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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?
25 replies on “What Was The First Scary Book You Ever Read?”
The Shining
The story of my first scary book is told at that link.
I bet Stephen King is a first for many readers.
I read Cujo in the third grade
Ha, that doesn’t surprise me. I was hoping you’d chime in Nate!
Of course The Hound of Baskervilles counts as a classic. You can’t get more classic than Sherlock Holmes. Speaking of which have you checked out the mini-series by BBC? Excellent cast and scripts.
I haven’t read much horror. The closest I’ve gotten lately is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The book was much better than the movie. It actually inspired me to read more factual history on the big bearded President.
I haven’t seen that BBC series but read about it and was intrigued. As for ALVH YES. That book was excellent, and you’re right about the movie missing the mark. I’ve also been on a big Lincoln kick lately. Can’t WAIT for the new movie next month.
The Stand by Stephen King.
Wow, that was the first? Pretty intense business there. I read it a few years ago. Think I finished in under 3 months. (slow reader here)
Yeah, I was in high school. I read some Clive Barker after that, which I found to be a lot different.
Me,too–read some Barker, that is. King called him “the future of horror.”
Was quite jarring, whilst reading his The Damnation Game, to keep coming across the name “Chad” (one of the characters). Interestingly, though they’re not called such, that book has zombies in it.
I don’t remember a particular first book, but I’m sure it had to do with ghosts or hauntings. The one that popped into my head was The Amityville Horror. That one freaked me out for a while.
Never read that one but saw the movie version, the first one.
Of course you did. Color me unsurprised.
Am I that transparent? Okay, I know I am.
🙂
Bunnicula. It was the prize at the summer reading program in 2nd grade. There’s nothing more terrifying to a little girl than a vampire bunny.
So THAT’S where you were scarred by the horror genre. Vampire bunny. This makes sense coming from you.
I wasn’t scarred. I loved it.
Love Hound of the Baskerville’s, while not my first scary story it does have a fascinating history based on the English myth of “Black Shuck.” I believe my first was the Brothers Grimm, in the old paperback book style comics they had in the 1970’s. The art just added to the frightening nature of the stories and often kept me awake at night, but out of curiosity of what lurked in the shadows, not fear 🙂
I wish someone would’ve gotten me into comics as a kid. I would’ve devoured them.
My mom warned me not to read or watch Stephen King’s IT when I was 8 or 9, for fear of nightmares. I did and did—and she was right. All these years later, I’m still grateful. 😉
I loved the TV version of IT when I was a kid. Picked up the book one summer to read. Made it about 30 pages and stopped because I just wasn’t a reader. I’m sure some video games were involved.
Witches by Roald Dahl. I stole it from my big sister’s room and read it underneath my covers. WITCHES, YOU GUYS!
I’m trying to decide if you seem like a scared-y cat or not. Because you kind of talk all tough and stuff. 🙂
The first one I remember is The Shining by Stephen King. Yep, looks like there were a few of us!