Basically, it fucks with your head in a major way.

Jonathan Carroll does that for me. Especially his first two books Land of Laughs and The Voice of Our Shadow.

But also Jim Thompson the hard-boiled mystery writer. Because he writes first-person from the POV of people who are subtly revealed to be sociopaths.

it's "what the hell is real and what is not" scary.

I ... I don't think I need more of that in my life, really.

Now that I've read P-C's post on it, I'm still waffling. Because it's the sort of construction I'd love, but ... I'm easily freaked out by suspense and creeping unease and those questions of what is and isn't real. So I really don't know if House of Leaves is a good idea for me.

It's not vampire-scary

I don't find many vampire books scary, really. Go on, look surprised. The only one that I can think of that did, and that still does, is Salem's Lot. Like the scene of Danny Glick scratching at the window.

I ... I don't think I need more of that in my life, really.

Now is not the time for moderation, Jilli. Own your crazy! Teppy and ita did.

ks scary, really. Go on, look surprised. The only one that I can think of that did, and that still does, is Salem's Lot

I haven't dared re-read that, because I spent many nights staring firmly at my closet door, knowing that if I kept an eye on it, nothing was going to crawl out of it.

Lord, the scene at sunset, where the kid is waiting for sounds from below, and then the footsteps coming up the stairs.

But the priest's housekeeper, asking "Was he strong when last you saw him?"--that got me. I hear we find out more about that poor priest in Dark Tower, is that true?

Dark Tower

Connie, yes he has a big part to play in the Dark Tower series

I've never read Salem's Lot, but there's a great scene in a Marvel comic where Ben Grimm is reading it and Spidey drops in and taps him on the shoulder and he's so startled he swallows his cheroot.

I'm with Gris on not reading for words urging in most cases (...more so really/-while clunky writing will throw me, I'm much more likely to read for plot and idea and character if not entirely then certainly primarily)

Can't contribute on horror, though--not my bag. Avoid. Eek.

The John Fowles novel?

Yeah. And for the same reason as Thompson & Carroll.

Jilli, I probably wouldn't have found House of Leaves as unsettling if I hadn't read 80% of it in a all-night marathon. But be aware it is heavy on mother-issues so... you might not want to give it a try right now.

One of the scariest things I've read was The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. But that's not generally considered horror.