Scare Up A Good Book

I was really challenged by the January theme for Read It 2011: Scare Up A Good Book.  I can't watch horror movies or read ghost stories without jumping at shadows and leaving the lights on all night. Even with the lights on, I still get terrifying nightmares from which I wake sweating and paralised.

I chose the only horror writer I know, Stephen King, and consulted NoveList Plus (a readers advisory database available via NSW public libraries) that  suggested that King's most recent book,  Full Dark, No Stars,  would be a good starting point as it contains four strong short stories and a short piece by Stephen King explaining his inspiration for each story and what he was trying to achieve.

The stories were varied: a mans life disintegrates after he murders his wife, a woman hunts down and revenges herself upon a rapist and his accomplices, a wife deals with finding out something very disturbing about her husband of 20 odd years, and a man makes a deal with the devil to improve his own life to the detriment of his best friend's. All were well written, with straightforward narratives. The weren't particularly scary or horrifying - contrary to what I'd expected based King's reputation - but all lingered in my mind long after reading, which is what the author says he set out to do.

I'd read Stephen King again, if I wanted a good story with a disturbed atmosphere