,

Any book that gave you a bad dream.
1

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,737,306 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.24 avg rating — 1,294,126 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.21 avg rating — 276,738 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.09 avg rating — 715,367 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.10 avg rating — 672,201 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.82 avg rating — 138,912 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.09 avg rating — 206,518 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.35 avg rating — 848,756 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.06 avg rating — 162,701 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.26 avg rating — 594,423 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.07 avg rating — 378,629 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.09 avg rating — 742,814 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.84 avg rating — 156,874 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,061,923 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.95 avg rating — 81,464 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.06 avg rating — 155,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.91 avg rating — 83,939 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.94 avg rating — 181,396 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.59 avg rating — 181,367 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.80 avg rating — 371,888 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,508,589 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.68 avg rating — 7,408,816 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.14 avg rating — 113,685 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.81 avg rating — 408,049 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.53 avg rating — 8,179 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.19 avg rating — 30,251 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.14 avg rating — 73,030 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.06 avg rating — 890 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.02 avg rating — 659,407 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.33 avg rating — 2,993 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.59 avg rating — 112,264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.65 avg rating — 239,321 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.04 avg rating — 201,084 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.76 avg rating — 1,894,821 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.02 avg rating — 573,812 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 781,597 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.95 avg rating — 116,943 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 137,219 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.99 avg rating — 863,701 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.13 avg rating — 109,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.59 avg rating — 87,848 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.81 avg rating — 21,467 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.79 avg rating — 43,249 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.94 avg rating — 38,829 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.88 avg rating — 28,014 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.93 avg rating — 43,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.09 avg rating — 119,146 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.92 avg rating — 13,864 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.19 avg rating — 173,244 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.22 avg rating — 837,405 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.76 avg rating — 83,980 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.87 avg rating — 28,721 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.16 avg rating — 289,677 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.86 avg rating — 266,997 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.13 avg rating — 79,178 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.91 avg rating — 57,727 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.38 avg rating — 1,384,462 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.80 avg rating — 326,779 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.91 avg rating — 306,526 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.85 avg rating — 9,220 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.98 avg rating — 7,666 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.61 avg rating — 167,115 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.10 avg rating — 997,501 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.59 avg rating — 2,116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.05 avg rating — 29,421 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.62 avg rating — 97 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.07 avg rating — 72,216 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.74 avg rating — 402 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.91 avg rating — 25,961 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.01 avg rating — 17,076 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.10 avg rating — 55,177 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.63 avg rating — 8,889 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.95 avg rating — 88,648 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.30 avg rating — 77,361 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
2.96 avg rating — 1,590 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.93 avg rating — 121,424 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,609,341 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.92 avg rating — 22,805 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.75 avg rating — 20,623 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.97 avg rating — 250,105 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.90 avg rating — 19,201 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.73 avg rating — 777 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.96 avg rating — 47 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.98 avg rating — 10,015 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.27 avg rating — 4,725 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.97 avg rating — 7,095 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.86 avg rating — 85,664 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.81 avg rating — 154,255 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.08 avg rating — 843,079 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.90 avg rating — 10,230 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.82 avg rating — 12,814 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.93 avg rating — 11,454 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.80 avg rating — 11,077 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.80 avg rating — 9,403 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,461 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.91 avg rating — 21,962 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.86 avg rating — 155,220 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.72 avg rating — 119 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.48 avg rating — 75 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
271 books · 486 voters · list created March 5th, 2009 by Paige Rossi (votes) .
51 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Paige 1160 books
55 friends
Loren 460 books
62 friends
League of Native Nations 12 books
3 friends
Brandon 582 books
46 friends
Toni 159 books
5 friends
David 2837 books
1 friend
Lauren 82 books
18 friends
Shaldna 431 books
1 friend

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-32 of 32 (32 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Jane (new)

Jane Haase The Exorcist, William Blatty


message 2: by Julie (new)

Julie Yes, why isn't The Exorcist on the list? That's the first book I thought of. Couldn't turn off my lights at night while reading that book. It CREEPED ME OUT!


message 3: by Rhonda (new)

Rhonda Why are the Twilight books on the list unless it's meant in the sense of them being that "bad" rather than scary 'cause they're not scary at all!


message 4: by Emily (new)

Emily  O Rhonda wrote: "Why are the Twilight books on the list unless it's meant in the sense of them being that "bad" rather than scary 'cause they're not scary at all!"
I know! I hope it's because they're so terribly written. If someone actually finds those books to be scary they need to grow a pair.




message 5: by Lindsay (new)

Lindsay Rhonda wrote: "Why are the Twilight books on the list unless it's meant in the sense of them being that "bad" rather than scary 'cause they're not scary at all!"

Agreed. I think some teenies feel compelled to add those books to every list regardless of their relevance. Annoying. I wish there was a vote down or vote against button.


message 6: by Richelle (new)

Richelle T. Stephen King's Salem Lot should be on the list. I saw the movie when I was a little girl and it scared the daylights out of me. I couldn't sleep for months. I'm a big Stephen Kings fan and he's had a couple of books that are pretty out there.


message 7: by Richelle (new)

Richelle T. Salem's Lot by Stephen King


message 8: by Lily (new)

Lily Phantoms by Dean Koontz was the first thriller book I ever read and I loved it! I read it like when i was in seventh grade, but i had no nightmares. I don't know why. It did creep me out though



message 9: by Travis (new)

Travis No Ann Coulter books made this list?



message 10: by [deleted user] (new)

Richelle wrote: "Salem's Lot by Stephen King"

That scared me but Dracula scared me even more so much I was unable to finish it. And then Anne Rice......terrifying!


message 11: by Travis (new)

Travis Now, Dracula and Salem's Lot, yes, but I never found Anne Rice that scary.


message 12: by [deleted user] (last edited Jun 02, 2010 07:45PM) (new)

Jane wrote: "The Exorcist, William Blatty"

The Exorcist was so scary I couldn't even go to see it!! I just heard the stories and stayed away. I wouldn't dare to read the book but I love the music Tubular Bells which does not remind me of the movie. (so glad about that)


message 13: by Andrea (new)

Andrea Double Identity? That's, like, a kid's book...


message 14: by Josh (new)

Josh Julie wrote: "Yes, why isn't The Exorcist on the list? That's the first book I thought of. Couldn't turn off my lights at night while reading that book. It CREEPED ME OUT!"

