Goosebumps
The book that made me sleep with the lights on is “Goosebumps, Who is Your Mummy” by R. L. Stine. It was actually my first horror book. Abby and Peter visit their uncle Jonathan and are amazed to see his obsession with mummies and Egyptian architecture. In the end, the man they are living with turns out to be an ancient Egyptian who figured out the secret of immortality. The night I completed the book I was so scared I had some weird nightmares. I dreamt of running away from uncle Jonathan and the bats following me and yapping at me. It took me long to sleep and when I did, I woke up really scared, drenched in sweat. Later I talked with my mother and she gave me courage and I slept close to her. From that day I wasn’t allowed to read horror books at night. I still can’t sleep in new places.
The evil within
The nail-biting thriller that is Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson makes my blood run cold. Edward Hyde is an embodiment of evil and is observed beating a man to death with his cane. Gabriel Utterson, a lawyer investigates the connection between Dr Jekyll, his close friend of high stature and Mr. Hyde. The finale is quite chilling as it explores the pressure of social status: the hidden evil within us all; and split personalities. This book is relevant in today’s time when all of us are stranded at home and our psyches are more fragile than ever. Evil thoughts may intrude the purest of minds and inevitably, some will fall prey to them. I find the book fascinating as well as fearful.
A spy novel
The dark, mysterious, yet comical thriller “Kim” is a book which made me sleep with the lights on. Written by Rudyard Kipling, “Kim” is an espionage novella based in India. The book is packed with adventures and has a special place on my bookshelf. This novella has been inspired from India’s diversity. It carries a message of unquenchable loyalty and courage. The daredevil stunts of Kim enthralled me. The narrative gave me goosebumps. It was his imagination that inspired me the most. How he transforms from an ordinary boy into a top-secret spy was quite interesting. Another of his famous works, “Just So Stories” also made me sleep with the lights on.
The scary clown
That one book which made me sleep with lights on is the 1986 novel “IT” by Stephen King. The story follows the experiences of seven children viz. Bill, Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Ben, Mike and Stan as they are terrorised by an evil entity that uses their worst fears to try to kill them. The book is named after Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The seven protagonists call the clown IT. With King’s immersive storytelling and the clown’s sadistic sense of humour, horror drips from every page. The book is scary as well as full of suspense. It has been adapted into television series as well as films. The first television adaptation was a miniseries with Tim Curry as Pennywise. An Indian adaptation aired in 1998 titled “Woh”, which literally translates to it. The story was revived in 2017 with Bill Skarsgaard as the dancing clown and he reprised the role in the 2019 sequel titled “IT-Chapter Two”.
A trip around the Universe
A lot of books have given me sleepless nights and the most recent one was “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. One of the very first lines in the book is “In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” This line was enough to captivate me, and as a result of that I spent a week reading the entire series every chance I got, that included sacrificing massive amounts of sleep to finish the series. All the books ooze “British sass” while also dabbling with more serious and subtle topics with enough humor to wear out all of your funny bones. It was a marvelous trip around the universe, and one that is definitely worth losing sleep for.
Camp Cold
“The Curse of Camp Cold Lake” by R.L Stine is one book that sets my hair upright. Sarah is sent to the water sports camp. She hatches a plan to make friends by pretending she drowned in the murky lake during a swimming lesson. However, things do not go as planned – rather than being saved by the other campers and receiving consolation, she instead meets Della, the ghost of a previous camper, who desperately wants to make Sarah her buddy by killing her. The plot advances, as Sarah flees from Della. The ending was so bloodcurdling that even now, I cannot imagine sleeping without a friendly lamplight. This book can terrify you with every line, and I hope you will find it as spine-chilling as I did.
Grandma’s stories
That one book which made me sleep with the lights on is “Grandma’s Bag of Stories” by Sudha Murthy, the chairperson of Infosys Foundation In this book, seven children visit their grandmother every summer vacation. The book embraces the unique bond between three generations. Not just the characters in the book, even the readers cannot get enough of grandma’s stories. She teaches us basic values in an innovative way. The captivating characters are indeed remarkable such as Kaveri, Mooshika, Princess Beena, and the queen who discovered silk. This delightful book of stories is highly engrossing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bond’s biographical adventures
Two books by Ruskin Bond made me sleep with the lights on – “Till The Clouds Roll By” and “Looking For The Rainbow”. Both novels are slow and have bit of drama and laughter. In “Till The Clouds Roll By”, a couple of years after his father’s death, Ruskin Bond travels to Dehradun to spend his holidays with his new family. He reacquaints himself with his mother, now remarried to a photo shop owner Mr. Hari. Bond immerses himself in books and explores the forest glades, canals and bazaars of the little town, forming unlikely friendships on the way. Bond describes his days with rare humour, remarkable charm and a twinge of sadness. In “Looking For The Rainbow”, Bond escapes his jail-like boarding school in the hills at the age of eight and goes to live with his father in Delhi. His time in the capital is filled with books, visits to the cinema, music and walks and conversations with his father – a dream life for a curious and wildly imaginative boy, which turns tragic all too soon. For years, Bond has regaled and hypnotised readers with his tales. In “Looking for the Rainbow”, Bond travels to his past, recalling his favourite exploits with his dad. It is full of exceptional charm, splotches of wit, a pinch of poignance, but without a trace of bitterness. It is a tragic story wherein the end. Bond loses his Father.
A magical adventure
The book which made me sleep with the lights on is none other than ‘The Hobbit’ a prequel to “The Lord o the Rings” series. This story is about a young unambitious hobbit (Bilbo), who is convinced to go on an adventure. Bilbo and the dwarves will have to travel in the wild where trolls, goblins, dragons and many more ugly creatures will be waiting for them. I like it because it has a touch of adventure, fantasy, mystery, magic and mythological creatures. I wonder if these creatures exist and are in hiding.
A killer’s mind
I have read many books that mention paranormal activities, vampires, werewolves, wandering souls and poltergeists. But out of all the characters and entities I have come across, I find the humans to be the scariest. A person who is consumed by either a crazy fantasy or a childhood trauma. I feel like detective series capture this craziness and hunger the best. So far, the scariest one I’ve read is “A Killers Mind” by Mike Omer. It’s the first book in the ‘Zoe Bentley” detective series. This book is about a serial killer in Chicago. The book is eerily realistic. I remember being so immersed in this story that I couldn’t sleep alone for a long time. A ghost or a fictional character is easier to get over because as you grow older you tend to believe that it is just fiction but a human being is so complex that anything could happen. There have even been several serial killers like the one in the book in real life too. This truly was a book that kept me awake at night.
Shudder!
One of the most frightening books I have read is “Goosebumps Slappyworld Escape from Shudder Mansion”. It is the fifth book in a 16-book series called “Goosebumps Slappyworld”. It is written by R.L Stine. In some of the chapters, Slappy the dummy gives feedback on what happened in the previous chapters. The book is centered around the Shudder Mansion, which also has a video game based on it. The protagonist Riley is obsessed with this game. After hearing about an adventure Carter Burwasser, one of Riley’s classmates had, their teacher. Mrs. Blume, decides that small groups should go to a place that is rumored to be frightening and have an adventure. Riley his sister Scarlet, Danitia, Cheng and Carter are put in a group and have to explore Shudder Mansion. When they get there, they are shocked to find out that Shudder Mansion is exactly like the video game Riley is obsessed with. The ending is not really a happy ending. Riley pushes the restart button and he and his friends have to relive that terrifying night again.
Picture Credit : Google
