There’s also an abundance of reasons to get scared on Halloween. Jenna Crabb, career services director, said she loves to be freaked out by what she calls “psychological thrillers.”
1. “Pet Sematary” by Stephen King
“This book kind of freaked me out. The idea of pets coming back freaks me out ... You get a greater feel for the love of the pets. That really appeals to the idea that we don’t want them to ever leave us. When they came back it was joyous until that beloved pet turned into something horrible.”
2. “Red Dragon” by Thomas Harris
“This was book one of the ‘Silence of the Lambs’ series. It’s a psychological thriller, and that’s my counseling side coming out ... It has Hannibal Lecter in it. It’s about a guy who is insane and takes up with this picture of a red dragon that he gets tattooed on his back. It’s very freaky.”
3. “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
“She is brilliant. I love the descriptions and the images that she writes about in terms of (Frankenstein’s monster) actually being a caring oaf, but (also) a destructive big guy that has been brought back to life — that master-servant dichotomy of good and evil. I had to read it for a class and I just couldn’t put it down (because) it was so good.”
4. “Helter Skelter” by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
“It’s about the Charles Manson killers. [Bugliosi] was the prosecutor of the case. On the first page it says, ‘The story which you are about to read will scare the hell out of you.’ It’s the idea of this cult believing that they can break in and kill a bunch of people based on the word of the one person who told them to. It’s a scary look into Charles Manson.”
5. “Whispers” by Dean Koontz
“I like his books anyway because most of them are freaky. They’re psychological. This one is about people dying and coming back from the dead. You see the killer is facing demons as well, and he comes back to life. I’ve always wanted to work with serial killers, in terms of counseling or analyzing. But, there have been times when I had to put [the book] down and think some good thoughts before going to sleep.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Skylar Griego is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
