What happens in a small town when three young girls disappear and meet a rather gruesome--although aesthetically pleasing--fate? Everyone's neighbor becomes a suspect. Peyton Place with a twist of the knife, this book found a fan in Stephen King, who wrote a lengthy letter of praise, calling it "Terrifying and satisfying."

The Getaway
by Jim Thompson

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry gets hailed as a true master of Noir, but Thompson is one of the originals and just possibly the best. Enter the mind of a murderer who is as cheerful and hearty a fellow as you'll ever meet in middle America. From his first line, "Why, I slept fine, Charlie," you know not only is the guy a psycho--but he's a psycho you'd accept a ride home from. Chills right up the spine.

Helter Skelter
by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry

"The story you are about to read will scare the hell out of you."That's what it says on the first page of the true crime masterpiece, and even with Mr. Manson stymied by parole boards, it still does. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's classic of the Tate-LaBianca murders now has with a new afterword, written in 1994. If you like your crime more current, try Bugliosi's Outrage, the only decent book on the O.J. Trial. (The truly sick will want to cross-reference with the Valley of Dolls video, starring Sharon Tate)

Killing for Company
by Brian Masters

True story of Dennis Nilsen, a quiet, nondescript man who invited young men to his Muswell Hill Home, made love to them, killed them, then stuffed them down his kitchen sink. Arrested after many complaints about blocked drains. Strictly for the Jeffrey Dahmer crowd.

Red Dragon
by Thomas Harris

Before Hannibal Lecter began his courtship of Agent Starling, he debuted in this spectacularly creepy book by Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris. Agents Jack Crawford and Will Graham go on the hunt for the Tooth Fairy, and seek help from the good doctor. Squirm scenes galore--this is not just a warm-up for Lambs.

Rosemary's Baby
by Ira Levin

Oh, that morning sickness. If you've only ever seen the movie, read the book. (You won't even have to look at Mia Farrow.) Then when you're done, read The Stepford Wives. Then when you're done with that, read The Boys from Brazil. Don't bother with the sequel to Rosemary's Baby--you'll only wind up wanting to do something very nasty to nice Mr. Levin, who has, after all, written so many good books he deserves to produce one stinker.

The Sculptress
by Minette Walters

A silent, grotesquely overweight woman is convicted of brutally murdering her mother and younger sister--but did she do it? A journalist investigates and finds a lot of dark truths hidden in a British suburbs. If you like mysteries, and you haven't discovered British sensation Walters -well, shame on you.

Sheep
by Simon Maginn

Just for the title alone. A family settles in a remote part of Wales, distraught over the death of their young daughter. But there's strange doings in the town of Ty-Gwyneth, as James and Adele begin to suspect when they unearth of pile of bones in the back yard. Their little son Sam grows increasingly strange. Strange rituals, orgies and disturbed sheep. All I can say is you won't eat meat for a while.

This title is out of print.

The Stand
by Stephen King

What would a list like this be without one Stephen King book? (Refreshing, I know.) But really, it is the Master's Magnum Opus. Anyone who read the original printing should take a look at the expanded edition, in which King puts in all the stuff the publisher wanted out for space and timing. For once, King was right. Also, try The Green Mile, now in a single paperback edition.

Valley of the Dolls
by Jacqueline Susann

It's back! After years out of print, Jacqueline Susann's classic has been reissued in a suitably lurid pink, pill spotted cover. Included for those of you who don't care to be freaked out in the normal ways, Doll's thinly veiled portraits of stars of stage and screen, every permutation of sex, and daring-for-its-time talk of pill popping and plastic surgery, plus a hair-raising climax, are a trip in every sense of the word.