I can give you two prime examples of the book better than the movie on IMHO. Jaws & Salem’s Lot.
I spent nineteen years in Florida living on the coast. Beautiful. Till I read Jaws. Brucie, the mechanical shark, lived in Navarre Beach, an easy thirty minute drive from my front door. He didn’t bother me. But the ending in that book about the shark sinking into the murky depths and the female baby eating her way to freedom through the mother shark’s dad body sent shivers down my spine that I still remember. It was when I learned that was entirely possible that I found the ocean beautiful, from the shore.
Salem’s Lot is on my Holiday Page. It scared me to the point I can’t finish it. Yeah, I laughed at the movies, but the books left an imprint on my mind that will live forever.
And The Birds. Every time I see a flock of birds perched on a line or roof, even in my back yard, I shudder at the prospect that movie might happen.
I don’t know if there was a book, but there was a movie called Day of the Animals. To think we could do enough damage to the ozone to turn our pets on us sends shivers down my spine.
I have to add that coincidences can make books or movies out of this world. Coincidence did it for me with Salem’s Lot. Jaws, I lived there. The Birds, it’s the gatherings. Day of the Animals, it’s the knowledge.
Oh, and another I can’t recall the name of. I was visiting my aunt and she had this pretty split level where it was mostly built in a hillside. Downstairs was a great place to read. There is a book about black fire ants moving up from South America. I can’t remember the name of it, but when you’re sitting alone in that quiet house reading about how twelve of these ants can take down a full grown cow in two minutes, you don’t pay it much attention. Until you end up swatting at something flying in front of your face. When you take your nose out the book and look, you discover the lamp beside is being swarmed. When you jump up, you gawk at the army of critters marching down the wall that had been right over your shoulder. I screamed. Turns out they were only termites, but they added a special touch to that book that had me on edge for days! No, I did not go downstairs during the rest of my visit. LOL
