I read quite a bit, but haven’t really even touched horror. I’ve realized I am ignoring an entire genre, which concerns me. I’ve also been thinking I might like to try my pen at a sort of horror story myself, but I would like to see how it should be done properly, first.
I usually stick to the ‘classics’, but would like to hear some contemporary recommendations, as well. I’m a big fan of the romantic stuff, and would like to avoid pure popcorn.
Examples of great horror story, technique, execution, and such would be appreciated. More obscure/different works would be helpful too, of course. Don’t limit yourselves to just novels, as short stories and the like should be included.
Basically, I’m looking for recommendations of quality/classic horror writing, both for entertainment and informational purposes. Bodybuilding.com doesn’t count.
i agree about stephen king. i used to read his novels. ‘It’ was good. ‘the stand’. rose madder’ was wierd with good parts. i bought ‘the cell’ audiobook but haven’t tried to listen to it yet. ‘thinner’ was good but more of a tale.
anne rice ‘witching hour’ and ‘taltos’ was good but a little erotic as everyone knows she can be. i liked the original frankenstein. greg iles can be creepy/suspenseful.
Check out books by Clive Barker. They are kind of fantasy horror and can be byzantine and baroque in the detail. I particularly enjoyed Weaveworld and Imajica.
He directed the movie Hellraiser which was based on one of his short stories.
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Check out books by Clive Barker. They are kind of fantasy horror and can be byzantine and baroque in the detail. I particularly enjoyed Weaveworld and Imajica.
He directed the movie Hellraiser which was based on one of his short stories.[/quote]
Ouroboro! Have you ever listened to “History of the Devil” by Clive Barker? it is a play and I haven’t found it in book form so I listened to the audio version. It was the Devil using the court system to get back in to heaven. The end has a brilliant twist to it.
Lovecraft scares the bejesus out of me, but I read it anyways. I also like Stephen King, The Shining and It are probably my favorites of his.
Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show was good.
Dean Koontz has some good ones too, Watchers, Servants of twilight, dark rivers of the heart.
House of Leaves really creeped me out. It was also very well written. I can’t recall the author’s name right now. (Mark Z. Danielewski, had to look it up.)
Right now I’m working on the Odd Thomas books (Koontz), which are not frightening but they’re damn likeable.
[quote]MarvelGirl wrote:
Lovecraft scares the bejesus out of me, but I read it anyways. I also like Stephen King, The Shining and It are probably my favorites of his.
Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show was good.
Dean Koontz has some good ones too, Watchers, Servants of twilight, dark rivers of the heart.
House of Leaves really creeped me out. It was also very well written. I can’t recall the author’s name right now. (Mark Z. Danielewski, had to look it up.)
Right now I’m working on the Odd Thomas books (Koontz), which are not frightening but they’re damn likeable.[/quote]
I recently read Odd Thomas, and it was a little different (in a better way) than his typical horror novels. Brother Odd i’ll be picking up soon.
[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
ouroboro_s wrote:
Check out books by Clive Barker. They are kind of fantasy horror and can be byzantine and baroque in the detail. I particularly enjoyed Weaveworld and Imajica.
He directed the movie Hellraiser which was based on one of his short stories.
Ouroboro! Have you ever listened to “History of the Devil” by Clive Barker? it is a play and I haven’t found it in book form so I listened to the audio version. It was the Devil using the court system to get back in to heaven. The end has a brilliant twist to it.
[/quote]
I’ve never heard of that. I’ll have to check it out. I thought I’d read most of what he’d written.
There is something about the way he writes that swallows me up. BBB is right in that they aren’t traditional horror novels but there are deep elements of horror to them. What draws me in is the belief that there is magic in the world. You just have to know where to look and how to look at it.
Two recent King novels that I loved were Duma Key and Lissy’s story.
“Children of the Corn” by Stephen King freaked me out. Its not a full length novel though…its a part of a compilation he wrote called “Night Shift”. Some other good ones in there too like “Graveyard Shift” and “The Man who Loved Flowers”