Horror Recommendations for the Unenlightened

[BAYLOR]

Burn Offerings by Robert Marasco one of the best horror novels ever written , It was made int film in the 1980's Staring Karen Black and Oliver Reed

 

[River Boy]

Noticed that Not Far From Aviemore is on free download: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/401809

Is this some kind of ebook sales strategy at work, or a f**k up?

 

[BAYLOR]

The House on The Borderland by William Hope Hodgson written 1908 this book first rate.

 

[BigBadBob141]

Here are my Horror recommendations:
"Furnace", "The Trickster", "The Ancient" all by Muriel Gray.
"Wulf", "Adventure Land", "The Hoodoo Man", "Angels", "Black Rock", "The Devil On May Street", "Straker's Island" all by Steve Harris.
"Weaveworld", "The Hellbound Heart", "The Books Of Blood vols 1-6", all by Clive Barker.
"King Blood", "Nailed By The Heart", "Darker", "Blood & Grit", all by Simon Clark.
"The Shee", "Incubus", "Havoc Junction", all by Joe Donnelly.
"The Wyrm", "Ghost Train", "Daemonic", "Darkfall", "Chasm", all by Stephen Laws.
"Stinger", "The Wolfs Hour", "Ushers Passing", "Boy's Life", "Gone South", "Baal", "Bethany's Sin", "The Night Boat", "The Blue World", all by Robert McCammon.
"The Elementals" by Michael McDowell.
"Charnal House", Mirror", "The Pariah", "Burial", "The House That Jack Built", "Black Angel", "Flesh & Blood", "Sprit", "The Sleepless", "Ikon", "Sacrifice", all by Graham Masterton (the last two are thrillers but highly recommended).
"Toady", "The Immaculate", "Stitch", "The Secrets Of Anatomy", all by Mark Morris.
"Carrion Comfort", "The Hollow Man", "The Terror", all by Dan Simmons.
"The Wolfen", "The Hunger", The Forbidden Zone", all by Whitley Strieber.
"The Atrocity Archives", "The Jennifer Morgue", "The Fuller Memorandum", "The Apocalypse Codex", "The Rhesus Chart", all by Charles Stross (these are The Laundry Files series, they are Len Deighton meets H.P.Lovcraft).
Finely don't forget "The Pan Book Of Horror Stories" series which ran to 30 volumes, volumes 1-25 edited by Herbert Van Thal & volumes 26-30 by Clarence Paget and "The Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror" edited by Stephen Jones, now up to volume 25, also any short story collection by R.Chetwynd-Hayes, and also "The Years Best Horror Stories" series published by DAW, this ran to 22 volumes, volumes 1-7 edited by Gerald W. Page & volumes 8-22 by Karl Edward Wagner.
Good Hunting, Good Reading & Good Luck!!!

 

[Mark Ragland]

A new author you need to read is Nick Cutter. I've read his books The Troop and The Deep. Very good and very scary. Stephen King thinks very highly of him.

 

[Matt Rabbit]

Currently loving zombie books. Reading the Contaminated Series by T.W. Piperbrook. Also loved the Morningstar Strain series by ZA Recht, David Moody's Autumn series and the As the World Dies trilogy by Rhianna Frater... I came across a huuuuge many gig file of tons of zombie ebooks and I've been ravenous ever since.

 

[Randy M.]

Here's a different take on most of the recommendations. These are single-author story collections:

Chappell, Fred: More Shapes than One
Hearn, Lafcadio: Kwaidan
Kersh, Gerald: Nightmares and Damnations
McNaughton, Brian: The Throne of Bones
Butler, Octavia: Bloodchild and Other Stories
Brite, Poppy Z.: Wormwood
Hirshberg, Glen: The Two Sams
Leiber, Fritz: You're All Alone
James, M. R. More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Smith, Clark Ashton: Zothique
Leman, Bob: The Feesters in the Lake and Other Stories
Collier, John: Fancies and Goodnights
Koja, Kathe: Extremities
Grubb, Davis: Twelve Tales of Suspense and the Supernatural
Thomas, Jeffrey: Punktown
Ligotti, Thomas: Grimscribe
Monette, Sarah: The Bone Key
Jacobi, Carl: Revelations in Black
de la Mare, Walter: Ghost Stories
Rickert, M.: Holiday
Hirshberg, Glen: American Morons
Kiernan, Caitlin: To Charles Fort, With Love
Tem, Steve Rasnic: Deadfall Hotel
Blackwood, Algernon: Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood
Wellman, Manly Wade: Who Fears the Devil?
Machen, Arthur: Tales of Horror and the Supernatural
Chambers, Robert W.: The King in Yellow
Samuels, Mark: The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Stories
Wagner, Karl Edward: Where the Summer Ends
Russell, Ray: Haunted Castles
Barron, Laird: The Imago Sequence and Other Stories
Goss, Theodora: In the Forest of Forgetting
Sumpskyj & Joshi, Ben & S. T. (eds): Fritz Leiber & H. P. Lovecraft: Writers of the Dark



Randy M

 

[BigBadBob141]

REF: Randy M
Thanks for the list, some of these I have but there's quite a few that I haven't.
Will start looking into them!!!

