10 Most Terrifying Books Horror Fans MUST Read
1. The Haunting Of Hill House — Shirley Jackson
Recently the subject of an adaptation by Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is a singularly terrifying, surprisingly moving slice of horror literature which every reader needs on their shelf.
The Netflix series of the same name may bear little relation to this iconic classic of haunted house fiction, but its influence is felt in every moment, not only in that, but in almost all recent horror fiction and film alike.
See, Jackson's deeply creepy novel pioneered the “is she crazy, or is it something supernatural” ambiguity which remains a favourite theme amongst horror’s many unreliable narrators, and the subtle way in which the heroine's perspective creeps into the theoretically level-headed narration of this classic is a narrative sleight-of-hand trick inspired by Joyce's free indirect discourse.
Which is a wordier way of saying that even the novel's "objective" moments are coloured by our heroine's twisted mindset, leaving readers distraught and lost throughout its tense, taut plot, never comfortable or sure of themselves, but always desperate to know what happens next.