| 11 AUG 2005 at 12:12pm |
alkis21Schattenjger
Posts : 2112
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: GR
Status : Offline | Stephen King's Salem's Lot, but it might have something to do with the fact that I was 14 at the time.
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 1:31pm |
trudysgardenSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 312
Joined: 19 JUL 2005
Status : Online | Aldous Huxley's "oors of Perception" but like Alkis it might have had something to do with being 14 at the time
There was a book by Stephen King with clowns, kids, sewers and I can't remember what all else that I found so scary that I read it straight through just so I could keep an eye on the clown in case it showed up in my bathroom.
happy trails,
Carolyn
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 1:57pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | Carolyn (trudysgarden), The Stephen King book was called "IT" and was made into a TV Mini-Series later starring Tim Curry A.K.A. "Gabriel Knight" 1 & 3, as the horrible voice-under as "Gabe" for those two great Jane Jensen games.
That's uncanny, because the scariest book I ever read was also a Stephen King book called "The Stand", but it only frightened me because I thought I wasting so much time reading it; that my life was passing me right before my very eyes.
I can't remember a scary book right now. :-/ It would have to be something from my childhood, I think.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 2:45pm |
trudysgardenSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 312
Joined: 19 JUL 2005
Status : Online | He IS horrible as Gabe, isn't he?
I love THE STAND. I read it when it first came out, recognized it for the classic to be that it is and have read it 3-4 times since. I never found it to be scary though. I can't deal with min-series - too much planning involved. I barely make it through a 1 hr TV show every now and then - way to ADD for that. Amazing that I will play a game for 10 hrs sometimes with only a few 15 min walkabouts now & then for relief and not think twice about it.
happy trails,
Carolyn
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 3:04pm |
| Deleted User | I'd say 1984. It's not scary in the same way, but the way the ending is devised... It's really quite scary.
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 3:19pm |
Lady KestrelGuild Master
Posts : 4038
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, NJ
Status : Offline | The Shining by Stephen King was very scary to me. I also remember some Alfred Hitchcock short stories I read when I was baby-sitting in my early teens. I have an image in my mind about a lost boy and a cocoon on the wall but don't remember the story. I stopped reading after that one and was very relieved to see the children's parents arrive soon after.
"Where is the fountain that throws up these flowers in a ceaseless outbreak of ecstasy?"
-Rabindranath Tagore
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 3:51pm |
TemporaIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 96
Joined: 5 AUG 2005
Status : Online | Stephen King - Insomnia
Stephen King - The Shining
Stephen King - The Dark Tower
o tempora! o mores!
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 4:02pm |
Mike_ASorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 292
Joined: 21 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White.
It's not that it deals with horribly scary subject matter like a Stephen King novel, but it's so intense. It's the literary equivalent of a Hitchcock movie. Often you know exactly what's going on or is about to happen but you feel powerless to stop it. Very intense.
Or go fishing. [i]- MI2 [/i]&&Okay. [i]- Me[/i]
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 4:34pm |
Pastor DisasterJourneyman
Posts : 1056
Joined: 14 DEC 2004
Status : Online | What Women Wish Men Knew About Them
[smiley=scared.gif] [smiley=scared.gif] [smiley=scared.gif]
Dyslexics wonder why there isn't a word that means the same thing as "cinnamon."
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 8:18pm |
chronotigger65Journeyman
Posts : 1143
Joined: 23 FEB 2005
Status : Offline | Any book on real life ghost encounters tend to be too nerve wreaking for me to read at night but the book series that probably scared me the most as a young boy was Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. Mainly do to the scary looking pictures in the books.
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 8:19pm |
Lucien21Guild Master
Posts : 4876
Joined: 9 JUL 2003
Location: 0
Status : Offline | Scariest is Probably "IT" by Stephen King or "The Shining" or "Pet Semetary" by the same author.
although my favourite is "The Stand"
(Big Stephen King Fan)
Dear Diary, My teenage angst bullsh*t now has a bodycount.
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 9:02pm |
HelenGuild Master
Posts : 3436
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | For me, both Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" and "The Shining".
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 9:38pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote because it dealt with such a brutal real-life crime that occured in a very common, serene rural American setting that had never been used like that in a contemporary work of non-fiction.
It examines Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, two ruthless, cruel and very, very cold blooded killers who executed a well liked family named Clutter on their peaceful farm in Kansas. It follows the events so intimately, so closely, in such a personal way that you feel as if you're right there witnessing every horrifying moment - before, during and after the crime. In way, the book reads like a documentary but it is also a very dramatic, effective example of storytelling at its best. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and despite knowing the crime was based on a real life case, still has a great deal of chilling suspense.
