chesilbeach Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I've just said in another thread that I don't read horror, and I think it's partly because I was exposed to very little scary stuff as a child, and genuinely didn't like being scared. I suffered from nightmares any time I did come across anything spooky or spine-chilling, so have actively avoided it ever since. It makes me curious though, what age were you when you started reading horror stories, and also, what lead you to them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 The first horror novel I read was King's Pet Sematary, which would have been around 1984, so I was 18. I can't remember what lead me to that one, exactly, just that I was curious to see if a book could scare me as much as some films did at that time (it did! ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I don't remember ever not liking "scary" stuff - I was brought up watching Dracula and Frankenstein (Hammer Horrors) from being 6 or 7 years old. Even books like Funny Bones, when I was just starting to read, tickled me pink by being about a family of skeletons. I quickly moved onto Point Horror (well before I hit my teens), and then started borrowing my Mam's Stephen King and Dean Koontz books by the time I was 12 or so. Richard Laymon was maybe by the time I was 15 or 16, because he tended to feature more sexual horror, but I read Dracula and Frankenstein before my teens too. Today, I don't tend to be keen on zombies or Mummies (which I think are basically gift-wrapped zombies), but on occasion I'll read and enjoy one. I love vampires, but they tend to be sexy rather than sinister these days, which is a shame. I love post-apocalyptic novels, especially as we live in a time when so many man-made horrors could spell the end of the world as we know it - nuclear war and man-made diseases are just as likely to wipe us out as a natural disaster. Psychological horror where people's minds are played with gives me more of a thrill than blood and guts. I like a really sinister story... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I was around 11 years old, when I read IT by Stephen King. I was around 8 years old when I read children's horror, such as some of the Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine. When I was a bit older I read some books of the Fear Street series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Hmm.. I didn't read the kid's horror, such as Point Horror - I think I moved straight onto James Herbert, Stephen King, John Saul etc as a teen. There wasn't a lot of fiction aimed at teens, and I didn't really know what else to try, so i went straight to the horror section! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I think I was 9 or 10, i read a series called goosebumps by R.L. Stine - they were later turned into a tv show. I nearly had every book and loved reading them over and over. They were aimed at children/YA. They had some of the best covers and titles ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Those are great covers! The Dutch books had great covers too. Not all of the Goosebumps were released in Dutch I believe, though I read the ones I could find in the library and a few that we bought ourselves (my sister and I). I watched the TV series too, it was a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I can't remember exactly, but I think it was when I was in my mid-teens, as I remember borrowing Richard Laymon and Dean Koontz books from the library when I still lived at home. Wish I could remember my first Stephen King book, but I can't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) Ok then, I'm the baby. I started reading Clive Barker when I was about 22, he was my first I started with The Great and Secret Show and then progressed to Weaveworld and Imagica. Still have Cabal (the book being made into the movie Nightbreed) and Sacrament on my list. Edited October 1, 2014 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilywhite Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I remember reading The Shining when I was about 11 or 12 which very quickly developed into trying to get my hands on as many King books as I could. I've never looked back from there and still like to re-read this one around Halloween. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I can't remember exactly, I must have read scary children's books and ghost stories for children. But I know I was 12 when I read my first Stephen King! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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