Good new horror - like Herbert, King or Barker

[Pedro Del Mar]

Hi all,

Looking for recommendations for new horror please.

In the past I've really enjoyed Stephen King, James Herbert and Clive Barker. I've read almost all of the novels these guys have written.

I've recently been reading novels by Robert R. McCammon who I'd recommend.

So, hopefully this will give you an indication of the type of horror I'm looking for.

Any suggestions welcome.........

 

[Randy M.]

Hi all,

Looking for recommendations for new horror please.

In the past I've really enjoyed Stephen King, James Herbert and Clive Barker. I've read almost all of the novels these guys have written.

I've recently been reading novels by Robert R. McCammon who I'd recommend.

So, hopefully this will give you an indication of the type of horror I'm looking for.

Any suggestions welcome.........

I haven't read Bentley Little, but my wife went on a binge of Little books a few years ago. After a while, she got tired of some repetition, but I'm guessing that if you don't binge he may be exactly what you're looking for. Her favorite was The Ignored.

I've recently read a couple of Tom Piccirilli's thrillers, Headstone City and The Dead Letter. The latter comes closest to horror and it was good -- not great, but entertaining. You might try some of his earlier work, like A Choir of Lost Children, which seems to be the book most horror fans rave about. It's in my TBR pile for some time this summer.

You mention King and I'll take a chance suggesting an older writer who was a big influence on him, Richard Matheson. A lot of his work has returned to print over the last decade; before that I'd have told you he was the writer whose work you most likely knew without knowing his name -- he wrote scripts for the original Twilight Zone, including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," for the Vincent Price/Roger Corman movies based on Edgar Allan Poe's work, for Steven Spielberg's first big hit, Duel, for the first two Kolchak movies, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, and his own writings have been made into numerous movies. (Duel was based on a novella of his.) If you haven't read them, try I am Legend and/or Hell House; the former has filmed three times with varying degrees of success, the latter was made into a quite good 1970s movie.

Joe Hill's first novel, The Heart-Shaped Box is good until near the end; it loses some steam in the last 20 or so pages. I have yet to get to his story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, or his newest novel, Horns, but both have gotten good reviews, especially the collection.

A bit less successful, I thought, but a decent beach read is James Jacob Horner's Southern Gods. It was good enough that I'll keep him in mind the next time he publishes a novel.

That's all I can think of right now. If I something else comes to mind, I'll post again.


Randy M.

 

[Randy M.]

I knew there were a couple of writers I meant to mention earlier.

Ramsey Campbell -- roughly of an age with King and Herbert. A major short story writer,Campbell also acquits himself well in the novel, at least the ones I've read. I enjoyed The Doll Who Ate His Mother -- one of my favorite cheesy titles for a novel that really isn't bad at all -- and Ancient Images, but I think anyone who really likes King might find Midnight Sun of interest. It's a family-in-peril novel, and it is exceptionally well done.

Peter Straub -- also roughly of an age with King and Herbert. His older work is often excellent -- Julia, Ghost Story, Koko, etc. -- and his early 2000s novel, lost boy lost girl is as well. It shares a character with Koko and The Throat, which might be something of a spoiler for Koko, but otherwise it stands alone. (Koko, Mystery and The Throat are a loose trilogy with some shared characters; the trilogy is as much in the mystery genre as it is in horror.)



Randy M.

 

[dlsevern]

Definitely add Dan Simmons to your list.

 

[j d worthington]

That one I will second. I may disagree with Simmons strongly when it comes to Wilkie, but in general he is a fine writer....

 

[BAYLOR]

Graham Masteton

 

[zaltys13]

That one I will second. I may disagree with Simmons strongly when it comes to Wilkie, but in general he is a fine writer....

If you are referring to his novel Drood, I agree, didn't enjoy that at all. Song Of Kali, Summer Of Night, and Carrion comfort are all great novels though. The second two will definitely give you that King fix as well.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Thanks for all the advice folks. I have Joe Hill's The Fireman up soon. I read the first couple of chapters some time ago and I'm very much looking forward to reading this one.

I read The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Cambell recently, I enjoyed it but it never really took off like I expected it too. The characters behaved a little oddly near the beginning and I thought the book was going to go in another direction. If I'm honest it put me off reading more of his work.

Peter Straub - one of my all time favourite novels is The Talisman. I didn't find Black House to be anywhere as epic and was disappointed. I tried Ghost Story but found it far too pedestrian.

I've read some Graham Masterton and enjoyed what I read and I've a few of his old paperbacks waiting on my shelf. This is one author I'm definitely going to come back to.