Cheers, Terrry
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| 11 AUG 2005 at 10:57pm |
MissBSchattenjger
Posts : 2217
Joined: 15 OCT 2002
Status : Online | "Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. Oh, and I'd like to thank Mr. Poe for instilling a fear of being buried alive that is still with me to this day..... :
My name is Bethany and I'm the daughter of Gamergal/Michelle.
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| 12 AUG 2005 at 1:29pm |
TechnoSpikePrivate Detective
Posts : 581
Joined: 26 APR 2005
Location: PT
Status : Offline | Humm...really don't know what to answer in this one....
I love reading Stephen King (have some books, hope to eventually get my hands on all of them in the future), but I can't quite set one as the scarrier one....
And to trudysgarden and Mark, I'm sorry to disagree, but I think Tim Curry is excelent as Gabriel... he really helps to build the character portrait (in fact I didn't much liked the actor that portraited Gabriel in GK2, I thought that he looked and acted too much of a nice guy to BE Gabriel...)
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| 12 AUG 2005 at 5:03pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By TechnoSpike (12 AUG 2005 1:29pm)
...And to trudysgarden and Mark, I'm sorry to disagree, but I think Tim Curry is excelent as Gabriel...he really helps to build the character portrait...
TechnoSpike: I like Tim Curry as an actor (well...most of the time), but as a voice actor except in rare roles where he fits perfectly - I think he is mis-cast as the voice talent.
For example, as the evil pipe organ in Disney's Beauty and the Beast II and other small roles (as the "Cat King", in The Cat Returns), he is fantastic.
But as Gabriel and some other voice-under/over roles, Mr. Curry doesn't know the meaning of "restraint".
As Gabriel - a New Orleans, Louisiana resident - Mr.Curry is nearly unbearable to listen to, especially in Gabriel Knight III.
No one from "N'aw'lins" talks like that...nobody.
New Orleans is what is known as "The Big Easy". People there are known to just try and "take it easy" (that's the myth and the allure, anyway), and Mr. Curry is just too darn blustery, loud, and obnoxious in his vocal delivery.
He seems - especially in GKIII - to make a mockery of the way native people from Louisiana and New Orleans speak.
But I still like him - just not as Gabriel Knight.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 12 AUG 2005 at 6:23pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Originally Posted By Michelle (11 AUG 2005 10:57pm)
"Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. Oh, and I'd like to thank Mr. Poe for instilling a fear of being buried alive that is still with me to this day..... :
One of Poe's very best and that really is saying something. The old 1960 Roger Corman movie with Vincent Price (which was actually the second of three major film adaptations) was appropriately spooky. But we already knew what was going to happen.
When first reading the short story (assuming you had never seen the film or a story synopsis), Fall of the House of Usher is really chilling and effective. Even moreso if you are familiar with Poe's own life and times. This is nicely summarized in the following excerpt from the presentation notes by Arthur Patterson that prefaced a discussion of the story by the Winnpeg Folio Club back in 1996:
Biographic Context
It is helpful to connect the tale to the life setting of Edgar Allen Poe to see what was happening in his life at the time he wrote the story. A cholera epidemic, Poe's misanthropic temperament, Virginia's tuberculosis, a banking crisis--all of these historical facts weave their way into Poe's stories. Any possible source that may have motivated Poe's writing may be important for us to consider.
FROM:
http://www.watershedonline.ca/literature/Poe/pousher.html
Cheers, Terry
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| 12 AUG 2005 at 6:34pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Originally Posted By Mark (12 AUG 2005 5:02pm)
TechnoSpike: I like Tim Curry as an actor (well...most of the time), but as a voice actor except in rare roles where he fits perfectly - I think he is mis-cast as the voice talent.
For example, as the evil pipe organ in Disney's Beauty and the Beast II and other small roles (as the "Cat King", in The Cat Returns), he is fantastic.
But as Gabriel and some other voice-under/over roles, Mr. Curry doesn't know the meaning of "restraint".
As Gabriel - a New Orleans, Louisiana resident - Mr.Curry is nearly unbearable to listen to, especially in Gabriel Knight III.
No one from "N'aw'lins" talks like that...nobody.
New Orleans is what is known as "The Big Easy". People there are known to just try and "take it easy" (that's the myth and the allure, anyway), and Mr. Curry is just too darn blustery, loud, and obnoxious in his vocal delivery.
He seems - especially in GKIII - to make a mockery of the way native people from Louisiana and New Orleans speak.
But I still like him - just not as Gabriel Knight.
Although a truly gifted actor, Curry really did miss the boat - especially in GK3. I worked very closely with a brilliant writer / musician for over a year who was born and raised in the Big Easy and he adored movies and games like this as much as I. He was also a big Tim Curry fan. But even he thought the delivery was off... way off.