Yeah it's kind of hard to read books with the lights turned off. I agree.


message 15: by WistfulJoy (new)

WistfulJoy Josh wrote: "Julie wrote: "Yes, why isn't The Exorcist on the list? That's the first book I thought of. Couldn't turn off my lights at night while reading that book. It CREEPED ME OUT!"

Yeah it's kind of ha..."


ever thought that she could be using a tablet?


message 16: by P (new)

P The Collector, John Fowles


message 17: by Lindsay (new)

Lindsay P. wrote: "The Collector, John Fowles"

Thanks for the rec! Looks interesting.


message 18: by P (new)

P You're welcome. It's dark...


message 19: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager The Pit and the pendulum is on twice.


 ♥♥Mari♥♥ There are three books on this list that were disturbing for me to read: "The Exorcist", "The Martian Chronicles", and "The Illustrated Man".

The first one was FRIGHTENING IN THE EXTREME. Well, I never liked the horror genre in the first place, but picked up this book out of curiosity, several years ago. That was a VERY bad decision!

I HATE "The Exorcist" so much, I don't even have it on my GR shelves, even though I did read it.

The other books did have some horror elements in them, but they did not give me nightmares. However, they DID make me pretty uneasy at times. Bradbury is a master prose stylist, though, so that kept me going.

As for Stephen King, I CAN'T STAND HIS WORK. I made the mistake of reading a short story of his some time ago, and OMG, it left such a CREEEEEPY impression on me!

I just stay away from the horror genre completely!! I also DETEST Edgar Allan Poe. I had to read some of his stories in high school. UGH. "The Telltale Heart" was especially disturbing.

I've noticed some of the Twilight books on this list. The first one was not especially scary for me. Neither was it creepy. As for "Breaking Dawn", although it didn't give me nightmares, I did not like the part where Bella was giving birth to Renesmee. I thought it was much too gory. Other than that, though, I don't know why these books would be added to this list. I don't consider them to be part of the horror genre at all.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) P wrote: "The Collector, John Fowles"

I don't really get nightmares from books. Or from television, for that matter. But if I would, it would most certainly be from The Collector :-)


message 22: by Jenny (new)

Jenny Goode Holy bejusus, Horn-Horn by ADT McLellan is surprisingly disturbing. I had nightmares


message 23: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager Travis wrote: "No Ann Coulter books made this list?
"

Good point! What about Ayn Rand ...


 ♥♥Mari♥♥ Chris wrote: "Travis wrote: "No Ann Coulter books made this list?
"
Good point! What about Ayn Rand ..."


YEAH!! Both are DEFINITELY nightmarish authors!!


message 25: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager Nothing Ann Coulter might write could possibly justify the reading of it, but I do have a couple of Rand novels on the shelf, and I suppose I ought to read at least one of them SOME time or other.


message 26: by Celia (new)

Celia How could My Ántonia give someone a bad dream? It's such a feel good book...


message 27: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Richelle wrote: "Stephen King's Salem Lot should be on the list. I saw the movie when I was a little girl and it scared the daylights out of me. I couldn't sleep for months. I'm a big Stephen Kings fan and he's had..."

There are many SK books I cannot read. I was warned not to even try a few of them.


message 28: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Lindsay wrote: "P. wrote: "The Collector, John Fowles"

Thanks for the rec! Looks interesting."


I read that in college and it upset me pretty bad but now I have mostly forgotten it. It was so sick! There ought to be a list for sick books.


message 29: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Chris wrote: "Nothing Ann Coulter might write could possibly justify the reading of it, but I do have a couple of Rand novels on the shelf, and I suppose I ought to read at least one of them SOME time or other."

I read my first Ann Rand when I lived in the UK. I don't remember much. I had a friend they were her favorite books.


message 30: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Celia wrote: "How could My Ántonia give someone a bad dream? It's such a feel good book..."

Not a feel good book to me. It made me feel very bad. Something wrong. My Ántonia. I did like 2 of her other books.


message 31: by Donne (last edited Jan 23, 2024 08:35AM) (new)

Donne Decades ago, I used to be a big Stephen King, John Saul, Wes Craven fan. However, after one too many nightmares, I started veering away from the horror genre. Don't read it anymore. These days the only other writer that I tend to stay away from is Karen Slaughter. Her kill scenes are just too gory, gruesome and over the top for me.


message 32: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Donne wrote: "Decades ago, I used to be a big Stephen King, John Saul, Wes Craven fan. However, after one too many nightmares, I started veering away from the horror genre. Don't read it anymore. These days the ..."

Same for me but I have read quite a few SK but only oneKaren Slaughter. Her book was too sick and much too gory! I will never read another one. I have forgotten which book by Stephen King gave me nightmares but I still vividly remember the nightmare caused by Art in the Blood.


back to top