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Why are we drawn to stories about fear

There's something uniquely human—and strangely beautiful—about our relationship with fear. Why are we drawn to stories that scare us? What part of the brain lights up with pleasure whenever we read something so unsettling we choose to sleep with the lights on that night?

Those are the questions currently haunting Reddit user @uf_papaaaa. The adventurous soul recently took to the subreddit r/booksuggestions to ask their fellow horror enthusiasts the following query:

Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations The original poster wants to FEEL thingsCredit: Reddit

“I need a list of books that I shouldn't read,” they begin.

“Yeah, you read that correctly. This year, I discovered that I like reading, thanks to a YouTube video ('Rage by Stephen King: The Book You're Not Supposed to Read'). I didn't even watch the video. I told a friend that I wanted to read [the book] and he sent me a digital version. I loved it. And thanks to that book, I started to read other books you could call “disturbing” (I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Frankenstein, and No Longer Human. Now, I need other books that can make me feel the same things. And no, I don't want the usual 1984 or Fight Club. Something that I really shouldn't read. Something that can affect my mind for weeks.” - @uf_papaaaa

The response was extraordinary, with a diverse community of readers coming together to create a reading list that's both stomach-churning and profound. From organ-harvesting to a blacksmith who makes a deal with the devil, these six books transcend the typical horror novel—they are literary works that use horror as a framework to unpack what it means to be human.

Note: Some of these books deal with extremely difficult subject matter. Take care of yourself, and remember—there's no shame in deciding a book isn't right for you.

Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations An unflinching look at humanity's capacity for violence. Credit: Wikipedia

Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

Following a nameless teenager called “the Kid” through the brutal American frontier, McCarthy's relentless novel takes place across the U.S.-Mexico border in the 1850s. Here, violence isn't just present: it's a fundamental principle of existence. Judge Holden, one of literature's most chilling villains, argues that “war is God,” and the book seems determined to prove him right.

Why readers can't forget it: This level of violence isn't for shock value. It's a philosophical examination of whether brutality is inherent to human nature, wrapped up in some of the most beautiful prose ever written about horrible, terrible things. “If you're going to recommend McCarthy, you gotta go with Blood Meridian," praises one user. “I don't like his style, but that book stayed with me because of how f*cked up it is.”


Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations The book that makes you question what "normal" really means.Credit: The Hatena Blog

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

A provocative and unsettling novel by Japanese writer, Sakaya Murata, Earthlings is not for the faint of heart. It follows Natsuki, a woman who believes she's an alien sent to save Earth, along with her cousin, Yuu. The two pledge from an early age to “survive, whatever it takes,” and what starts as a story about a girl's childhood fantasy quickly morphs into something much more complex—a meditation on societal expectations, family trauma, and what happens when someone decides to reject everything we consider as “civilization.”

Why readers can't forget it: The contrast between the main character's gentle, almost childlike narrative and the increasingly disturbing content creates an unsettling cognitive dissonance that mirrors the ways humans cope with trauma in real life. “It's pretty f*cked up,” wrote on Reddit user. “Yeah, I wish I hadn't read it,” another chimed in.


Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations A funhouse mirror reflection of our need for stories.Credit: Thriftbooks

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

In Haunted, a group of aspiring writers gather at a secluded retreat, locked inside an abandoned theater by their enigmatic host, Mr. Whittier. As supplies dwindle, the participants sabotage themselves and each other in the hopes of crafting the ultimate story of survival and suffering. The novel is interleaved with 23 gruesome short stories told by the individuals themselves, which become increasingly grotesque, and tell tales of human degradation, body horror, and bizarre behavior.

Why readers can't forget it: “Not even once,” cautions one Reddit user. “Don't say I didn't warn you.” With his 2005 novel, Palahniuk holds up a mirror to society's fascination with suffering and asks uncomfortable questions about why we're drawn to stories of human misery. The infamous Guts short story is known for making readers nearly pass out.


Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations The quiet horror of a predetermined life.Credit: True Book Addict

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

While it may not feature outright gore or supernatural terror, Never Let Me Go delivers a profound sense of existential horror. Narrated by Kathy H., the story unfolds as she recalls her childhood at Hailsham, an English boarding school shrouded in secrecy that seems almost idyllic. But as Kathy and her friends, Ruth and Tommy, grow up, a chilling reality emerges, and we realize we're reading about children who were raised for harvest—their organs were never theirs, but destined for others since the day they were born.

Why readers can't forget it:Never Let Me Go, broke me,” revealed one horror reader. Ishiguro's masterpiece works because it's not about the actual horror that befalls these characters—it's the ease in which they readily accept their fate. Ishiguro holds a mirror up to society and the ways we accept limitations on our own lives.

“I literally had this on my shelf for 10 years and just picked it up this year,” added another user. "Now it's one of my all-time favorites. So painful, and yet so true.”


Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations The master of suspense curates his favorites.Credit: Blogspot

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me by Alfred Hitchcock

Curated by Alfred Hitchcock, the famed “Master of Suspense,” this highly regarded anthology assembles a wide variety of short stories by notable authors, each chosen for their ability to evoke fear, unease, or dark fascination with the flip of a page. As the title suggests, Hitchcock hand-selected these stories because they genuinely freaked him out—a high achievement, seeing that this is the man responsible for bringing Bates Motel to life.

Why readers can't forget it: Horror readers will find delight in the anthology’s range—moving from subtle chills to shocking revelations. Themes include paranoia, betrayal, supernatural intrusions, and disturbing twists on ordinary existence. The collective result is a literary haunted house, with each story delivering suspenseful, unsettling, or outright terrifying content.

“Got it for Christmas when I was a kid,” remarked one Reddit user. “Read one story—had nightmares for weeks. Haven't seen the book since.”


Reddit, reading, horror, novel, recommendations Folklore meets modern horrorCredit: Goodreads

The Devil and the Blacksmith by Jéanpaul Ferro

Basque folklore meets horror in The Devil and the Blacksmith, which tells the tale of a reclusive blacksmith who makes a deal with the devil—then finds himself face-to-face with the consequences of this Faustian bargain when a young girl releases a demon from his forge. The intense battle to recapture the demon becomes a meditation on guilt, sacrifice, and the persistence of evil.

Why readers can't forget it: “[This book] isn't like other horror novels in the genre,” explains a commenter. “It takes more chances, is more literary, and the epilogue ending is pretty darn haunting. It's unlike any book, of any kind, I've ever read.”

Fans of folkloric and supernatural horror fawn over Ferro's signature blending of dark fairy tale motifs with contemporary horror sensibilities, creating something that feels both timeless and immediate. The moral ambiguity makes every choice feel consequential.


The choice is yours…if you dare…

Whether you're drawn to psychological terror or existential dread, there's something for every kind of horror reader out there, and this thread is the proof. These novels are unnerving and some are downright grotesque, but the most powerful horror stories come from recognizing something true about ourselves and our world. These books offer that recognition—but only if you're ready for it.


Photos courtesy of Brittany Beard

Briar adores "Creepy Chloe" and insisted on taking her to Disney World.

Kids are funny little humans, aren't they?

Every kid has their own quirks, especially when it comes to things they get attached to. While most children have favorite toys, dolls, blankets and so on, some kids glom onto something unexpected—or even outright odd—as their go-to security object.

Case in point: "Creepy Chloe," the terrifying Halloween doll.

Britanny Beard, mom to 3-year-old Briar, shared how her daughter had chosen a doll with cracked skin and black eyes from the Spirit Halloween store in a post on Facebook.


"This is what it looks like when you take your 3-year-old to the Spirit Halloween store and she absolutely insists on buying the creepiest baby doll you’ve ever set eyes on," Beard wrote.