I agreed but added that Jane Jensen's dialog for Gabe in GK3 was a bit over the top, that he always was kind of brash and he was never a typical person to begin with. Nevertheless, the accent was off and I think the combination of that along with the overall deliver and the material combined to produce an awkward voice track in that game.
Charity James as Grace however was simply marvelous!
Cheers, Terry
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| 13 AUG 2005 at 12:04am |
| Deleted User | Anything by Clive Barker [smiley=scared.gif] [smiley=scared.gif]
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| 14 AUG 2005 at 1:29am |
HelenGuild Master
Posts : 3436
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Terry_Penrod (11 AUG 2005 9:37pm)
.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote because it dealt with such a brutal real-life crime that occured in a very common, serene rural American setting that had never been used like that in a contemporary work of non-fiction.
It examines Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, two ruthless, cruel and very, very cold blooded killers who executed a well liked family named Clutter on their peaceful farm in Kansas. It follows the events so intimately, so closely, in such a personal way that you feel as if you're right there witnessing every horrifying moment - before, during and after the crime. In way, the book reads like a documentary but it is also a very dramatic, effective example of storytelling at its best. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and despite knowing the crime was based on a real life case, still has a great deal of chilling suspense.
Cheers, Terrry
Terry, I remember reading that book when I was about 14 and babysitting at night, and I have to say it did make me a little nervous as I sat alone in the house as the kids slept and thought every sound I heard was someone trying to break in.
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| 14 AUG 2005 at 2:22am |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Originally Posted By Helen (14 AUG 2005 1:28am)
Terry, I remember reading that book when I was about 14 and babysitting at night, and I have to say it did make me a little nervous as I sat alone in the house as the kids slept and thought every sound I heard was someone trying to break in.
It wan't just 14-year-old girls that felt that chill Helen, most people in America did when they read In Cold Blood back in 1965.
Capote created a whole new format for fact-based novels with that book and (along with the widely seen film from 1967) it was instrumental in starting a sad new trend in this country. It marked the end of an extended post-war age of innocence when we all felt very safe in our homes - especially in rural and suburban settings and in most small to medium sized towns and cities.
People began to realize that all of us are very vulnerable at all times. They installed new locks on their doors and windows, new security systems were advertised, guard dogs were suddenly a hot item as were self defense courses and yes, people began buying many more guns specifically for home protection.
In Cold Blood wasn't just a book, it was a major turning point in modern America's danger awareness. When I read it and saw the movie a few years later, the implications chilled me to the bone and it had the same dynamic effect on many other people across this country.
Cheers, Terry
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| 14 AUG 2005 at 2:39am |
HelenGuild Master
Posts : 3436
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | I believe another book that gave the same feeling was "Helter Skelter", at least for me.
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| 14 AUG 2005 at 3:05am |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Originally Posted By Helen (14 AUG 2005 2:39am)
I believe another book that gave the same feeling was "Helter Skelter", at least for me.
You bet Helen but it was published about ten years after In Cold Blood and the highly sensationalized crime itself was already household knowledge by then. Even though it won all the awards and led to the top rated 2-part mini series in U.S. television history, Helter Skelter still didn't have as big an impact on everyday life as Capote's book. By 1974, we were all a bit hardened to this kind of horrendous crime. The news media was all over it and so was Hollywood.
The Manson Family story was bigger by far than the Clutter murders though - because the victims were so well known and right their in LA. The whole tie-in to The Beatles also helped boost awareness many times over and it did make a huge impression.
How sad that we can measure crucial turning points in the recent history of American society with a few ultra violent events like that. But then again, how can we ignore them when they happen?
Cheers, Terry
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| 14 AUG 2005 at 3:23am |
HelenGuild Master
Posts : 3436
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Terry_Penrod (14 AUG 2005 3:04am)
.
You bet Helen but it was published about ten years after In Cold Blood and the highly sensationalized crime itself was already household knowledge by then. Even though it won all the awards and led to the top rated 2-part mini series in U.S. television history, Helter Skelter still didn't have as big an impact on everyday life as Capote's book. By 1974, we were all a bit hardened to this kind of horrendous crime. The news media was all over it and so was Hollywood.
Your good with dates Terry, I could have sworn I was younger when I read "Helter Skelter" but guess I had to be about 17 then. And my memory isnt that great either, could be something to do with the times.
The Manson Family story was bigger by far than the Clutter murders though - because the victims were so well known and right their in LA. The whole tie-in to The Beatles also helped boost awareness many times over and it did make a huge impression.
Very true, along with the whole "drug scene".
I remember seeing "In cold Blood" and now you've got my interest up in seeing it again, as Ive said my memory isnt the greatest and it would probably be almost like seeing it for the first time. I might just have to rent sometime soon.
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