An eerie, eerie night

Some stories are introduced as lsquohorror storiesrsquo offering a fair bit of warning about their nature However there are also stories that donrsquot intend to be scary but end up unsettling their readers In a podcast released this month as part of the royal initiative The Queenrsquos Reading Room Queen Camilla admitted that she was ldquorather put off by Alice going down the rabbit holerdquo while reading Lewis Carrollrsquos classic Some of the characters frightened her ldquoThe Mad Hatter the Red Queenhelliprdquo she recollected Herersquos a list of stories that our readers found bizarrely terrifying as childrenWuthering HeightsWuthering Heights by Emily Bronte despite not being explicitly scary left me with chills due to its Gothic plotline I read it when I was 12 and the vivid descriptions of a wrecked Victorian mansion surrounded by wilderness coupled with themes of physical and emotional abuse were eerie The novelrsquos portrayal of desolation and dysfunctional relationships also kept me on edge at all times Even years and multiple rereads later the first memory of this book lingers and it takes me on a rollercoaster of emotionsMariya Kapasi 32 engineerRumpelstiltskinRumpelstiltskin illustrated by Anne Anderson Pics CourtesyWikimedia CommonsldquoWhen I was seven my uncle had gifted me the early version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales Rumpelstiltskin really stood out for me It was unnerving to read about a man who would help the helpless but would ask for something so unimaginable in return mdash someonersquos first born child Even back then I felt that was wrong there was no rational explanation for why someone would be like thatAround the same time Irsquod also read the story of Tashi where scary things used to happen but Tashi was the force of goodness I felt really good as a child reading it So I used to be conflicted about Tashi and Rumpelstiltskin existing in the same universe my universe of storiesrdquoParth Rahatekar 25 writerLittle Red Riding HoodWhen I was young my mum would surround me with story books I remember enacting a lot of them too I had a red raincoat and a little umbrella and a basket like Red Riding Hood The story felt real to me and for a long time I believed that if I spoke to strangers Irsquod be eaten up by a wolf The wolf disguised as the grandma was so scary I believed that he could talk and manipulate me So until the age of 10 or 12 I didnrsquot speak to strangers and even after that when I did I would speak with a lot of hesitationPriyanka Patel 41 arts and culture practitionerThe Magic Faraway TreeThe Magic Faraway Tree illustrated by Dorothy M WheelerI read Enid Blytonrsquos Faraway Tree series as a child While the magic and friendship enthralled me I was spooked by a description of the woods mdash the wind whistling through the trees made it seem as if they were whispering deep dark secretsI slept alone in a room too large for me and at night faint light from the street would filter in through the window casting dancing shadows of the trees outside For weeks my overactive imagination convinced me that the trees were out to get me and that one night they would finally come marching into my roomAmrita Brahmo 30 project editor social sciencesTintin Explorers On The MoonThe Adventures of Tintin Explorers On The Moon by HergeI used to be a big fan of Tintin I still am but when I was nine I read Explorers on the Moon As the title suggests the characters go to the Moon but there is a moment there when they are disconnected from the space shuttle When I read that I had nightmares about being in a similar situationThere was always an irrational fear that when Irsquod come back the space shuttle would be gone and Irsquod forever be stuck in the loneliness of space all by myself knowing that I have limited oxygen and that Irsquoll never see anyone again The reality of the vastness of space hit me at that age and turned out to be an unexpected horrorShantanu Anand 31 curator and writerThe Guide Recommends1 Coraline by Neil Gaiman2 Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood3 Matilda by Roald Dahl4 A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket5 Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak6 Bony Legs by Joanna Cole7 Wizard of Oz amp Ozma of Oz by L Frank Baum8 Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen9 The Hundred and One Dalmations by Dodie Smith10 The Story of a Mother by Hans Christian Andersen