I read a lot of horror and I used to watch quite a bit on film but to be honest besides the few "popcorn spilling jump scenes" no horror movie has ever actually scared me except one.

The only film/movie that ever frightened me was [b:The Exorcist|179780|The Exorcist|William Peter Blatty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375168676s/179780.jpg|1945267] - which I saw when I was 15/16 and a devout Catholic so believed in that kind of thing. That seemed to be the key to actually frightening me - making it real.

When I was an adult (and an atheist) I rewatched it and thought that except for the special effects (twisting heads, peas soup) this was describing a Schizophrenic teenager. I wondered what would be scarier - the possession being real or a sick teenager being treated as if she was possessed and really just needed help.

This book dealt with that exactly and leaves the conclusion up to you.

A Head Full of Ghosts is recommended to those who enjoy Horror stories that make you think and plays with the "is it real or have we all gone mad" theme. So let's say fans of [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House|Shirley Jackson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327871336s/89717.jpg|3627] and [b:Burnt Offerings|897717|Burnt Offerings|Robert Marasco|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297539225s/897717.jpg|882910]. I would also recommend my edition of the book to real Horror fans as it has Paul Tremblay notes on each Chapter (they refer to lots in the genre) and recommendations for further reading/watching (I may have already picked up a couple).