internetz.)
Completely engrossing, 'slow burn' set up. one of the very few times when the 'Journal Entry' format actually works. Background level of claustrophobia which keeps the tension high even when nothing's happening, and a really well-staged pay-off. link |
| Pictors Studio | 13 Sep 2016 7:13 a.m. PST |
Turn of the Screw by Henry James. You can even listen to it on Librivox read by the incomparable Nikolle Doolin. link |
| boy wundyr x | 13 Sep 2016 8:24 a.m. PST |
"Had to put the book down and go for a walk" creepy – "They" by Kipling
gaslight.mtroyal.ca/they.htm "Even a walk didn't help" creepy – "Pigeons From Hell" by Robert E. Howard
link |
| War Panda | 13 Sep 2016 9:42 a.m. PST |
You want a real one: link Exorcism of Anneliese Michel: Paperback – Nov 1 2005
by Felicitas D. Goodman |
| Norman D Landings | 13 Sep 2016 11:14 a.m. PST |
Very good stuff there, Wundyr!
The Kipling one slightly undercooked, the REH overcooked (in his own inimitable style!) but both genuine classics, and both new to me.
Thanks for that! |
| Extrabio1947 | 13 Sep 2016 11:44 a.m. PST |
Ghost story…not demonic and such then…hmmmm…. The Haunting of Hill House followed by The Legend of Hell House and Ghost Story by Jackson, Matheson, and Straub respectively. For a supposedly true story, "Night Stalks the Mansion" by Harold Cameron. For a good read along the lines of "IT" but IMHO much better, try "Summer of Night" by Dan Simmons. |
| boy wundyr x | 13 Sep 2016 11:48 a.m. PST |
Glad to share them Norman. The climax of "They" was one of those rare reading moments where I just didn't see that coming and then he just hits you with it so so subtly. Which reminds me, there's a ghostly short story by Lord Dunsany that isn't so much scary as clever, but I can't find it's title off-hand with a Google search – it involves a fox hunt gone weird. It's in the 1990s The Hashish Man collection, I'll try to remember to look it up. Edit – Ok, did a better Google search, it's "Thirteen At Table":
link |
| Kropotkin303 | 13 Sep 2016 1:21 p.m. PST |
M.R James is all good in an antiquarian sense. No blood and guts but plenty of psychic fear. |
| Norman D Landings | 13 Sep 2016 2:05 p.m. PST |
That's one obnoxious protagonist.
Stranger smashed through yer fence, insists on staying overnight, and (spoiler avoidance) 'gives offence' at dinner… but it's somehow okay because he's a gentleman?
Tool.
He's lucky to find himself in a ghost story which is essentially a (very enjoyable) comedy of manners, rather than something like "The Satanic Pit of Face-Eating Terror". |
 Legion 4  | 13 Sep 2016 3:24 p.m. PST |
|
| djbthesecond | 13 Sep 2016 6:06 p.m. PST |
|
| snurl1 | 13 Sep 2016 11:38 p.m. PST |
Rats in the Walls by HP Lovecraft. Especially if you don't like mice. |
| Cyrus the Great | 14 Sep 2016 8:59 a.m. PST |
I'd like to suggest Algernon Blackwood if you like ghost stories. |
 etotheipi  | 14 Sep 2016 9:43 a.m. PST |
Just the thought of this has terrified me for sixteen years now … |
| Hafen von Schlockenberg | 16 Sep 2016 8:33 a.m. PST |
Guy de Maupassant wrote some memorable ones,"The Horla" among them. Wonder if there were any films made of them? Which raises a question: what really good (i.e.,really scary)stories were also made into really good (i.e.,scary) films? Off the top of my head,I'd nominate Turn of the Screw,Casting the Runes,and Haunting of Hill House. Lovecraft hasn't fared too well. Maybe he's just unfilmable. I'd love to see a well done adaptation of "The Haunter of the Dark". Edit: Hmm,seems there's a Russian one from last year,though info is illusive. Maybe not in English yet. Anyone know anything? link I see it's on youtube,with subtitles. Only watched a few minutes,as I have to use data which I can't afford. Looks to be a Blairsville Witch clone,but might be good. That's what I thought Trollhunter was going to be,but I was wrong there. If anyone's watched,what did you think? youtu.be/-oKWifHSMUs |
| Hafen von Schlockenberg | 16 Sep 2016 10:08 a.m. PST |
"Blairsville"? My Autocorrect Bug got me that time. Wasn't there a Monkees song,"Last Broom to Blairsville",or something? |
| Norman D Landings | 16 Sep 2016 4:25 p.m. PST |
Over the years, the BBC have done some very good adaptations of classic ghost stories at Christmas.
Well worth hunting out. If we're diverting into TV, here's a 1970's classic from the writer of "Quatermass": YouTube link |
finally starts his first Four Enemies campaign.
on those shows ! 
I know they are not books … but you might get a pretty good scare out of some of them ! "Reality" Shows or not ! You've been Warned !