Saturday, October 3, 2009

HBT - Guest post with author Amanda Ashby


Today's Haunted Blog Tour post will be a guest post from author Amanda Ashby. She has written the YA novel, Zombie Queen of Newbury High.

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In order to help celebrate The Haunted Blog Tour I thought I’d talk about the scariest book that I’ve read. In fact it’s the ONLY scary book that I’ve read because after finishing it I realized that I could NEVER go through that again. And the book I’m talking about? Why it’s The Shining by Stephen King of course.

Even thinking about it makes me want to curl up into a ball and hide somewhere. I mean that book is so scary that you could read it on a sunny beach and still want to scream your head off. Unfortunately, I did not read it on a sunny beach. Instead, I made the mistake of reading it when I was seventeen years old and was babysitting for some of my parents’ friends.


And did I mention that these people lived in a really old farmhouse that was on top of the hill in the middle of some Australian bush? Trust me, being in a really old farmhouse on top of a hill in the middle of some Australian bush definitely isn’t the best place to read The Shining.

Even worse, after the kids went to sleep, I made the mistake of sitting on the couch to read. Unfortunately, the couch was in the middle of the room and so I had no wall behind me, plus it was on four little legs, which meant there was a space below it as well. Now none of this sounds too creepy when it’s daylight, but trust me, by about eleven at night (don’t forget the isolated old farmhouse/big hill scenario) I suddenly realized that sitting on the couch in the middle of a room is not a good place to be.


However, by that time it was too late and I was so completely petrified that I quite literally couldn’t get off the couch. Nor could I stop reading the book because every time I tried, all the freaky noises just started to sound louder and freakier and scared me even more.
And so I was stuck on the couch reading The Shining until the people finally came home at two in the morning. By the time they did get home my nerves were completely shot and not only did I never go out there to babysat again, I never read another Stephen King book either. Even seeing the movie with the wonderfully terrifying Jack Nicholson didn’t scare me half as much as that book.

Of course I did feel slightly better when I watched Friends a few years later and discovered that Joey was also scared of The Shining and that he used to put it in the freezer when he got to a scary bit. But of course even if I’d known about the freezer back then, I still would’ve been stuck on the couch with no way of getting the book in there.


So has anyone else read a book that completely terrified them? I can assure you that I won’t be reading any of them, but I’d still love to hear what they are. And there is a copy of my book Zombie Queen of Newbury High up for grabs – which I promise is completely safe to read even if you are stuck on a couch in the middle of an old farmhouse on a hill!!!

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Thanks so much for the entertaining guest post Amanda! As surprising as it sounds, after reading this it actually makes me want to read The Shining.
And yes, her last paragraph is correct. There will be a contest tomorrow to win a copy of her book! Hope you're all enjoying my Haunted Blog Tour. :)

24 comments:

  1. Great post! Thank you for sharing!

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  2. That book was so scary and that movie..OMG!
    I loved this interview, she's so great.
    Thank you!

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  3. Great post - I was afraid of Salem's Lot by Stephen King - I was about 14 when I read it and we were in the process of building a new house (we were living in the basement and building a house on top) - so I would go up to the "main" house at night and there would be no curtains on any of the windows and I could just see the vampires flying towards them!

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  4. Thanks for the comments, guys. And Kristi, omg, I feel your pain, I think that might even be scarier than my ordeal!!!! That Stephen King has a lot to answer for!!!!!

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  5. I MUST read a Stephen King book! Haha!

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  6. Oh that's SCARY! I will never read the Shining! haha

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  7. Never read scary books while babysitting! I made that mistake more than once myself. The worst time? In a house that had no window coverings at all. I finally had to go sit in the hall with my where I was fairly sure nobody could see me and I had tons of lights on, but doesn't that just show people nobody is in there?

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  8. *shudder* I feel your fear, Amanda! I'm reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth right now, and it is the single scariest thing I have ever read. I cannot remember ever being this frightened by a book before. Why? Two words: Fast zombie. I've been on pins and needles since about page 20, and with the end in sight, I still don't see myself being let off the hook. I've given this book a very strict No Reading After Dark (While Babysitting and Sitting on a Sofa in the Middle of the Room in a Farmhouse on a Hill in the Australian Bush) Rule for this book!

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  9. I've only seen the movie, I HAVE to read the book :D!! Thank you for the interview!!

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  10. Hahaha - I can see that half of you guys love scary books and have of you take after me!!!! And Zombie Girrrrl - Carrie's book is so scary but so fantastic. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year. I can't wait for the next one to come out!!!!!

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  11. Mary D
    zenrei57 (at) hotmail (dot) com

    Huh! You know, now I am sitting here trying to remember if I've ever actually READ the book? (yes, sometimes I read too much and can't keep up with myself lol)

    I know I tried to read Stephen King's IT and it so creeped me out, I couldn't finish it (even though my son says it's one of his fav's so I'll probably try again)

    Now I've gotta get a hold of the Shining and see if I've read it or am just remembering the movie version lol

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  12. KT - Ohhh, yes definitely NEVER read a scary book while babysitting!!

    Zombie Girrrl - The Forest of Hands and Teeth is sitting on my bookshelf (I bought it a few months ago) but haven't read it yet. Is it really that scary??

    Mary Ann - I've heard that both of those Stephen King books are great. I haven't read any of his novels yet.

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  13. I have never read any horror books and stay away from horror movies as well. I'm too much of a wimp to even try.

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  14. The Shining scared the ^%$$ out of me too!!!

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  15. Great Post. I haven't read The Shining.

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  16. The Shining scared the heebie jeebies out of me! I'm too much of a scaredy cat to read anything to scary! Great guest post!

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  17. Jack Nicholson is a great actor but there is no way in heck I'd watch that movie or read that book. I don't do scary. *shivers* Cool guest post.

    ~Briana

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  18. The freezer LOL, that's funny. I avoid super scary books like the plague and scary movies too, especially if they have clowns. eek

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  19. Havent read Stepehen King´s book yet but I think they are pretty good. Nice post ;)

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  20. I usually avoid scary books and movies, but The Devouring by Simon Holt definitely got to me a bit. Especially when I had to take the dog out at eleven O’clock at night with the flash light barely having any batteries!!!!

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  21. I just finished The Forest of Hand and Teeth too and it was so good! I agree about the fast zombies. That's a deadly combination.

    The Shining (book and movie) scared the crap out of me too!! And so did Salem's Lot. I also read those as a teenager. I kept reading his books though and have always liked them. Now I'm more afraid of the dangers of real life than vampires and zombies!

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  22. I personaly love scary books =)

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  23. I started reading the shining, but I never finished it. I think I'm going to pick it up again soon.

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Thanks, I love what you have to say!