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Horror novel recommendations...?

Vanillaphant

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Hello, hello.

Got any?

I like a good horror film, but, whatever reason, I’ve read very few horror novels. Had a bit of a hankering for ‘em recently though.

To be honest, I’ve never really given Stephen King much of a chance. Tried reading Misery once but wasn’t all that keen. May have been a bad choice on my part though. I chose to read that one cos I really liked the film… But of course, not a great deal happens in terms of plot lol. So unless you’re getting a lot of enjoyment from the technical aspect of the writing, it’s one of those stories that can bore you pretty quickly, I reckon!

So if you were to recommend a Stephen King novel, which would it be?

Would be great to hear the names of some lesser-known authors too, of course!

Cheeyers! :)
 
Salem's Lot - Stephen King's second book, I believe. Fantastic vampire story, I highly recommend it.
 
You can't go wrong with anything labeled HP Lovecraft, IMO. I like Clive Barker too.

If you wanna stick to Stephen King, I highly recommend IT and the sequel he recently published to The Shining: Doctor Sleep.
 
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House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

The Communion by Whitley Strieber
 
I would second reading IT by King, and Salem's Lot. Two of his best, IMO. Also a huge fan of Lovecraft. That being said, If you like Lovecraft, I would also highly recommend an author by the name of Brian Keene. I've read most of his work, and he himself has created something of his own Mytho's, with a heavy use of String Theory and the use of great ancient evils. If you chose to go that route, Earthworm Gods, The Rising, or Darkness on the Edge of Town are great places to start. I would warn you though, the man can write pretty graphically at times, but still love his work.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

Regarding King: consider Salem’s Lot, IT and Doctor Sleep duly noted! Forgot to mention in the opening post that I've read – and enjoyed – King’s non-fiction book On Writing. I was kinda surprised: he’s a funnier, more endearing character than I expected. And when he was discussing what’s important in writing and the kinds of habits that irritate him as a reader, I found myself nodding and thinking, “Yes, good point! Couldn’t agree more!” So it was kinda weird when I didn’t enjoy Misery lol. But like I say, probably a bad choice on my part.

Love a bit of Lovecraft! :D He’s the only horror writer I’ve read a reasonable amount of – mostly short stories, of course. I like his writing style – very exact, almost clinical, you could say. You can see why he would make scientists and academics the narrators for so many of his stories; that sort of voice suits his style perfectly, IMO.

Thought I recognized the name Clive Barker – I’d looked him up before, and not long ago either. Or rather, I looked up Candyman, which then led me to his Wiki page entry. Never read his stuff though. I think the Hellraiser thing is maybe putting me off a bit lol. Not that I’ve seen the film. But anything that tends toward the torturous/sadistic makes me feel queasy. Just don’t have the stomach for it! lol

Never heard of Danielewski or Strieber. House of Leaves sounds interesting. Wikipedia tells me it’s “a prime example of ergodic literature”. Which is great, cos, you know, I love that stuff. Yep. Can’t get enough of it. Yes siree! The olllllle ergodic literature… :ermm: :shrug: lol I’ve looked up the term and I still don’t understand what it means! Maybe it’s one of those things that becomes clearer once you’ve experienced it. Bloody well hope so anyway! lol Intriguing…

Tried reading Henry James once but found it hard-going - something about his style that didn’t suit me. There again, could be another case of bad choosing on my part (think it was The Portrait of a Lady). The Turn of the Screw sounds a bit more like it, to be fair. Love a good ghost story! :D

Not heard of Brian Keene either. Definitely sounds like he’s worth a bash though!
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

Tried reading Henry James once but found it hard-going - something about his style that didn’t suit me. There again, could be another case of bad choosing on my part (think it was The Portrait of a Lady). The Turn of the Screw sounds a bit more like it, to be fair. Love a good ghost story! :D

You're welcome. Read it in my high school years. You see, what I love about books is the atmosphere it can create in your mind that is far from what is captured when books become movies. I don't know what you mean by "hard-going," but if I can relate, it's hard-going for me either. It has the distinct eerie/solitary feeling which is close to what I felt when I read the non-horror novel "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles during those years.
 
Yeah, Communion was terrifying....damn, I remember reading that before I went to bed a few times and it was very bad idea.
 
