The Tell-Tale Heart and
Rappaccini's Daughter are my favorite "scary" stories. In that same token, 1984 is my favorite "scary" book. I think what makes them so frightening and [admittedly] exhilarating is the fact that that the events could really happen. Individually and socially. In some ways they're pictures of what is happening now.
As I write this I know why I look to these wider themes and seemingly irrelevant topics...they're easier then the things that are close.
The good news: they didn't find cancer in my grandma's bones. I think that's what they call...a glimmer of hope. Please...let me leave fear to fiction.