What Was The First Scary Book You Ever Read?

It occurred to me recently that the first horror story I ever read was The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Not sure you’d consider a Sherlock Holmes story to be in the horror category, but I remember being frightened as I read.

And loving it.

I must have been pretty young at the time but this memory really struck me since I’ve always told people that I never read any classics because they all bored me. If only I had been handed more scary stories! Guess I’m just wired that way. Sorry Charles Dickens. (I can hardly mention his name without yawning).

Wait, does Hound of the Baskervilles even count as a classic?

So I’m curious about you.

What was the first scary book / horror story you ever read?