"She said, 'But I’m its mommy and it needs me!' Briar named the doll Chloe and I then immediately nicknamed her Creepy Chloe. I’m pretty sure Creepy Chloe is stealing my soul when I sleep," she added.

Beard shared that their family went to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Briar insisted on bringing Chloe—fully decked out in a Disney princess dress.

"Because creepy babies need Disney magic too I guess?" Beard wrote. Briar has a Haunted Mansion cast member dress, so Beard had her wear it to go with the Creepy Chloe "theme."

Beard shared three delightful encounters they had at Disney that day due to Creepy Chloe. 

One:

"While eating breakfast at the Grand Floridian cafe, they brought out the cast member pastry chef to meet Briar and Creepy Chloe because apparently she loves all things spooky. She said she adored that Briar loved the doll and at the end of the meal, she surprised Briar with an amazing spooky cupcake and a mini handmade chocolate Haunted Mansion poster. It was actually really sweet!"

Two:

"Then we walked over to Magic Kingdom where Briar had a photoshoot with Creepy Chloe. The photographer was eating it up and kept coming up with posing ideas for Chloe. I’m sure it was quite an unexpected change from her usual never-ending line of glittery Bippity Boppity Boutique princesses!"

Three:

"Then we of course ventured over to the Haunted Mansion. There was a 50-minute wait to get on the ride but when they saw Briar, they immediately whisked her away into the secret 'Servants Quarters' where we got to see the keys to all rooms and the bells that ring to call the servants up. Then they popped us right out into the stretching room. The cast members were waiting for us when the doors opened to present us with official Haunted Mansion Caretaker certificates and to walk us right onto the ride. It was so magical!"

Disney really does know how to lean into a child's imagination and create truly magical experiences. (Did anyone else not know there was a whole Haunted Mansion backstage thing kids could do? Honorary Caretaker? Amazing.)

Some kids love all things scary and spooky, and they deserve just as much make-believe magic as the kids who love fairy tales and princess stories. What a wonderful way to encourage a child in their own unique choices.

creepy doll preschooler

Creepy babies need love, too.

Photo courtesy of Brittany Beard

"So all in all," Beard concluded, "I guess the moral of the story is when your 3-year-old throws a fit over absolutely needing a super creepy Halloween doll… buy the doll. Creepy Chloe might be stealing my soul while I sleep, but we are making the best of our time left over here! 🤣"

Beard's post has been shared more than 8,000 times as people share their admiration and/or fear of Briar's unusual doll.

"I’ve honestly been blown away by the positive response of so many thousands of people to this story," Beard tells Upworthy. "I never would have guessed that Briar’s obsession with Creepy Chloe would have touched so many people, but here we are!"

Her adoration of Chloe really should be celebrated. Creepy babies need love too, after all.

Jovanka Vuckovic hates when it happens. But when you're a film director and a woman, it's inevitable: People are going to think you're on set in a different capacity.

"I've been on film sets where the stunt man comes up and says, 'Oh, are you hair and makeup?' Uh, no. 'Are you wardrobe?' No," Vuckovic says. "'Oh, then what are you doing here?' I'm the director. 'You don't look like a director.'"

"Well, what's a director supposed to look like?"


Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

A former horror magazine editor from Toronto, Vuckovic has been a fan of the genre for many years. Working in publishing and later in the male-dominated filmmaking world, it became clear to her how underrepresented women were behind the camera and, thus, how wildly misrepresented they were in front of the camera — particularly when it comes to horror.

"I kept asking people, 'Please, can you just write women characters as actual human beings?'" she explains. "I got tired of asking, so I just decided I'm going to do it myself."

Vuckovic's short film "The Box" is part of a horror anthology, "XX," that's garnering a lot of buzz at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

For many moviegoers, it's both a scary film and an important endeavor.

The trailer for "XX" is pretty damn terrifying. But even cooler, the anthology — which features four short films, including Vuckovic's — is completely women-led, with each film directed by and starring women.

