Ok, so I re-watch the TV show Friends, in all of its silly and heartwarming glory at least once a year and recently I came across the episode where Joey and Rachel push books on each other. Rachel comes across a copy of The Shining by Stephen King in Joey’s freezer and learns that Joey puts books in the freezer if they get too scary for him to handle. Anyway, they end up trading books: Joey has Rachel read The Shining, and Rachel has Joey read Little Women. Hilariousness ensues. Watch the clip here!
So my question for you today is: have you read any books that you would put in the freezer if you were Joey? Maybe they are scary or something sad is about to happen and you don’t want it to. I don’t read sad books, so that aspect doesn’t apply to me. And I haven’t read many REALLY scary books because I’m a wimp, but I’ve read a few that had me pretty freaked out (you might think I’m a chicken, which is fine):
Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle is an amazing romantic suspense book with a bad guy who watches his victim through the window at night while she sleeps. I pretty much only have time to read in bed at night, and I’ve never been more grateful for living on the second floor and having mini blinds AND curtains. Nobody will ever see me.
Till Death by Jennifer Armentrout is terrifying. lol. Luckily I read it while on a cruise with my family, so I was never alone.
The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware takes place on a cruise liner, and the heroine hears evidence of a murder and nobody believes her except the killer who is now after her. AHHHH.
Shadowlands by Kate Brian scared me way more than I thought it would. Girl escapes the clutches of a serial killer, enters the witness protection program, and then uh oh. The writing is pretty great, so I was super scared.
Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout features a girl who went missing with her friend and then returned alone with no memory of who she is or what happened to her. This is kind of my worst nightmare, guys.
Ok, so throw your scary/super sad/traumatizing books
at me that make you totally understand where Joey is coming from.
Oh my goodness, I love this! This has got to be one of my favorite episodes :) I tend to chicken out and not pick up books that might be too scary but I suppose I could just take a page out of their books and throw it in the freezer! Wouldn’t my husband get a kick out of that :)
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I love this episode too! I’m usually good at picking books that won’t scare me, too, but sometimes I want to read the book too much! lol.
I am currently re-watching Friends for the millionth time and I love that episode! Friends is the best, honestly.
I use that saying often tbh. And I have read books that deserve and need to be put in the freezer. The first one that comes to mind is The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. That book scared the crap out of me and totally needed to be in the freezer for a while.
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Friends is DEFINITELY the best! I’m so glad it’s on Netflix because it’s way easier than putting my DVDs in over and over again. :’)
The Dead House sounds terrifying! Some friends recommended that I read it when I was looking for spooky reads last fall, but I’m too scared of it. lol.
I love this and I love that episode! Remember it well. The Shining is a scary book and Little Women is very sad in parts. Ha! So, I’ve got a pretty thick skin for sadness and also scary parts, but I do recall one time – when I was in college, way back in ’70’s, I was getting my car worked on and went over to grocery store for a Coke. While there, I was looking at the paperbacks they had and picked up my first Stephen King book – ‘Salem’s Lot. I had never read a book about vampires and that one is a doozy. My roommate had gone home that weekend and I spent the next couple of nights reading the book, being completely freaked out, and feeling like ‘something’ was scratching at my window wanting to be let in. Happily, we were on the second floor of the dorm. I’ll check out the books listed – might need a ‘freezer’! LOL
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That episode is definitely one of my favorites. lol. I’ve never read either book because I’m a chicken who is way too emotional for her own good. Bahaha.
Sounds like Stephen King is an author I’d be better off avoiding. lol. You’re brave for reading something scary in an empty house! If you can handle him I bet the books I listed won’t be scary for you at all. Hehe.
I *love* JLA and plan on reading Till Death soon. That fact that you call it terrifying has me a little nervous but I’m still super excited to read it!
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JLA is wonderful, and Til Death is one of my favorite books ever. I’m a major chicken, so I bet most people won’t be as scared by it as I was. lol. And I’m already planning on reading it again someday, so that should tell you something!
