Most Scary Story You've Ever Read

[Mofo Rising]

"The New Mother" by Lucy Lane Clifford from her book Anyhow Stories is without a doubt the creepiest story I've ever read.

I originally read this story in the book More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Here's a YouTube video version of the story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0XoJ62FJJM

Um, not a very good reading.

However, this story really cuts to the core of childhood fears. And, unlike most children's stories, this story does not stop short of a truly horrific ending. Pretty damn harsh.

[InformationGeek]

It's a tie between The Mist and the manga comic When They Cry.

[Jim H]

Not out and out scary, but I thought a few sequences in the novel The Wolfen (waaay better than the movie) were hair-raising in their suspense.  Particularly the sequence where the female lead thinks she hears an injured child.  Great stuff.

Honestly though, I can't think of any book I've read where I was truly scared as an adult.  Guess I'm just too jaded.

[indianasmith]

GHOST STORY by Peter Straub.  Dated, but brilliant.
PET SEMATARY by Stephen King.  A downright mean book.  The ending is horrific!
THE PARIAH by Graham Masterton.  Been a long time since I read it, but I remember a creepy ambience that just kept intensifying throughout.

[Cthulhu]

Hmm..it's between The hound,The Haunter of the Dark, Rats in the wall, or Shadow over Innsmouth...yeah..I bet you didn't see that coming.
But the scariest book I've ever read is Pet sematary. (I don't remember..is the title mispelled too? Or is it just in the book?)

[voltron]

Shadow over Innsmouth...

Same here. 

[Allhallowsday]

Fruiting Bodies is a very eerie story by Brian Lumley that deals with a home by a seaside cliff and fungus.  The collection Fruiting Bodies and Other Fungi is worth tracking down.  Another creepy story from the book is The Thin People which is about some people who fold themselves up so to speak.

I have "Fruiting Bodies" in a hardback collection of Weird Tales - one of that mag's late incarnations had published that story and it found it's way into a great anthology.  It's been many years, but I have not forgotten that story or the bones of the "little 'un". 

I really have a preference for short stories and rarely read novels anymore.  Novels that stand out as having had moments of genuine dread: THE STAND, THE SHINING, and especially SALEM'S LOT... all by KING as I know you all know, but I think his other books tend to be overrated.  I do think the first chapter (only) of IT to possibly be his finest bit of writing, and MISERY was damned upsetting, and a fast riveting read.  Not really scary, but haunting, I think THE DEAD ZONE was his best of those I read (and unlike some of you all, I was not so impressed by CHRISTINE, PET SEMATARY, THE TOMMYKNOCKERS... )

In the realm of great: SHIRLEY JACKSON's We Have Always Lived In The Castle was creepier even than her The Haunting of Hill House... Your local library probably has a copy. 

JOHN W. CAMPBELL's "Who Goes There?" was the source material for both film versions known as THE THING and it's well worth a look see.  About 54 pages, it's novella length.  LOVECRAFT's "The Shadow Out of Time" is another great one that I don't think was mentioned. 

I collect story collections, particularly ghost stories, SciFi and Horror.   I have the bad habit of reading stories and then forgetting if I'd read them or not.      Some stories, however, you never forget.  Two unforgettable stories bracket a great collection for the Ghost Story enthusiast: Victorian Ghost Stories pub. Oxford.  The first, ELIZABETH GASKELL's "The Old Nurse's Story" mid 19th century chiller perfection and ALGERNON BLACKWOOD's marvelously atmospheric rainy night creeper, "The Kit Bag". 

RAY BRADBURY's "Mars is Heaven" is pretty damned scary SCIFI and also LEWIS PADGETT's "Mimsy Were the Borogoves". 

[Jim H]

Oh...  One I did find pretty good is The Boogeyman by Stephen King.  Short story, I can't remember which collection though.  Great ending.