The Most Frightening Places in All of Literature

[BAYLOR]

Pyrrus.

Yes, that was not a fun place at all.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Library , with an overdo book .

 

[Guttersnipe]

The town of Zachry in Richard Matheson's "The Children of Noah." I wouldn't stay there for dinner, at least.

 

[bretbernhoft]

After reading Neuromancer again, I'd say one of the most frightening places in of all literature are the conditions of (or the situation) where Case (the main character of this particular book) falls to, after losing his ability to access the Net because of a poisoning. He was utterly ruined from the inside out, and it turned him into a darker person as a result.

 

[Tanith]

The "Blasted Heath" from The Color out of Space.
Complete unnatural desolation, a haunting backstory, and a lingering infection from an otherworldly horror.

I'm glad you mentioned that one. I think that's Lovecraft's best and most terrifying story.

And speaking of otherworldly horrors, try visiting the Plain of Fear in Glen Cook's "Black Company" books. Pure nightmare fuel.

 

[atsouthorn]

I'm wholeheartedly voting for Room 101 - 1984, as a place I felt truly uncomfortable reading about whilst imagining my own deepest fear

 

[Astro Pen]

The ship in All Judgement Fled by James White 1968. It was Alien before Alien was thought of.

Whitley Strieber's bedroom in Communion.

( I would add Orwell's Britain but apparently I already live there. )

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

The world of the Sleeper in the Pyramid in Stross's "Laundry" series, with its gruesome countermeasures to contain something even worse. The frozen Nazi Earth is also pretty alarming.

The Conventicals in Sanderson's "Mistborn" series where the, ah, heavily pierced Steel Inquisitors retreat to practice the third and messiest of the Three Metallic Arts. The Final Empire as a whole is pretty grim, what with the endlessly falling volcanic ash and the brutal enslavement of most of the popluation.

The house in "The Rats in the Walls" and what lies beneath are my personal Most Aaaarrrrggghhhy Lovecraft Setting.

Scott Lynch has a nice subversion of this: Karthain, home of the ruthless and vindictive Bondsmages, turns out to be pretty nice when we finally get to see it.

(I'm pretty certain now that the version of "That Hideous Strength" I read as a teenager was heavily bowdlerised, but can't find any confirmation of such an edition existing.)

 

[KGeo777]

John Milton's Hell, especially the gates to Chaos.

Dr Moreau's island.

Robert Neville's front yard.

 

[BAYLOR]

The world of the Sleeper in the Pyramid in Stross's "Laundry" series, with its gruesome countermeasures to contain something even worse. The frozen Nazi Earth is also pretty alarming.

The Conventicals in Sanderson's "Mistborn" series where the, ah, heavily pierced Steel Inquisitors retreat to practice the third and messiest of the Three Metallic Arts. The Final Empire as a whole is pretty grim, what with the endlessly falling volcanic ash and the brutal enslavement of most of the popluation.

The house in "The Rats in the Walls" and what lies beneath are my personal Most Aaaarrrrggghhhy Lovecraft Setting.

Scott Lynch has a nice subversion of this: Karthain, home of the ruthless and vindictive Bondsmages, turns out to be pretty nice when we finally get to see it.

(I'm pretty certain now that the version of "That Hideous Strength" I read as a teenager was heavily bowdlerised, but can't find any confirmation of such an edition existing.)

Rats in the Wall by Lovecraft . One of the darkest things Lovecraft ever wrote.

You might find The Horror of the Heights by Arthur Conan Doyle to be of interest . By far one Doyle's best non Sherlock Holmes story. The man could write a really good and imaginative horror story.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

Rats in the Wall by Lovecraft . One of the darkest things Lovecraft ever wrote.

You might find The Horror of the Heights by Arthur Conan Doyle to be of interest . By far one Doyle's best non Sherlock Holmes story. The man could write a really good and imaginative horror story.

Rats in the Wall by Lovecraft . One of the darkest things Lovecraft ever wrote.

You might find The Horror of the Heights by Arthur Conan Doyle to be of interest . By far one Doyle's best non Sherlock Holmes story. The man could write a really good and imaginative horror story.

I think I might have read that, decades ago! The "heights" in question being the upper atmosphere, where pioneering early aviators keep meeting violent deaths....

