Strictly real horror discussion

I'm not into gory horror. I like the good, old-fashioned kind that is more psychological. I really love ghost stories, scary or sweet. One of the best that I've read was Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I also loved his short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts.

What are your favorite ghost stories?

Yeah I liked HSB too, Havent got a chance to read 20th century ghosts yet. Id have to say Haunting of Hill House is my favorite.

Love Joe Hill :) I also really liked The Haunting of Hill House. Or you could go for the holiday classic, A Chistmas Carol. Saw the new movie lately and thinking about reading the story because it struck me how spooky it is.

Hill House is great. I also like the stories of M. R. James. Archaic style (well, they were turn of the century or thereabouts), but really creepy.

I read The Haunting of Hill House when I was in high school. That was seriously scary stuff.

I really love The Turn of the Screw by Henry James too. It's very creepy.

I love The Good House by Tananarive Due. The ending upset me a bit but I understand her reasoning as a writer. Another of her books, Joplin's Ghost, is really good. Neither are gory horror stories, but scary.

I still like the old school Amityville Horror. By, Jay Anson. I still remember the first time reading it. It was right before the movie came out in 1979. (oh my goodness doesn't this tell i'm old as dirt) I was 14, home alone, in a new neighborhood, we had just moved. It was light outside when i started the book, I turned on a lamp beside the couch when it started to get dark. Before long i was three fourths into it, and it was dark as a black crayon. It had to be around 10.30 that i felt i had to pee. But i kept hearing all kinds of shit so i didn't move. Dumbass me kept right on reading. By the time my dad got home it was like 1.00 in the morning, I was about to burst, when he came in and turned on some lights I finally got to pee. I was finished reading way before he got home, but i was sure there was something in the bathroom, so i kept on waiting for him. He thought that was the funniest shit ever. It was a long time before I read another scary book.

My favorite ghost story is The Shining.

alicia wrote: "My favorite ghost story is The Shining."

i always think of the Shining as a haunted house story which I guess also makes it a ghost story...or is there a difference? thought? Because a house doesn't necessarily need to be haunted by ghosts...and a ghost story doesn't necessarily need to take place in a central location (case in point, HSB,************spoiler maybe***********Craddock haunts Jude,not his house.)

One of my favorite ghost story is Douglas Clegg's The hour before dark. Clegg is a master when it comes to ghost stories. Other than that, I loved King's Bag of bones and Edward Lee's Flesh Gothic.