Trick or terror?

The Washington Post has asked the masters of human fear (writers specializing in horror and suspense) to name their favorite tales of terror.

I’m not someone who goes out of her way to read horror or the like. And I definitely don’t ever watch the stuff. (My sister once had The Haunting, adapted from Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House [a pick by one of the writers], on TV late one night. It scared the liver out of me, but made me too afraid to leave the living room and go through the dark house alone to get to my bedroom, so I had to stay until it was over because she wouldn’t go up with me. The toad.)

Okay, I did go to see Alien. But it was on a date and the guy I was with, a writer/producer manqué (this being Hollywood), had been up the night before working on a script and drinking Bordeaux. As the suspense mounted (and Ridley Scott definitely knows his onions on that count), I realized 1)why I don’t like scary movies (I get really wrapped up in the illusion, become one of the characters and they’re too dumb to come in out of the rain, much less stay away from monsters; so I know they're going to get me killed); and 2)that alien was going to jump off the screen straight at me and this fool was too hungover to provide any assistance.

I told him that later and his response was, "You're right."

However, I digress.

With the above disclaimer, let me just say that the scariest story I’ve ever read was “The Beast with Five Fingers”, by W.F. Harvey (never saw the flick). That sucker kept me awake for a week after I finished it. I don’t think I’ve ever read a horror story since.

So, this being Samhain/All Hallows—what’s your pick for the story that scared the daylights out of you?