Happy birthday weekend to author R. L. Stine, whose Goosebumps series remains the stuff of our Halloween-loving dreams. His book covers equally scared, amused, and thrilled us as young readers — and not much has changed. Stine’s spooky formula is a hard combination to beat, but there are other creepy book covers that deserve mention when it comes to the scariest designs in the world of books. Here are just a few. Feel free to share your personal favorites on Twitter and Facebook.
R.L. Stine, Night of the Living Dummy
Stephen King, Night Shift
Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho
William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist
Peter Benchley, Jaws
Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Dare Wright, Edith & Big Bad Bill
Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (and the entire series of Scary Stories books illustrated by Stephen Gammell)
Patrick White, The Vivisector
Peter Straub, Julia
Ira Levin, Rosemary’s Baby
Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror
Chuck Palahniuk, Haunted
Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Clive Barker, Cabal