 

[hitmouse]

You might find The Horror of the Heights by Arthur Conan Doyle to be of interest . By far one Doyle's best non Sherlock Holmes story. The man could write a really good and imaginative horror story.

I would put the Professor Challenger stories ahead of this.

 

[Oochillyo]

I am not sure whats its called, but lets say the wasteland's in the Online Book Doomsday on Demand a choose your own path story which has a squeal that I havnt read through fully yet.

Highly recommend the first book which you can download on your phone for free in the play store haven't got very far in the second one yet need to get back into it you know now I have time since finishing school yay and my skills/interest in reading are getting better

Spoilers in case

Anyway in the first book which I loved and was the only book I really could get into and read all day for weeks (which was good as I had lots of time on Holiday in Australia) the story begins ordinarily like the character goes to school ect but then everything changes after a nuke and the book sort of turns into Sci-Fi dystopia, survival, adventure, horror all mixed.

As its a choose your own path story you decide what the character does ect and you can mess up which adds to the immersion and tension, anyway the whole book has that sort of everything is a mess tone and your character isnt gonna have a happy time.

Well one part that was very horror like (which is strange for me as I have never felt scared when reading a book) is my character and his mentor were tasked to go somewhere in the wasteland for one of their missions (they have been taken in by like the ruling army to put it simply who dont care about the kids they send out on missions in the wasteland) and they got lost this time cause there was a very thick sandstorm, they are panicking, cant see each other you know and become separated, my character somehow finds a large ruined house to shelter in.

In my mind reading the book it was dark everywhere that wasnt filled with industrial lights pretty much all the time, so I am reading this section and thinking you know if I my character waits this out maybe he will survive the journey back to the army base cause after the nuke basically every living thing out in the open when it happend either got obliterated or mutated and evolved so there are giant flying stingrays from like eagles, giant man eating pigs, wackers which are people that survived the radiation ect but their minds are gone like they have pretty much 0 humanity left in them (in fact its not clear but I think you find your parents back where your house was and they have become wackers) have pale kinda see through and stretchy skin, very tall, fast and strong with a passion for sharp things like knives, I find wackers the scariest thing in the book, so that kinda sums up some of the dangerous in this world and ofcourse you have army fractions and other lone survivors you know.

So I was pretty nervous about my character being on his own, and you sort of hear noises around the house but you cant seem to pin it, after wandering I think my character found a little girl and someone else who seemed to be attacking her unless I have added that in as I haven't read the book in like 2 years, anyway I saved her from this person I think and I have tried to mold my character to be like me and pick the choices I want/would do like trying to help others but also cause civilization has be crushed I can do whatever in the book to an extant that I wouldn't in real life, so I try offering this little girl help but she doesnt seem very responsive and eventually you know something is gonna happen just dont expect it or see it as quickly in a book as you would in a film, she turns her head and her eyes are glowing red, (cause its a story app you have little additions like stats on your health, what your wearing ect like in real time, your relationship and reputation with other characters and biography's on the mutated creatures you have seen (as I say I really recommend this book its amazing) and it turned out this little girl is like a species that must have mutated from humans too, they have actual powers (like X Men) , they can create illusions and likely do other things but I cant remember and they are very feared and dangerous far beyond wackers and I was soo scared reading this section of the book in this creepy house isolated and now with this evil child monster, I shot it with lots of bullets and that did the trick and the mind tricks went away, eventually the sandstorm ended and I found my mentor after a while , I think its implied the house never existed aswell unless I have got that wrong.

So there is my story and to put it simply unless I was Wolverine haha I wouldn't wanna be in the wasteland with all the dangerous and creepy monsters in Doomsday on Demand sorry if I talked too long.

Regards - Declan Sargent

 

[BAYLOR]

I would put the Professor Challenger stories ahead of this.

Of those , Ive only read The Lost World .

 

[Vince W]

The drawing room of Aunt Agatha.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Green Mile

 

[BAYLOR]

The Tunnel out of New York City with all the stopped cars and dead people in Steven Kings The Stand.

 

[StilLearning]

Utumno, the original fortress of Morgoth, the first dark lord / 'power of terror and hate' in Tolkien's world of Arda, which Middle-Earth is a part of. It's described as an utterly inhuman place, burrowed and occupied by immortal and incredibly powerful things - things that have dedicated themselves to ruining the world and every inhabitant of it, for eternity.