Horror Recommendations for the Unenlightened

[Jo Zebedee]

Loads, Cyber; there's quite a good thread on him somewhere too.

For pure horror something like It - demon clowns, Salems lot - vampires, or the Stand - post viral meltdown, probably considered his most important piece of work.
Some of his earlier stuff is very good for characterisation and good story telling; firestarter - kid with pyrokinetic powers, Dead Zone - guy can see future.

i also enjoyed Under the Dome, and i haven't read his new one yet, but it's getting good write ups.

 

[D_Davis]

'Salem's Lot is a fantastic place to start.

And The Shining is very different from the movie.

 

[j d worthington]

I'm not much of a King fan (though I have no particular animus against him, either), but... yes, I'd suggest The Shining, as it is immensely different from the Kubrick film. Carrie is also quite good... surprisingly so, for such an early novel, and more complex than appears on the surface. Pet Sematary also has a fair amount of power, as do large portions of IT... though I don't see that one as a horror novel, myself, but rather a "study" of rituals of good and evil. Needful Things also has much to recommend it.

I will have to disagree with several on 'Salem's Lot, however. Whilst I loved it when I first read it some 30+ years ago, on a reread back in 2006 I found I had to force my way through the thing, and felt it was terribly hackneyed and almost a "paint-by-the-numbers" exercise (though I will give him kudos for making the Marsden house a truly memorable setting). In total, I found about three pages' worth of truly good writing, though to give him his due, that good was good enough to nearly take my breath away; it was almost painfully beautiful and moving writing; even though it was simple descriptive prose, it was so lucent and poignant that it came close to bringing tears to my eyes. Had the entire novel been written on that level, it would have almost certainly become listed among the ten or fifteen best novels in the field, just on the strength of its writing alone....

For someone who isn't put off by the excess fat and the often pedestrian aspects of his writing -- though when he chooses, he can be really quite good -- there are a number of titles which are worth looking into; not surprising, really, given the man's prolificity....

 

[Diggler]

I find most of Stephen King's books to just drag on to the nth degree. As for his decent horrors (that I've read) The Shining is top of the list, followed by Thinner under his Richard Bachman persona. Skeleton Crew, Night Shift and Four Seasons are also high on my King reading list for his excellent short stories and novella's including:

The Mist, Survivor Type, The Raft, Apt Pupil, The Body, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Trucks, The Mangler and Quitter's, inc. and others...

Many of these stories ended up as movies, shorts and tv episodes.

If you want some pulpy, ultra violent and seedy horror, then Shaun Hutson is your man. Assassins by Hutson has always been a bit of a guilt pleasure.

 

[dask]

Never heard of him but I'll keep an eye open. Seedy sounds good.

 

[Diggler]

LOL. He is akin to say the goremeister's of the 70's like Fulci, D'Amato, Margheriti and Martino. The guy also has a serious fascination with 80's metal, especially Iron Maiden.

Also at the absolute extreme end of the scale, I would also add Matthew Stokoe's COWS. But be warned that it is one of the most disturbing novels I've read. It easily surpasses The Wasp Factory, and even makes American Psycho look pretty tame. High Life, also by Stokoe, is a mix of crime noir, extreme violence and sociopathic tendencies.

 

[Anathem]

Nice lists! It's been a long time since I've read a horror book, will have to go through these suggestions and find a good one to try out

 

[Charles.Dunphey]

H. P. Lovecraft is definitely the godfather of science fiction horror. I recommend the compilation called "Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft". It has the Call of Cthulu so anyone starting off will get a good idea of who H. P. was.

 

[j d worthington]

H. P. Lovecraft is definitely the godfather of science fiction horror. I recommend the compilation called "Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft". It has the Call of Cthulu so anyone starting off will get a good idea of who H. P. was.

Welcome to the Chrons. Always glad to see another Lovecraftian around. I would, however, suggest not picking up this volume (which is seriously flawed textually; e.g., missing a huge section of text in "The Colour Out of Space"), but rather the Barnes & Noble Complete Fiction, which contains all his own original fiction (collaborations, revisions, etc., to be found elsewhere... in the main). However, make certain to get the 2011 printing or after, as there were serious typos in the first several printings. The more recent printings are among the most textually sound editions one can get of Lovecraft, and the book itself is roughly $20....

 

[dask]

I would, however, suggest not picking up this volume (which is seriously flawed textually; e.g., missing a huge section of text in "The Colour Out of Spaceof Lovecraft...

You've already explained in other posts why magazine manuscripts might be expurgated, but why for a book of this nature. What does the editor or publisher have to gain? Why not just print the whole blamed thing?

 

[j d worthington]

In this case, it was simply poor copy-editing (if any). I could be wrong, but my impression is that they took the texts from the Arkham House editions and simply reset them... and things got dropped along the way (not unusual); but there was no one actually reading the damn' thing to look out for such errors; hence....

On the other hand, the B&N volume was taken from the authoritative texts established by Joshi (who also edited the volume), and the removal of the plethora of typos is due to the wonderful work of Martin Andersson (Ningauble here), who is incredibly patient and painstaking when it comes to textual scholarship.....

 

[dask]

Makes you wonder whether whatever you're currently reading had been bungled like that. I know when I first saw Coppula's Dracula two reels got mixed up and for a while I chalked it up to a new quirky style of film making. I did eventually figure out a mistake had been made and verified it with a friend who had seen the film before.