This thread is awesome! :xpulcy:

I would second reading IT by King, and Salem's Lot. Two of his best, IMO. Also a huge fan of Lovecraft. That being said, If you like Lovecraft, I would also highly recommend an author by the name of Brian Keene. I've read most of his work, and he himself has created something of his own Mytho's, with a heavy use of String Theory and the use of great ancient evils. If you chose to go that route, Earthworm Gods, The Rising, or Darkness on the Edge of Town are great places to start. I would warn you though, the man can write pretty graphically at times, but still love his work.

Thank you! I'll definitely check it out!


Thanks for the replies so far.

Regarding King: consider Salem’s Lot, IT and Doctor Sleep duly noted! Forgot to mention in the opening post that I've read – and enjoyed – King’s non-fiction book On Writing. I was kinda surprised: he’s a funnier, more endearing character than I expected. And when he was discussing what’s important in writing and the kinds of habits that irritate him as a reader, I found myself nodding and thinking, “Yes, good point! Couldn’t agree more!” So it was kinda weird when I didn’t enjoy Misery lol. But like I say, probably a bad choice on my part.

Love a bit of Lovecraft! :D He’s the only horror writer I’ve read a reasonable amount of – mostly short stories, of course. I like his writing style – very exact, almost clinical, you could say. You can see why he would make scientists and academics the narrators for so many of his stories; that sort of voice suits his style perfectly, IMO.

Thought I recognized the name Clive Barker – I’d looked him up before, and not long ago either. Or rather, I looked up Candyman, which then led me to his Wiki page entry. Never read his stuff though. I think the Hellraiser thing is maybe putting me off a bit lol. Not that I’ve seen the film. But anything that tends toward the torturous/sadistic makes me feel queasy. Just don’t have the stomach for it! lol

Never heard of Danielewski or Strieber. House of Leaves sounds interesting. Wikipedia tells me it’s “a prime example of ergodic literature”. Which is great, cos, you know, I love that stuff. Yep. Can’t get enough of it. Yes siree! The olllllle ergodic literature… :ermm: :shrug: lol I’ve looked up the term and I still don’t understand what it means! Maybe it’s one of those things that becomes clearer once you’ve experienced it. Bloody well hope so anyway! lol Intriguing…

Tried reading Henry James once but found it hard-going - something about his style that didn’t suit me. There again, could be another case of bad choosing on my part (think it was The Portrait of a Lady). The Turn of the Screw sounds a bit more like it, to be fair. Love a good ghost story! :D

Not heard of Brian Keene either. Definitely sounds like he’s worth a bash though!

I agree with you on Lovecraft! I'd even double down: his style is what drew me in, in the first place.

As for Clive Barker, I plead guilty of unabashed sadism and fascination for the more visceral genre of horror: body horror, sexual torture, etc... In fact, more than monsters and ghosts, the kind of horror that really gets to me is the monstrosity of human beings. For me, the best brand of terror is the kind of atrocities humans inflict upon each other rather than the supernatural. I find a concentration camp to be a far more frightening place than any haunted house. :scream:
 
If you like HP Lovecraft, one of his influences was Algernon Blackwood. "The Willows" is a great story.

Shirley Jackson is one people forget but I can't recommend enough. I really get caught up with her storytelling. She was most famous for the short story "The Lottery", but the novels "We Have Always Lived in the Castle", and "The Haunting of Hill House" are my favorites.

A few newer ones I loved:. "God is a Bullet" by Boston Tehran; "Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill; "Intensity" by Dean Koontz
 
Has anyone mentioned HP Lovecraft yet? :)

I used to like Dean Koontz who strays into horror but also explores the thriller and sci-fi genres in a low-key way. For more 'schlocky' but fun horror the Richard Laymon books are worth a look. They're the literary equivalent of backwoods slasher movies - hormonally charged college students, slavering fiends and subhuman monsters. A definite guilty pleasure.

I'll mention 'World War Z' it as it is a zombie book although I don't know if I'd call it horror. If you saw the Brad Pitt movie, they basically took the book's title and threw out all the good stuff. A serious missed opportunity. I love the book.

In terms of pure horror, the book that really stayed with me for a long time is 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. Apparently 'Blood Meridian' is equally harrowing but I haven't read that one.
 
