Let's Talk Bookish; Can Books Be Effective Horror?

It's Friday and perhaps time for a new Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of Eternity Books and Literary Lion. The theme of the week was "Can books be effective horror?".


I'm a firm believer that both books and movies can be effective horror if done right and the right person reads/watches it. That said, I'm not one of those who are easily scared and need to sleep with the lights on. I may jump occasionally while watching a scary scene in a movie, but it doesn't prevent me from sleeping at night. I suspect that after reading quite a lot of horror books and watching many horror movies over the years, I'm a bit immune to the spooky stuff (in some cases, it's almost like I've got a guessing game who will die next and so on as there's often the same/similar plot elements and tropes used).

What can get my imagination spinning a little bit though, it a well written, atmospheric horror novel with good descriptions. What puts me off on the other hand, is the overuse of blood, guts and gore in some horror movies. I honestly found the movie adaption of Silence of the Lambs more scary than, let's say Road Kill, due to what was hinted/not seen, over all the blood. And yes, I do know there's splatter/gore horror etc as subgenres in horror movies.

All in all, both mediums can be effective horror for the right person if done well, but I'm not one of those easily scared.

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