1) The Shining by Stephen King

Why this book?

Alright… it would have been really, REALLY easy to for this entire countdown to be nothing but Stephen King books. In all honesty, I don’t read a ton of horror, but when I do, it tends to be from Mr. King. So when I sat down to write this list, I decided I had to pick only one book of his to be the absolute scariest. I asked myself, “Which one really lingered the most long after I’d closed the book?” The answer was an easy one: The Shining. The scariest question it asks: How much of the horror is from the ghosts? And how much is from Jack Torrance going slowly insane? You’re left wondering: How many of our nightmares come from, not outside, unknowable forces–but from within ourselves?

Scary Quote

“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”

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Sources:

Book cover and quote from Goodreads.com. The Shining written by Stephen King.