I've never read anything by Dan Simmons. His name keeps cropping up on a regular basis so I need to do some research into his novels and give him a try.

I've been reading some up and coming new British authors recently: Luke Walker, Graeme Reynolds and Simon Bestwick all three of which I'd highly recommend.

 

[Randy M.]

Ghost Story pedestrian? Wow. It made a huge impression on me but that was 30+ years ago so I suppose I should reread it.

I like Campbell, but he's not for all tastes. In my experience, he presents his characters without giving you clues as to how he feels about them; you have to decide for yourself. That's one way in which he's very different from King.

Anyway, Bestwick has looked interesting. What of his have you read? Also, have you tried Christopher Fowler or Adam Nevill?


Randy M.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

For some reason Ghost Story really didn't gel with me. I read it soon after The Talisman (probably about 20+ years ago) so I have considered giving it a re-read now I'm a little older and wiser (and slower). I remember thinking it was slow and not a great deal happened, but maybe I'm giving it a dis-service, my memory's not what it was!

Bestwick's Hell's Ditch is worth picking up. I've pre-ordered the second in the series which is due out soon. I follow him on Twitter and he's a decent chap. He's currently working on the third book.

I haven't tried Christopher Fowler or Adam Neville. Having just glanced on Amazon Fowler's Bryant and May books look interesting.

What I found strange in The Hungry Moon was when one of the couples went next to visit their neighbours and he put a porno film on the telly??!! He went on to mention one of the female characters was feeling uncomfortable watching this on the tv but described her as having large breasts and long legs. I thought it very strange that he had people putting porno on the tv for their neighbours and although feeling uncomfortable they didn't get up and leave? There was nothing further like this in the whole book so it was as though this fairly adult episode didn't really fit in with the rest of the book?

 

[BAYLOR]

For some reason Ghost Story really didn't gel with me. I read it soon after The Talisman (probably about 20+ years ago) so I have considered giving it a re-read now I'm a little older and wiser (and slower). I remember thinking it was slow and not a great deal happened, but maybe I'm giving it a dis-service, my memory's not what it was!

Bestwick's Hell's Ditch is worth picking up. I've pre-ordered the second in the series which is due out soon. I follow him on Twitter and he's a decent chap. He's currently working on the third book.

I haven't tried Christopher Fowler or Adam Neville. Having just glanced on Amazon Fowler's Bryant and May books look interesting.

What I found strange in The Hungry Moon was when one of the couples went next to visit their neighbours and he put a porno film on the telly??!! He went on to mention one of the female characters was feeling uncomfortable watching this on the tv but described her as having large breasts and long legs. I thought it very strange that he had people putting porno on the tv for their neighbours and although feeling uncomfortable they didn't get up and leave? There was nothing further like this in the whole book so it was as though this fairly adult episode didn't really fit in with the rest of the book?

In Hungry Moon when the Preacher went down into the well and came back, you knew there was something wrong with him. He seemed subtly off kilter and as the book progressed you could increasingly see it. The bedroom scene his reptilian eyes and the glowing.

 

[Randy M.]

That one's still in the TBR, but I admit that does sound odd.

Anyway, and going back to the premise of the thread:

Experimental Film by Gemma Files: Canadian film critic Lois Cairns comes across clips of old silent films and traces their origins. In the process of finding what is familiar about them, and learning their provenance, she places herself and her family in danger from an entity that wants entry into our world. Hackneyed as that sounds, Files does wonders with it, writing from Cairn's point of view, a point of view cluttered with self-doubt and deep concerns about her autistic son. This is exceptionally well-told.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay: Meredith – called Merry – and Marjorie are sisters. Merry is 8, and Marjorie is 14 and going insane. Or possessed by a demon. Or just a teenager, a smart teenager, watching her family disintegrate after her father, John, has lost his job at the toy factory. Or maybe she’s all of these or a combination. Mix into this possible religious mania, a priest whose motives are questionable, and a reality TV show crew set to record Marjorie's exorcism and the situation soon runs amok. Tremblay mixes the story of possession with a critique of the story of possession, and not always funny but quite accurate satire of television and religion, especially when mixed with TV.

These are two of the best novels I've read in the last few years.


Randy M.

 

[BAYLOR]

You might find Wetbones by John Shirley to be of interest.

Also Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco. This one is along similar lines to To Stephen Kings the Shinning. Its an excellent read

The Abyss by Jeremy Cunningham. This is a book either you like or hate there is no in between. The imagery and horror is very powerful stuff. The characterizations are bit shallow.