Most definitely, Needful Things. I loved it.

Also noted!


If you like HP Lovecraft, one of his influences was Algernon Blackwood. "The Willows" is a great story.

Shirley Jackson is one people forget but I can't recommend enough. I really get caught up with her storytelling. She was most famous for the short story "The Lottery", but the novels "We Have Always Lived in the Castle", and "The Haunting of Hill House" are my favorites.

A few newer ones I loved:. "God is a Bullet" by Boston Tehran; "Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill; "Intensity" by Dean Koontz

Those newer novels sound like they might be too heavy in subject matter for my personal tastes, but Shirley Jackson sounds like an author I might enjoy. I particularly like the sound of The Haunting of Hill House, and The Lottery made me think of the film The Wicker Man lol – which is no bad thing!

And as for Algernon Blackwood… An English author… who influenced Lovecraft… and his name’s Algernon…?! I’m all over it! King may have to wait now. lol


Has anyone mentioned HP Lovecraft yet? :)

I used to like Dean Koontz who strays into horror but also explores the thriller and sci-fi genres in a low-key way. For more 'schlocky' but fun horror the Richard Laymon books are worth a look. They're the literary equivalent of backwoods slasher movies - hormonally charged college students, slavering fiends and subhuman monsters. A definite guilty pleasure.

I'll mention 'World War Z' it as it is a zombie book although I don't know if I'd call it horror. If you saw the Brad Pitt movie, they basically took the book's title and threw out all the good stuff. A serious missed opportunity. I love the book.

In terms of pure horror, the book that really stayed with me for a long time is 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. Apparently 'Blood Meridian' is equally harrowing but I haven't read that one.

Cormac McCarthy is a writer I’ve been meaning to read for a while now. I know The Road got great reviews, so it seems like a good one to try.

And your mentioning of Richard Laymon has taught me another new term: splatterpunk. Think I can make sense of that one! lol
 
Also noted!




Those newer novels sound like they might be too heavy in subject matter for my personal tastes, but Shirley Jackson sounds like an author I might enjoy. I particularly like the sound of The Haunting of Hill House, and The Lottery made me think of the film The Wicker Man lol – which is no bad thing!

And as for Algernon Blackwood… An English author… who influenced Lovecraft… and his name’s Algernon…?! I’m all over it! King may have to wait now. lol




Cormac McCarthy is a writer I’ve been meaning to read for a while now. I know The Road got great reviews, so it seems like a good one to try.

l

Algernon Blackwood is pretty awesome &#55357;&#56834;. If you are a fan of classic horror that's more sinister and creepy without being graphic and bloody, you will love both him and Shirley Jackson. And in fact... I just saw after a google search that a ton of Algernon Blackwood's stories, including "The Willows", are available for free to read at www.algernonblackwood.org

I also read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It is really good and emotional, and also hints more at the horror of the situation than graphically describing it. The writing style is unusual and can be off-putting at first; it immerses you in the first-person narrative of the world surrounding the protagonist with no preamble or set up, so you only slowly begin to get the idea of what is really going on as you read it. But once you get into it, it delivers a huge emotional journey and harrowing plot.
 
Another one I feel deserves to be recommended, because it's the most horrific, disturbing book I have ever read in my life, is "The Obscene Bird of Night" by Jose Donoso. But... If you dislike heavy subject matter and graphic scenes it probably won't be one you want to read. The graphic parts are incredibly sick and disgusting, but they aren't frequently used... There's really only 2-3 of them...but... The thing that made the book stand out to me, and freaked me out so much tbh, is the two main places where the plot takes place, are main characters in and of themselves... And they are horrifying places, and the book slowly makes you feel trapped forever in each one. It's another one with off-putting, strange styles in the writing... The narrative is told by several characters, and one of them seems to kind of meld with others or morph into them, sometimes mid-paragraph with no warning or explanation, so you never really are clear who is speaking. But that only adds to the idea that the setting is really the main character, and the actual characters are just different manifestations of it.

