1. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier---I just watched the updated movie of this atmospheric novel. It definitely has a spooky vibe and is considered a classic gothic novel. (1938)
2. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut---not sure why this book is on the list. It is a war story and the events are horrifying but not scary-frightening. (1969)
3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding---once again a book that has a horrifying theme but it isn't frightening. Nonetheless it is on the list. (1954)
4. Coraline by Neil Gaiman---everyone's nightmare that somehow we will get lost from our family and can't find them. This one is truly frightening. (2002)
5. Beloved by Toni Morrison---indeed it is a ghost story but the haunting is unusual. (1987)
6. The Stranger by Albert Camus---I read this book in French so I'm not sure I understood it very well, but I just remember it being strange not frightening. (1942)
7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson---A definite thriller with very dark themes. (2005)
8. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood---definitely bleak and dystopian but horror. I think not. What do you think? (1995)
9. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood---sequel to Handmaid's Tale. Thrilling, not frightening. Your thoughts? (2019)
I've only read nine of the 35 books on the Shortlist. Take a look at it. How many have you read?What books are you shocked aren't on the list?
Here are some titles I expected but weren't on the list: Collected Stories of Edgar Allan Poe; Wuthering Heights; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; The Picture of Dorian Gray; more titles by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Shirley Jackson.
-Anne
Ohhh. I haven't read Coraline, but I saw the movie. It was really creepy!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.readingbifrost.com/top-ten-tuesday-halloween-freebie/
I know. What a creepy book and I think it is written for kids.
DeleteI read 8, but I was surprised at how many were on here that I really wouldn't consider to be "horror," a genre that I studiously avoid at all costs. I guess the people who made the list considered the genre a bit more broadly than I would.
ReplyDeleteI know I don't really know the project. I think they have a very broad definition of horror to include horrifying, which I think of quite differently.
DeleteI don't read a lot of horror but I do like a good scare sometimes. A lot of them would freak me out but I'm curious about Dragon Tattoo!
ReplyDeleteI think of Dragon Tattoo as a Thriller, not Horror.
DeleteI can’t read horror!
ReplyDeleteIf you looked at the list from Shortlist, I'm pretty sure you would agree that a bunch of the books aren't really horror titles at all. Of the nine I've read, I'd only consider one of them to actually be horror.
DeleteSome good books. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was really good.
ReplyDeleteYes, but I don't think it was horror fiction. It was definitely thrilling though.
DeleteI thought Coraline was so creepy! The Scapegoat is my favourite spooky Daphne du Maurier, loved the TV version!
ReplyDeleteI will have to look for Scapegoat.
DeleteLove Coraline - some doors should not be opened!
ReplyDeleteAfter a bonkers and hectic few weeks back at work, I've managed to find time for this week's Halloween TTT... hope you can pop by!
I want to read Rebecca so bad! I just bought it and want to read it before I watch the movie. I've heard nothing but good things about that story. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteCORALINE totally creeped me out. I don't know why, but it did! I read it while I was home alone one day and I was SOOOO spooked. LOL.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
I'm shocked to see that I have read 15/35, and I don't like and don't read horror at all. I would call none of the books I read horror, titles including The Stranger, Rebecca, Lord of the Flies, and The Trial.
ReplyDeleteI love lists, and this is one I've never seen.
I don't think the books I've read, with the exception of Coraline, are horror either. I haven't read the other books on the list but certainly Dracula, Pet Sematary (spelling intentionally wrong), Frankenstein, and anything by Shirley Jackson would qualify as Horror.
DeleteI read Coraline earlier this year and enjoyed it. I hated Lord of The Flies though, I had to read it for school and got SO BORED.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/top-ten-tuesday-287/
I think of Lord of the Flies just about every day because I warned if Trump would be elected that things would fall apart FAST and I was right. I knew it would happen because of how things fell apart in the book. Sigh.
DeleteThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was kind of creepy at times. I forgot that about it. I didn't love that book until the end. I was kind of bored by it. The sequels were better, though.
ReplyDeleteI've read #s1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 from your list. I'll have to check out the full list. :)
ReplyDeleteOooh! I love Coraline! Great list!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my TTT!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog
Rebecca is an all time favorite of mine. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my TTT
I have only read 4 from the list (okay, 3.5- I technically never read The Witches, but I was in a classroom where the students were reading it aloud and I absorbed it secondhand hah). The Hunger, which I totally agree with, and Handmaid's Tale, and Lord of the Flies though I barely remember it (manyyyy years ago for school hah). So you have done far better than me!
ReplyDeleteI always like seeing how other people classify books. There are a couple on here that I wouldn't necessarily call horror, but I can understand the argument for them! Coraline is one of my favorites—love seeing it on here!
ReplyDeleteI agree that some of these books aren't "horror," but some of them describe horrific experiences such as the Handmaid's Tale.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I don't think a lot of these are horror either.
ReplyDeleteI've read four of your books and the only one I would consider horror is Coraline. I've read only eight books off the main list. I would consider some of them "horrifying" but not necessarily horror. "Horror" implies some sort of supernatural element to me.
ReplyDeleteI think they have a broad umbrella for horror. A lot of classics that talk about horrific things and experiences but I wouldn't call them horror. Maybe disturbing but not horror. I've read 9 and most are more on the classic idea of horror. Interesting list. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou beat me- I've only read 4 of those titles! While I don't mind creepy and atmospheric stories, I tend to avoid horror titles. My imagination is too good, and I have nightmares easily, it's not worth a weeks worth of bad sleep when I could read books that don't cause me any problems! I'm with a lot of people on here in saying that Coraline is a fantastic book, creepy- but not overtly so, which tends to be the level of scares I'm comfortable with!
ReplyDeleteHmm, I've only read 7 on the short list, but I wouldn't consider many of those horror. I always think of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or classics like Frankenstein, Dracula, and Shirley Jackson as horror. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteWow, I've read 6 of these an didn't see any as "horror" - dark, dystopian maybe.
ReplyDelete