Romance authors share favorite chilling reads

As Halloween fast approaches, we checked in with lots of our favorite authors to find out what book raises the hair on the back of their neck. I got so many wonderful (and chilling) responses, that I'm sharing them over the next few days, so don't forget to stop back in tomorrow for more.

I kicked things off by sharing my favorite scary book: The Shining by Stephen King. I was in middle school when I read it the first time and was jumping at every little sound. I've never looked at a hedge the same since. Or a bathtub. Or snow …

Here's what romance authors say (they're listed with their most recent or upcoming release):

Zoë Archer, Skies of Steel

"I'm not a scare-addict, so I tend to avoid scary books and movies, but when I was young, I loved The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs. It was creepy, but it was also comforting in the way that orphaned Lewis would sit under the stars with his Uncle Jonathan (who was a wizard) and their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman (who was a witch), and munch on chocolate-chip cookies. Any evil can be conquered by munching on chocolate-chip cookies!"

Carolyn Brown, Mistletoe Cowboy

"The scariest book I ever read was Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon. Lord, have mercy, I never looked at plum jelly the same after that. It reminded me of a scene in the book that scared the bejesus right out of me!"

Jessica Khoury, Origin

"My favorite scary book is Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. I know, I know -- it seems about the least-scary book ever. But those Hakken-Kraks howling scared me silly when I was 6 years old, and I still get a chill when I reach that page!"

Rebecca York, Dark Powers

"My favorite scary book is Dracula by Bram Stoker. I was 16 when I first read that book and it scared me so much that I had to sleep with the light on for days and take the book outside my room and put it in the hall."

Christine Ashworth, Demon Hunt

"The scariest book I've ever read is Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist. Just thinking about it now gives me the shivers! It's one book that I've never re-read, and my sons, who love Feist, won't read it either because of the willies it gives me. It's a modern-day tale with a cobbled-together family living in an old house on the edge of the woods -- there are elements of fantasy and horror, and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. A clash between industrialization and the olde ways -- and some things are better left undisturbed."

Angie Fox, Immortally Yours

"My all-time favorite scary book is I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It's basically one man against a vampiric plague. I first read it when I was in my early 20s, shortly after getting my own apartment. That wasn't the best timing, but it was worth sleeping with the lights on."

Norah Wilson, Every Breath She Takes

"My favorite scary book is I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. As terrifying as the vampires are, how much more terrifying to know that you are the last surviving human in your world. Completely alone. (Shudder) For me, it doesn't get any scarier than that!"

Allie Hawkins, Presumed Guilty

"My favorite scary book is Turn of the Screw by master psychologist-storyteller, Henry James. No blood, no gore, no screams, no graphic violence. Just pure psychological terror based on the question: What is reality? The gothic mood of a creaky, isolated 19th-century English estate with a governess-narrator seemingly on the cusp of insanity, but obsessed by her conviction of the sexual molestation of her charges kept me reading this novella as a teenager, as an English major and as a writer who would love to keep my reader up all night turning pages, jumping at every leaf scratching the window."

Duffy Brown Iced Chiffon

"The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Jan and Stan Berenstain. Read it to my kids so lots of great memories. We huddled under the covers with a flashlight and brought our own rope and did the shivers together. Kids and reading, nothing more fun than that."

Eden Bradley, The Dark Garden

"My favorite scary book is The Stand by Stephen King. The buildup of tension is incredible, until the things that scare you are often merely hinted at, but it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Just creepy at its best! It gave me nightmares for years!"

Shawn Lane, Loving the Boss

"My favorite scary book is ... well, I am torn between two. Salem's Lot by Stephen King is one. Who doesn't love a good vampire tale and to me, anyway, it also had its bit of tragedy considering Ralphie was just a boy when he'd been turned. And the other is Phantoms by Dean Koontz. Two young sisters coming to an abandoned town where every-day acts like making dinner were frozen in time. I was riveted. One of the most chilling tales ever."

M.J. Schiller, Taken by Storm

"I'm with Joyce's choice, The Shining. If you haven't read it, it goes a lot more into the details of the hotel than the movie can, and it's fascinating!"

Debra Webb, Power (The Faces of Evil Book #3)

"My absolute favorite terrifyingly terrific novel is Needful Things by Stephen King. My family and I spent a winter in Maine while I wrote a story set there and the whole time I couldn't go into any of the cool and mysterious-looking shops alone. I kept thinking of Leland Gaunt!"

Micah Persell, Of Eternal Life

"My favorite scary book is actually a new favorite. It's a young adult book that just came out called The Hallowed Ones. I could not put it down, but there were several spots where I had to take a breather -- look at the ceiling, hug one of the dogs. The mix of terrifying, rip-your-face-off vampires and the tranquil, peaceful Amish community was chilling!"

