Books
The Scariest Books Aren't Frankenstein or The Shining: They're These Nonfiction Titles
Halloween. The scariest night of the year. But while we all love stories of ghouls and goblins and things that go bump in the night, it turns out the scariest thing of all might be... reality. Behold, 5 non-fiction books that would have Dracula and the wolfman quaking in their boots.
Image: Wikipedia Commons
'Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers' by Mary Roach
To everyone who's ever wondered what happens after you die, Mary Roach has an answer, and it's not pretty. From ancient Egpyt to modern-day research labs, Roach traces the history of how dead bodies have been treated and handled, and its one of those "can't look away" type reads. But don't worry. Roach is actually pretty funny while telling you your future.
'Going Rogue' by Sarah Palin
Just the name gives you shivers. A rogue Sarah Palin. See? Shivers. The book is a spine chiller for anyone who still harbors fears that the one-time Alaska governor might actually return to politics one day.
'The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials' by Marion Lena Starkey
Anyone who's ever read The Crucible knows just how unnerving the Salem Witch Trials are, but it's even scarier to remember that the whole thing really did happen. Starkey's historically accurate narrative is defintiely one to read with the lights on.
'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair
Some say this classic has lost its punch. After all (allegedly) no one is grinding rats into the sausages anymore. True, but what is going into your food? Do you know? Ponder that while you read...
'6 Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet' by Mark Lynas
Forget the gypsy fortune tellers from your favorite spooky movies: This book is our real future, and it's terrifying. 6 Degrees carefully documents the change that each degree of warming would bring the planet, and around degree five you can almost feel Lynas getting slightly hysterical at what he's writing. The good news? By six degrees, everyone and everything is basically dead so that part's not as bad. Always a silver lining.
