When you read a good horror novel, you’re all on your own. Your imagination takes you to unfamiliar places and experiences, even to terrifying ones. So, we want to know— what book will always scare you in a way that may bring you nightmares? We reached out to bibliophiles and horror-aficionados to find out what their favorite titles are in the horror genre. We asked:  What’s your favorite scary book?

Alex Medina

Alex-Medina

Alex’s Pick: Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Goosebumps at Stephen King kasi yun lang mga nabasa ko (haha). Can’t go wrong with the classics— Pet Sematary, kasi ma-fuck up yung perception mo nung bata ka about death, and longing and loving. I haven’t starred in a movie with a similar feel as those Goosebumps and Stephen King novels, but the first horror film I did was Third Eye and it had a very familiar Filipino mythos about it, which is always a welcome genre for Filipino filmmakers and big studios. We have a vast array of Filipino folklore that is as interesting as its [sic] counterparts.
Alex Medina is a film and television actor best known for his roles in Babagwa (2013), Historiographika errata (2017), and Palitan (2012 – he won Best Actor for Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival). He has starred in a number of horror and suspense projects, including a brutal, mindless thriller entitled We Will Not Die Tonight (2018). Aside from acting, Alex can be seen performing with his band Alex in Wonderland.
Follow Alex Medina on Instagram @alexvmedina

 

Aurelio Rico Lopez III

Aurelio-Lopez-III

Aurelio’s Pick: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Every time someone asks me what my favourite book is, I have a different answer. Today, I’m going to go with Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. It’s a classic must-read. And, no, the Will Smith movie is not better than the book. If you thought it was, you are entitled to your opinion, but you’d still be wrong.

Aurelio Rico Lopez III is a doctor of medicine and a self-diagnosed scribble junkie. He has written over 20 books of fiction and poetry which have been published in the US, Australia, and the UK. He enjoys coffee and pastries. And, yes, he will fight you for that last doughnut. Get to know Aurelio, Gully Books’ Author in Spotlight.
Follow Aurelio Rico Lopez III on Instagram @thirdylopez2001 and Facebook.

 

Eunice Moral

Eunice-Moral

Eunice’s Pick: The Whisper Man by Alex North

My favorite scary book isn’t exactly a horror one, but more on the  mystery/thriller side. It is a newly released book called The Whisper Man by Alex North. It gave me the creeps, and by creeps I mean all my nerves have gone haywire, my heart was beating so fast, hell I held my breath in more than one occasion. If you’re a big fan of true crime documentaries, this one might be for you. It had all the formula of a good thriller book — constantly keeps you at the edge of your seat, your nerves tingling from the anticipation, you have occasional goosebumps and your mind is just blown how coherent everything was.

Eunice Moral is a bookstagrammer and a blogger with a soul of a poet. Most days you can find her hunkered down in a corner reading the day away, and some days you can find her writing poems on the back of an old receipt. She lives for English Breakfast tea lattes and secondhand bookshops. Over the years she had developed a penchant for weird stories and troubled souls.
Follow Eunice Moral on Instagram @nerdytalksbookblog.

 

Hilakbot TV

Hilakbot-TV

Hilakbot TV’s Pick: Clarita by Arlo Icabandi

It’s Arlo Icabandi’s Clarita (The Novel). Highly recommended by our team as a good book to read that every Pinoy horror fan must have. Honestly, medyo bitin at may hinahanap pa kami sa big screen version nito so we decided to buy one. From the cover down to its every pages [sic] is a 5-star rating for us [sic] team. The novel is character-driven, well-written and plot-based thus providing a clearer [sic] picture to the reader. There are details included in this novel which were not disclosed in Clarita’s documentary. The author also added new discoveries regarding her case. It also gave us enough momentum to know more about Clarita, her roots. her life before her exorcism and her paranormal versus medical controversies which technically made her an instant newsmaker worldwide back in the 50’s – indeed the Philippines’ first strange case of evil possession. This book actually inspired us to produce an audio narrative content regarding Clarita which was entitled “Sapi: The Clarita Villanueva Story“.

HILAKBOT TV is a Pinoy Horror You Tube channel which features stories from different independent writers across the country. As one of the pioneers in producing Pinoy Horror Audiobook content, the channel envisions to become an avenue for horror story writers and letting their stories be heard.
Follow HILAKBOT TV on Facebook, Twitter @HilakbotTV, TV Podcast, Patreon, and WattPad.

 

Mithi Lacaba

Mithi-Lacaba

Mithi’s Pick: The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Grimm’s is a collection of fairy tales that end being dark and creepy. I like this scary book because it was subtle with the whimsical characters…but with all their dark twists.  This book influenced me, it made me look to the other side of light. It gave me inspiration and a vivid imagination of how different perspectives can be. I used those elements on the latest movie that we did, O.

Mithi Winona Lacaba is the Creative Director of  Tipping Point Collective, a dynamic team that specialises in engagement styling, advertising, fashion and production design. Her team is widely known in the wedding and events industry as the go-to for elaborate setups. As a production designer, Mithi has worked on numerous film and TV sets including C1 Originals 2019’s O.
Follow Mithi Lacaba on Instagram @mithiwinona.

 

*Some responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.