The Most Frightening Places in All of Literature

The monster infested Earth in William Hope Hodgson's book The Nightland.
 
Extollager said:
The cave-tunnels that Colin and Susan go through in Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, particularly the place where the tunnel is really narrow... and bends. (shudder)
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The Earl Delving - gave me a few moments too.

Cthol Mishrak may be a desolate wasteland, but I wouldn't want to see it at any time in its history. Rak Cthol, with its slave-pens, temple of Torak, and the baleful influence of Ctuchik and the heirarchs, still makes me shudder, and I'm glad we never got to see inside Mal Yaska.
 
Darkchrome said:
I remember Paperhouse being shown on TV at some point but I honestly had/have no inclination to watch it!
Didn't realise there was a TV series - just wiki'd it and it was called Escape Into Night but it says the colour masters were lost so all that remains is a B&W telerecording. I suspect that would make the whole thing even worse :eek:

(I quite like the idea that my Mum had a hidden purpose giving me the book, btw - some sort of Munchausen Syndrome by Fantasy!)
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I stand corrected it was indeed Escape into Night thank you DarkChrome
 
The eons old prehuman ruined City in Lovecraft's novel At The Mountains of Madness .
 
The space hulk in Sandy Mitchell's Caiphis Cain novel The Last Ditch .
 
I vaguely remember being put through US customs at 4am in the airport at Bangor, Maine. They didn't bother turning the lights on even though there was a 747 full of passengers. Lots of glass cases with posed stuffed lobsters in some weird kind of half light. Not fictional I know but considering Stephen King lives around there somewhere, it was a lot creepier than he ever managed.
 
I cannot think of a response except 'Kafka's brain.' I mean, seriously. Being in there would be horrifying as evidenced by the sneakpeaks he gave us through literature.
 
"I vaguely remember being put through US customs at 4am in the airport at Bangor, Maine. They didn't bother turning the lights on even though there was a 747 full of passengers. Lots of glass cases with posed stuffed lobsters in some weird kind of half light. Not fictional I know but considering Stephen King lives around there somewhere, it was a lot creepier than he ever managed."


There is something about airports sometimes.
I once spent the night sleeping on the floor of the main foyer of Rome's Fiumicino arport. Those of us spending the night there were all coralled into a small area and had to find a space between rows of orange plastic seats. Every couple of hours armed security would nudge us awake with their feet to check our passports. About 4am we were all awakened by screaming from the other end of the vast hall, and looked up to see a violently struggling woman being carried out, shouting, "I just want to go home. Please let me go home."
 
The Mines of Behemoth by Michael Shea Set in the world of Nift the Lean Master Thief and adventurer . The mines themselves and what they contain are the stuff of nightmares . But as bad as that place, it's not the worst place in Nifts world , some the kingdoms and exotic land contain far worse things And below the ground are demon realms in which live the worst things all. If you venture into those places, there's a good chance you never rerun at all and if you do return , you might no longer be entirely human.
 
The normal everyday world turned upside down after the events in the short story "Window" by Bob Leman, to me this would be a total nightmare to live in, am afraid you have to read the story to find out why.
Also the world of Fritz Leiber's story "A Pail Of Air" would be pretty grim to live in, even if you were one of the lucky ones to live in one of the few nuclear powered underground shelters!
P.S. Have just looked Bob Leman up on Wikipedia, there is a link to his story "Window", I've no idea who wrote the plot synopsis in this but they have made a right muck up of it, at least half of what is written about the plot is completely wrong including the terrifying ending, so if you do read this please ignore it, the story is far, far better then this!!!!!
 
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Surprised no one has mentioned Castle Rock, most of my suggestions have already been mentioned.
Terry Brooks had a few nasty places in The Shannara books.
Not sure I'd fancy being lost in Erikson's Warren's.
 
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