 

[Randy M.]

Hi, Bob.

I meant to add a note to the effect that some of them lean more toward dark fantasy (the Goss, the Wellman and the Smith, for instance) and some towards s.f. (the Thomas particularly). Some, like the Grubb, Leiber and C.A. Smith are probably not easy to find now (other Smith collections are available, though). And a few -- the Russell, the Kersh, the Collier -- have been reissued recently. All are worth seeking out and reading.


Randy M.

 

[Jaxx]

What a superb thread, some seriously high brow mentions in here. I will look up a few of the recommendations.

Earlier in the thread Richard Laymon was mentioned, although most definitely horror, no questions on that front, there is a vastly unsettling, and in my opinion unnecessary amount of deviancy and sexual depravity to make them enjoyable, I've read one, stopped a third of the way into another and flicked through a couple in stores or Libraries and they all have the same icky, excessively described feel. (Maybe that's just me?)

I love Anne Rice also, certainly the The Vampire Chronicles, I found The Mayfair Witches hard going when younger, I may try again now I'm ''more mature.'' I find her books simply luscious and encompassing, rarely scary though. I recently read and enjoyed, in time for the Yule period, the Wolf Gift Chronicles, hugely recommended if you like her. A slightly different take on Lycanthropecy (If that's a word) and as ever full of romance and glorious abandon.

Very surprised not to see Clive Barker mentioned here. Some of his novels are amazing, my favourite is probably Cabal which was made into the film Nightbreed. The Damnation Game was an excellent read and if you know the film Hellraiser then this film was based on the novella The Hellbound Heart.
If you like horror short stories then his Books of Blood are well recommended.

James Herbert is another of my favourites. The Rats trilogy is worth picking up, his latest novels have been a bit off the boil but 48 was thrilling. Sepulchre remains one of my favourite all times reads, with Creed and Once being well up there too.

Great post for me this. Clive Barker is for me Horror, my introduction to Horror literature, if I ignore the King/Straub Talisman which is more a desolate meandering fantasy, yes Barker is epic, he gave us Pinhead for a start, I loved Books of Blood and The Great and Secret show.

Also I read The Rats for the first time last year and actually I am reading in fits and starts a biography of James Herbert, which is fascinating. The Rats was really unsettling, horror isn't my thing particularly, but I like to indulge once in awhile and the same with films, occasionally it's good to much it is bad.

 

[Randy M.]

Earlier in the thread Richard Laymon was mentioned, although most definitely horror, no questions on that front, there is a vastly unsettling, and in my opinion unnecessary amount of deviancy and sexual depravity to make them enjoyable, I've read one, stopped a third of the way into another and flicked through a couple in stores or Libraries and they all have the same icky, excessively described feel. (Maybe that's just me?)

Not just you. I've only read The Cellar which had a couple of good things going for it but a lot not good story-telling; and when I walk away from a book feeling like a need a shower and maybe a sand-blasting, I have difficulty reading more by that author.


Randy M.

 

[BigBadBob141]

If you think Layman is bad try reading the Gor novels of John Norman.
Only tried one and gave up half-way.
Yuk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BAYLOR]

If you think Layman is bad try reading the Gor novels of John Norman.
Only tried one and gave up half-way.
Yuk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try reading a Perry Rhodden novel.

 

[Nate The Nose]

This is an unabashed pitch for readers for my psychological/action horror novel, Late Bite. I tried to post a link for a free download but as a newbie I'm prohibited from setting links until after my 15th post. Write to me at: me@mh99.com and I'll send you a free kindle / eReader friendly copy. It's received mostly 5-star reviews from respected reviewers on Amazon and Smashwords.
A word of warning – it's one weird vampire story told by his lawyer as the bloodsucker goes on trial for his politically incorrect snacking habits.
Lots of courtroom twists, some gore, tons of action: special forces spetsnaz vs vampire, and even a few laughs for fans of American Werewolf in London and Kolchak The Nightstalker.
I will be grateful forever for anyone who posts an honest review - even a short one. Drop me a line if you loved it/hated it.