Peyton Kennedy in “The Box," Vuckovic's short film in "XX." Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

Vuckovic says women made up roughly 80% of the crew for her short. On most sets, that ratio is basically flipped.

Along with "The Box," "XX" features Roxanne Benjamin's "Don't Fall," Karyn Kusama's "Only Living Son," and Annie Clark's "Birthday Party."

If the trailer (embedded below) is any indication, each short appears as scary as the next. There's no shortage of creepy children, torn-off fingernails, and camping trips gone awry between the four dark tales.

"Birthday Party" marks the directorial debut for Clark, who's better known to most as musical artist St. Vincent. Her involvement helped "XX" premiere at Sundance on Jan. 22, 2017, to a sold-out crowd.

Directors (from left) Roxanne Benjamin, Annie Clark, Jovanka Vuckovic, and animator Sofìa Carrillo at Sundance. Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images.

The thrill-seeking audience at Sundance loved the barrier-pushing concept of the film anthology just as much as it loved the blood, guts, and screams — probably in part because of how different "XX" truly is.

Historically, filmmakers in horror have been overwhelmingly male. And that means women on-screen are often portrayed in trope-y, unrealistic roles.

While the male gaze and gender stereotyping run rampant throughout most genres of film, horror may arguably be the worst offender. From the damsel in distress and evil seductress to the sexually liberated woman who must be killed and the vengeful lover, a handful of tropes have largely carved out the types of dehumanizing roles available to women in horror.

Actor Peter Cushing and producer Anthony Nelson Keys on the set of a Hammer Film Productions horror film in 1965. Photo by Terry Fincher/Express/Getty Images.

"The only thing you have to do to make a movie feminist is depict women as actual human beings," Vuckovic says of changing the status quo. But by that standard, many scary flicks fall embarrassingly short.

It should be noted that the genre isn't exactly known for its racial inclusiveness, either, as many films continue to fail at diverse casting: “We primarily see white-washed versions of the world in a lot of movies," Vuckovic says. "Young people need to grow up seeing versions of themselves on screen."

Sadly, there hasn't been as much progress for women in horror (or in Hollywood, more generally) as you might expect.

In fact, as Vuckovic points out, there were actually more women working as writers, producers, and directors during the silent era of film a century ago than in Hollywood today.

Director Dorothy Arzner and screenwriter Sonya Levien in 1930. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Women make up about half of film school graduates at top schools like the University of Southern California and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, yet they make up just a tiny fraction of actual working directors, MTV News reported. Lack of opportunity outside the academic world plays a big role in that lopsided reality, according to Vuckovic.

Women are "not allowed to fail the same way men are allowed to fail," she says, echoing the same injustice Reese Witherspoon spoke out about in March 2016: Men's movies can flop at the box office and they'll still get a second (or third or fourth) chance at financial redemption. For women, it doesn't work like that.

The good news: Signs are pointing to progress for women in the horror genre. But we all have a part in making that happen.

According to Vuckovic, recent films like "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" and the critically acclaimed "The Babadook" — a film that explores the difficulties of single motherhood through a horror lens — have helped move the genre forward for women behind (and in front of) the camera.

"The Babadook" director Jennifer Kent (left) and star of the film Essie Davis. Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images.

"I don’t think a lot of the filmmakers making horror now know its worth, or realize the potential of the genre," "The Babadook" director Jennifer Kent told New York Magazine in 2014. "Just because it's a horror film doesn't mean it can't be deep."

It's important we take note of the films that are created by women and make sure to support them at the box office, Vuckovic notes — showing that women-led films can succeed financially is the best way to provide more opportunities for more women down the road.

Through "XX," Vuckovic hopes young girls learn there is a space for them in the horror genre, despite what anyone else says.

"Go, pick up a camera, make some movies, and don't take no for an answer," she advises girls interested in the magic of filmmaking. "You didn't go to film school? Who cares. Get your friends to help you, and just start — start somewhere."

"XX" opens in select theaters and on video on-demand Feb. 17. Watch the trailer below: