The scariest books are those in which the writer compels the reader to use his imagination to scare himself. Off hand I can't think of any that I have read in recent years that have accomplished that feat. Perhaps I have read too many and my capacity for fear has been exceeded like when you have had too much of a spicy hot dish and can no longer taste it.
If you want to take films however, I can cite several which I consider the most horrific, at least on first viewing: Rosemary's Baby, Jaws, Alien, and The Exorcist. I read Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist after seeing the films and found the novels to be even scarier than the films. That was a long time ago. BTW, The Exorcist was based on an actual exorcism of a boy which took place in either the Jesuit residence hall at Saint Louis University or in a room at Deaconist Hospital in St. Louis depending on the source. I attended Saint Louis University and when the film came out there was a lot of interest in verifying the story but nothing official ever came to light. | 
10-22-2008, 09:49 PM