Ironically, the book of the movie The Day After Tomorrow. The Empty World, by John Christopher. The Plague Dogs. Um…
I didn’t know The Day After Tomorrow was a book. I liked that movie.
Yeah, it’s not a bad book. Basically the movie with a couple of extra scenes, you know the way. No Jake Gyllenhaal to look at, though…
I love that episode too! If I were Joey, I would have put Jane Eyre in the freezer. I read it when I was eight, and stayed up all night with the lights on because I was afraid of the madwoman in the attic!
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Hehe. Now I want to read Jane Eyre!
I’ve never seen that episode! Too funny! Haha
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Oh my gosh, it’s so funny!! You need to watch it. lol
YES! Off to Netflix I go…haha
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It’s funny, I don’t remember exactly what happened in the book, but I remember being scared by Ghost Story by Peter Straub. I had to have the curtains closed at night and didn’t like looking outside after dark. I definitely would have considered the freezer for that one.
Ghosts and I do not do well at all. lol. That’s the ultimate freezer book for me!
I would also put my copy of THE SHINING in the freezer, but only because it’s haunted or something. I got the book in my early 20’s when I was moving around a lot, so the book wound up in a box with other books– well, 2 separate times when the book surfaced pictures of random kids fell out of it. Kids I had never seen before and resembled no one I know. The second time that it happened (and they were completely different kids each time), I buried the book in a bunch of junk and haven’t seen it since. So yeah, that book goes in the freezer!!
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You know that emoji of The Scream where he has his mouth wide open and his hands on his cheeks? That’s what I did in real life when I read your comment! That’s terrifying!!!
Great episode, I don’t remember that one. I’m pretty good with picking books I can handle, but I’d put the movie Silence of the Lambs in the freezer for sure!
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Oooo, I cannot watch that movie. lol. I know just based on the synopsis and the popular reaction to that movie that it’d probably be the death of me. hehe.
OMG, I adore Friends and that episode cracks me up! I am with you on not being into super romantic books and I’m trying to get into horror books more (just expanding my horizons). The last book that made me feel like putting in the freezer was at the end of Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Galbadon. It’s the second in the Outlander series. That was a heart wrenching ending and I was screaming at the book.
Yes, it’s one of the best episodes!
AHHH. I’m not sure my tender spirit could ever read Outlander. :’)
All of the books you described sound awesome! Adding to my TBR now. One book that immediately comes to mind for me is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Father and son travel across a post-apocalyptic US in the hopes of finding some semblance of civilization and … well. There are bad people out there. Very, very bad people. Definitely a freezer-worthy book. As for sad books I’d put in the freezer, The Fault in Our Stars and Empire of Storms would be my top two, haha.
The Road actually sounds really good! I might have to give it a try!
Yes to The Fault In Our Stars. That was a sad one. Haven’t gotten to EoS yet!
I love scary books so the scarier the better. Thus, very few would end up in the freezer. However, I want to check some of your choices out!
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I hope they’re scary enough for you! Hehe.
I read “She’s Come Undone” by Wally Lamb WAY before I was ready for it. I remember it being more traumatic than scary, but it’s definitely not one I ever plan on revisiting.
Oh dear… I just looked it up, and it doesn’t sound disturbing at all! The reviews, however, have definitely painted a different picture. It sounds very upsetting. I hate it when a synopsis doesn’t give away enough. I’ve fallen in traps because of that before.
I loved that episode (come on, books and Friends? No brainer, we all should love it) and I definitely think The shining should stay inside the freezer.
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It’s SUCH a good episode.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to read The Shining! I’m too much of a chicken!
Ooo I love this idea! I have never read The Shining. And I think most books I read are not too scary so I don’t actually have any recs for the freezer at the moment. I love thrillers, so I don’t find them overly scary. I do not read much horror though so those might end up in the freezer.