Deborah O'Neill Cordes (aka Morgan O'Neill), After the Fall

"There's no contest here; my favorite scary book is The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty -- but not for the obvious reason. Back in 1971, I raced through the novel in one sitting, reading long into the night. I was so terrified after finishing it that I woke my father and asked him to sit with me until sunrise. With a smile, Dad held my hand and comforted me. I don't exactly remember what he said, but I will never forget his gentle presence. And for that memory, Mr. Blatty, I am ever grateful."

Terry Spear, Savage Hunger

"I loved Firestarter by Stephen King. It was one that had a happily ever after ... of sorts."

Sara Humphreys, Untamed

"My favorite scary book is The Stand by Stephen King. I had nightmares for days but I couldn't stop reading it. Scariest part? I've read it four times and it still scares the pants off me. I think it's terrifying because that whole super-flu thing is not outside the realm of possibility."

Diane Amos, Getting Personal

"My favorite scary book is Phantoms by Dean Koontz. Unless you're super brave, don't read this book at night. Or like me, you won't be able to walk past a opened screened window."

Michelle Monkou, Racing Hearts

"My favorite scary book is The Exorcist. I read this as a teenager and was scared for days ... weeks ... years. It's that small slither of possibility that this has happened, or this can happen, or this will happen. Between this and The Omen, I think everyone should be checked for head-rotation ability and numbers carved into scalp."

Willa Blair, Highland Healer

"I grew up in Florida and while I don't really remember the Cuban missile crisis (50 years ago this month), I do remember doing duck-and-cover drills at school under our little desks, which were right next to a wall of windows. Useless, of course, but that's what people did. So years later, when I read Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, it stuck with me because it was set near where I grew up. It showed me, in frightening detail, what could have happened to me and to people I knew and loved, if that crisis had not been averted, if atomic bombs had fallen on MacDill AFB in Tampa and other large Florida cities, and if we'd had to fight to survive in the aftermath. I haven't read it in decades, but the thought of it still gives me chills."

Molly O'Keefe, All I Want for Christmas Is You (Naughty and Nice Anthology)

"The creepiest book I've read, and in fact the LAST creepy book I read because I was so scared was Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper. Missing girls, murders, ghosts, ghosts haunting a lake … it has it all."

Terri Brisbin, The Highlander's Stolen Touch

"My favorite scary book is It by Stephen King. After reading the book, which is a marvel in pacing and terror, I had to pack a coin bank away because it was a clown holding balloons that don't move ... just like the clown in the story! I still can't look at that bank!"

Avery Flynn, Passion Creek

"Without a doubt my favorite scary book is The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. One summer many, many moons ago my older sister and I spent a week reading this to each other. She'd read a chapter out loud and then I would. I still can't decide which was scarier, reading or listening. Just hearing this book's name gives me the shivers. Don't even get me started on little pigs with glowing red eyes. Ahhhhhh! I'll probably be sleeping with the lights on tonight."

Cindy Gerard, Killing Time (February)

"My favorite scary book is a tie between The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty and Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. I was young and impressionable when I read them (snort) and I literally read The Exorcist in one sitting because I was too afraid to stop and go to bed before I finished it."

Judi Fennell, Beefcake & Mistakes

"Favorite scary story: Misery by Stephen King. And that was BEFORE I became an author. It was so brilliantly crafted and because, seriously, who writes the main character stuck in a bed? Brilliant. When I heard they were making the movie, I couldn't figure out how because the story was so cerebral. The terror was in his mind, in the not knowing and being utterly at Annie's mercy. They did an excellent job with the movie and Kathy Bates was the perfect 'biggest fan.' I think it's the best King book-to-screen adaptation of any of his works."

Sarah M. Anderson, A Man of Distinction

"I used to read a lot of Stephen King in high school until I picked up It. Not only did I not finish that book (a rare event!) but I have a hard time stomaching anything scary since! Before It scared the heck out of me, though, I loved King's The Stand -- still do. I've got it in hardbound and have carried that book with me through multiple moves -- and, trust me, it weighs a ton!"

Cecilia Gray, So Into You: The Jane Austen Academy #2

"After reading The Exorcist in fifth grade, I was terrified of being possessed by a demon. My mother hung two crucifixes on the wall of our home and I stole both to hide under my pillow, then blamed the theft on my brother. I now realize the irony of breaking two commandments whilst trying to save myself from evil, but at the time, I just didn't want to barf over myself while my head spun."

Catherine Mann, Rescuing Christmas

"My favorite scary book right now is The Passage by Justin Cronin. What a creepy twist on vampires set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world! I just bought the sequel, The Twelve. Can't wait to dive in for my Halloween read!"

Binnie Syril Braunstein, Press Kit Communications

"I was cured of reading scary books when I made the mistake of reading Jaws by Peter Benchley. I was on vacation in Puerto Rico. After Jaws, I was so terrified of the water that I could barely face a bathtub, let alone the beach!"

So, HEA readers, do you have a favorite scary book? And don't forget to stop by tomorrow and Wednesday for more scary reads!