 

[Nate The Nose]

Great List.
I'd add Dan Simmons' creepy tale The Song Of Kali where a writer travels to Calcutta to acquire publishing rights to a new work by the great poet M. Das. A growing sense of foreboding begins when it becomes apparent Das wrote his latest work after death. All horror counts on stupidity - don't go into the basement!!! In this case the MC makes a lot of stupid moves. The worst: his decision to bring his wife and child with him as he begins his journey into darkness.

 

[BAYLOR]

Great List.
I'd add Dan Simmons' creepy tale The Song Of Kali where a writer travels to Calcutta to acquire publishing rights to a new work by the great poet M. Das. A growing sense of foreboding begins when it becomes apparent Das wrote his latest work after death. All horror counts on stupidity - don't go into the basement!!! In this case the MC makes a lot of stupid moves. The worst: his decision to bring his wife and child with him as he begins his journey into darkness.

A great horror novel.

 

[BigBadBob141]

REF: Baylor.
LOL!!!!!

 

[Faye HG]

Victorian horror stories by Steve Merrifield 'Darkwood Mysteries' -
http://www.thedarkwoodmysteries.co.uk/

 

[AE35Unit]

If you think Layman is bad try reading the Gor novels of John Norman.
Only tried one and gave up half-way.
Yuk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah THAT scene in Stephen King's IT was hard to stomach. You know, the one with Beverly and the boys. Cringeworthy

 

[Randy M.]

It’s been awhile since anyone said anything here, so …


Caitlin Kiernan, Agents of Dreamland
Short novel. U.S. shadow agency concerned by odd infection that first affects a cult. Kiernan alludes to Lovecraft's "The Whisperer in Darkness," Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5, a (fictional) movie with a screenplay by Edgar Rice Burroughs and directed by James Whale (Frankenstein; Bride of Frankenstein; The Invisible Man), the plot of which has echoes elsewhere in the story; Kiernan also alludes, I think, to aspects of one of William Hope Hodgson's short stories and/or one of the Quatermass screenplays by Nigel Kneale, though identifying either might be a spoiler. A lot packed into a short work. Excellent and creepy.


Fritz Leiber, The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich
Feels like an early attempt to wrestle with a recurring Leiber theme that there are people and forces outside consensus reality that influence it. In different forms it appears in Gather Darkness, Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness and shorter work like “A Bit of the Dark World” and “You’re All Alone” (a shorter version of The Sinful Ones). Honestly, I’m surprised this was not published in Leiber’s lifetime. Ostensibly Lovecraftian, I think it more Wellsian.


Daryl Gregory, Harrison Squared
Jonathan L. Howard, Carter & Lovecraft
Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country
Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom
Lovecraftian stories, all very well written and entertaining. All also address Lovecraft’s racism, the Ruff and LaValle most directly, the Gregory and Howard a bit more obliquely. There’s a new sequel to the Howard just recently published; the Gregory is a prequel to All of Us Are Completely Fine, another short novel I’d recommend.


John Langan, The Fisherman
Another Lovecraftian tale, a complex, fully-realized novel of another reality intruding on our world and the effects on those who come in contact with it. A strong follow up to Langan’s also excellent House of Windows.


Susan Hill, The Man in the Picture
Another of Hill’s ghost stories, the titular picture hiding a reality it’s better not to see. Not as strong as The Woman in Black but still entertaining


Charles L. Grant, Nightmare Seasons
Good but not great collection of novellas. The first was fun for me once I noticed the parallels to the 1940s movie, The Cat People. Another parallels, I think, the original Assault on Precinct 13.


William Sloane, The Edge of Running Water
William Sloane, To Walk the Night
These two were reissued a couple of years ago as The Rim of Morning. Published in the 1930s, they feel a bit dated because of character interactions, but still very readable.


Gemma Files, Experimental Film
Along with the Langan and the Tremblay (see below) a novel I’d most strongly recommend. Again, somewhat Lovecraftian though it doesn’t tap into his critters, this concerns a rare, lost film, a historical Canadian treasure if the narrator, Lois, can find it. But the film affects viewers in odd, unsettling ways and may be a portal for something that wants to enter our world. Somehow Files ties this together with Lois’ messy life – her son has Asperger’s Syndrome – and self-questioning. Would make good companion reading with Ramsey Campbell’s The Grin of the Dark.


Tananarive Due, Ghost Summer
A really fine story collection, the title novella itself worth the price. Some straight horror stories, but also s.f. and fantasy.


Paul Tremblay, A Head Full of Ghosts
With the possible exception of the Files, probably the most psychologically complex of the novels I’m listing. Merry tells the story of her older sister’s descent into insanity and the attempt by her family to exorcise the demon that appears to have taken her over. A complex novel, really, that like several others above plays with reality, but this isn’t about the intrusion of another dimension or universe. Along the way, Tremblay cites and examines several fictional portrayals of possession, not least The Exorcist. A brilliant novel.