 

[j d worthington]

Makes you wonder whether whatever you're currently reading had been bungled like that. I know when I first saw Coppula's Dracula two reels got mixed up and for a while I chalked it up to a new quirky style of film making. I did eventually figure out a mistake had been made and verified it with a friend who had seen the film before.

I had such an experience with the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)... the problem there is that the film still worked, until they got back to the reel which should have come earlier. It really wasn't missed until that point.....

 

[dask]

How about HORRORS UNKNOWN edited by Sam Moskowitz with the story "The Challenge From Beyond" co-written by Lovecraft, Howard, Moore, Merritt and Long? Is it as good as it seems it should be? (Perhaps I should have put this in Essential Horror Anthologies.)

 

[j d worthington]

How about HORRORS UNKNOWN edited by Sam Moskowitz with the story "The Challenge From Beyond" co-written by Lovecraft, Howard, Moore, Merritt and Long? Is it as good as it seems it should be? (Perhaps I should have put this in Essential Horror Anthologies.)

Some of the pieces in there I am unfamiliar with, but it all looks enjoyable, if not exactly immortal works of literature. Seabury Quinn, for instance, with his Jules de Grandin tales, can be a great deal of fun when taken in small doses... but they really are cookie-cutter stories, well below what he was capable of at his best.

If you are asking about "The Challenge from Beyond" in particular... ummmm... it is more of a literary curiosity than anything else. By no means a truly successful story -- too many people having their fingers in that pie, and some of them (Merritt, for example) not being interested in much beyond their egos. It could well be argued that the story would never have gone anywhere, being just a confused mishmash, were it not for the long central section, which was written by HPL, and which provides the actual plot and motivation of the tale... something not much of anyone else seemed capable of with this one. It, too, has its fun side, but is not a particularly memorable piece....

 

[Lobolover]

If you are asking about "The Challenge from Beyond" in particular... ummmm... it is more of a literary curiosity than anything else. By no means a truly successful story -- too many people having their fingers in that pie, and some of them (Merritt, for example) not being interested in much beyond their egos. It could well be argued that the story would never have gone anywhere, being just a confused mishmash, were it not for the long central section, which was written by HPL, and which provides the actual plot and motivation of the tale... something not much of anyone else seemed capable of with this one. It, too, has its fun side, but is not a particularly memorable piece....

I remember reading it years ago and being uttely confused about what was going (or rather not going) on.

 

[Munch]

Lots of good books being mentioned here guys

Don't think he's been mentioned here yet but Adam Nevill is one of the better new-ish horror writers. So far I've read The Ritual, Apartment 16 and Banquet for the Damned. The former of which is about a group of guys getting lost whilst hiking through forests in Scandinavia. Early this year I picked this book up in a rush on my way out the door and as a result was the only thing I had to read whilst away on my own on a camping trip. Massive mistake. Don't get me wrong it is a fantastic book but I hardly slept a wink the 3 nights I was away. It's amazing just how demonic sheep can sound

Plus I'd like to second, or third, or fourth or whatever the recommendations for Poe. Stephen King on the other hand has never managed to frighten me though I do know a growed up man who had to sleep with the lights on after reading the Shining. Saying that I have enjoyed a fair amount of his work and it is worth reading even if it doesn't wind up terrifying you.

 

[Randy M.]

Lots of good books being mentioned here guys

Don't think he's been mentioned here yet but Adam Nevill is one of the better new-ish horror writers. So far I've read The Ritual, Apartment 16 and Banquet for the Damned. The former of which is about a group of guys getting lost whilst hiking through forests in Scandinavia. Early this year I picked this book up in a rush on my way out the door and as a result was the only thing I had to read whilst away on my own on a camping trip. Massive mistake. Don't get me wrong it is a fantastic book but I hardly slept a wink the 3 nights I was away. It's amazing just how demonic sheep can sound

Plus I'd like to second, or third, or fourth or whatever the recommendations for Poe. Stephen King on the other hand has never managed to frighten me though I do know a growed up man who had to sleep with the lights on after reading the Shining. Saying that I have enjoyed a fair amount of his work and it is worth reading even if it doesn't wind up terrifying you.

I'll second The Ritual. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I have Banquet for the Damned and Lost Days on the TBR mountain. Just now I've started Phil Rickman's Curfew, which I've heard quite a bit about and which was recently reissued by Titan. The first 25 pages have certainly been engaging.

Randy M.

 

[River Boy]

Not finished it yet but Not Far From Aviemore, by Michael Reuel, is one of the most enticing books I've read for a while: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/401809

I often find ghost stories disappointing because they tend to have a good set up but the writers then aren't sure where to go with them. But Reuel finds ways to delve deeper into dark spiritual matters, blurring the lines between the physical and psychological and even manages to become more science-fiction for 1 or 2 chapters.

Someone sent me an eBook voucher for xmas so thought I'd check out some new writers, any other suggestions?

 

[Gary Compton]

I would strongly recommend horror fans reading Joseph Rubas' collection of stories.

"Twenty two tales of horror that will transport you into the world of darkness and fear, a dim, shadowy netherworld just beyond the veil, just past the threshold, just after midnight."

The master of "Horror," Wilum H Pugmire said of the collection. "One thing I want in weird fiction is that it be freaking weird. In this regard, Joseph Rubas succeeds brilliantly. From the night city of Vegas to the haunt of resurrected poets, this collection leads us to those regions of the Outsider in stories one will not easily forget."

Buy on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

or the Tickety Boo Shop