It's considered a classic and I read it as part of a reading challenge for classic fiction, not knowing what I was getting into ;). This guy's analysis probably is the best explanation of the reasons why the book was considered an important work, and also why it is so unsettling. www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-body-as-society-prison-and-torture-device-jose-donosos-fiction/

It'sI kinda wordy/"scholarly" but the last few paragraphs really nail down what I meant about how it makes you feel trapped:

"The structural elements by which Donoso guides the reader are partly symbolic, but operate with an uncommonly tangible physical architecture. Donoso works with a physical sense of place at an astonishing level, matching that of Kafka and Beckett. (He built several houses and gardens for his family, losing some to poverty.)

There are three environments around which the book is structured: the labyrinthine Casa for nuns, old women, and orphans; La Rinconada, the house of freaks where Boy is isolated from the outside world; and the narrator’s body itself, which swells and shrinks to encompass all places and eventually suffocates the narrator.

The Obscene Bird of Night depicts the limits and constraints of our lives—any and all of them—as physical spaces. These places, most represented quite viscerally, are primarily the following: a building, one’s country, the womb, the body, one’s skin (as opposed to the body), socio-economic class, one’s family, and of course the book. If they close completely, we cease to exist. If they open completely, we cease to exist."

This book made me feel sick for weeks after reading it, so I recommend with caution, but won't ever re-read it either ;)
 
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"Sphere" by Michael Chrichton was a pretty horrifying read. As someone who already has a slight fear of the ocean and of isolation; being trapped underneath the ocean being attack by some mysterious creature is just horrifying (at least to me).
 
I just saw after a google search that a ton of Algernon Blackwood's stories, including "The Willows", are available for free to read at www.algernonblackwood.org

Ah, thank you! Never occurs to me to look for literature online - which is kinda stoopid! If I'm not reading it from a book, it doesn't seem right somehow lol. Will definitely check out that site though. Cheers.
 
You might like to give Richard Matheson a try - "I Am Legend" and "Hell House" are worth reading. Someone once said "Hell House" was "the most frightening haunted house novel in English," and I agree. Matheson also wrote "A Stir of Echoes," which I haven't read yet but I loved the movie based on it.

Speaking of Stephen King, has anybody else read his other non-fiction book, "Danse Macabre"?
 
I tried to get into Lovecraft but his novel's negative portrayal of women and African Americans kept me from enjoying it.

Steven King on the other hand has created some definately horrifying monsters (most notably Pennywise from his novel "It").

What I like about Steven King's work is that most of the time the good guys end up escaping/defeating the monster with only SOME losses instead of a complete bad ending where everyone dies.
 
Another thank you - for the recommendations that I didn't respond to directly.

@ILuvDebonairDamsels (re: Lovecraft)
Really? I can honestly say I'd never noticed anything egregious in those respects. It would be interesting to know whether he was considered bigoted at the time. Keep in mind, the guy was writing 100 years ago lol.
 
Really? I can honestly say I'd never noticed anything egregious in those respects. It would be interesting to know whether he was considered bigoted at the time. Keep in mind, the guy was writing 100 years ago lol.

Writing content that includes examples of racism and sexism may be appropriate for some novels (aka trying to show the injustice of some parts of history or even trying to be historically accurate) but it gets extremely offensive when the author does it repeatedly in his work because he is actually on record of having racist and sexist beliefs.
 
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Writing content that includes examples of racism and sexism may be appropriate for some novels (aka trying to show the injustice of some parts of history or even trying to be historically accurate) but it gets extremely offensive when the author does it repeatedly in his work because he is actually on record of having racist and sexist beliefs.

Jesus Christ... Forgive the man; he couldn't have foreseen how utterly stupid 21st Century readers would have become. I mean, it's already dubious enough to impose a standard on people who are alive NOW, so people who wrote in the 1920's? :sowrong:

It's great literature, by any standard. You really wanna live in a world where people don't read Shakespeare, the Bible, or Stevenson anymore, just to name a few?
 
Jesus Christ... Forgive the man; he couldn't have foreseen how utterly stupid 21st Century readers would have become. I mean, it's already dubious enough to impose a standard on people who are alive NOW, so people who wrote in the 1920's?

While I admit it is great literature, and do love the man's work, from everything I've looked up, even by the standards of the time, Lovecraft was pretty racist. When I first heard about it, I also just assumed it was because of the time period he lived in, but after looking around, it seems that it's not the case.
 
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