I make no secret of the fact that my favourite books are horror/paranormal stories. I just enjoy anything that is dark or eerie, so getting stuck into a good scary book is great for me. I wondered if there are any other big fans of horror here, and if so, what are your favourite books? Here is a list of my favourites - in no particular order: * The Exorcist * Nightfall * The Woman In Black * Pet Semetary * Shining * The Absence * Apartment 16 * Apartment 14F * The Dark Sacrament I'd love to know what your favourites are, and also if you have any recommendations
Books by Caitlin R. Kiernan are good ones to add to the list. I think her most recent is The Red Tree.
Whilst I have read others none have beaten the first I read - The Hound of Death by Agatha Christie. Also love Wilkie Collins. Although the novel isn't horror there are elements of Jane Eyre that really terrified me the Red Room and the elements with Rochester's wife.
While I wouldn't call myself much of a fan of horror/paranormal works, one book I would call "dark" that I love is "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton. Yeah it was assigned in highschool, but I still thought the whole story was very interesting and it definitely one of the darker books I've read. "Heart of Darkness" is also one of my all-time favorites, though I wouldn't say it's quite as dark as Frome or any of the books mentioned above.
Myself, I would have to say that two authors stand out in my mind. And both of them can scare the crap out of me. Robert E. Howard - Cthulhu: The mythos and kindred horrors. Robert E. Howard knows how to scare you (gave me nightmares for almost a month when I was younger). Clive Barker - The Great and Secret Show / Everville. Fantastic story telling and creepy stuff that really makes you think. Weaveworld is another great story as well.
I am fascinated by the dark stuff, which is why I read the stories of H.P. Lovecraft plus whatever else I can find online. But I am not a morbid person. I am not a razorblade-licking Goth. I am a Christian and as such I will always seek the light instead of the darkness, spiritually speaking. And yet the book covers in the Horror section at Chapters have always intrigued me. Warning to myself: When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares into you.
What? Are you implying that you are going to Hell for even as much as looking at horror fiction? I'm not a Christian myself, but I doubt that is how it works, except in Chick Tracts. Anyways, the aforementioned Lovecraft. His works have a certain quality to them, that I think are simply impossible to truly replicate. They are something that any fan of litterature should really give at least a glance.
Certainly not! But the Dark Side is extremely seductive ... I agree! But Lovecraft is not for everybody.
I've no fear about going to hell from reading horror, because I do not believe in God, but let's not get into that, I get into long-winded discussions about it all too often :| IS Lovecraft good? I am a fan of horror, but somehow his work has just never appealed to me, although I've never fully gave it a chance.
Now you've opened up a question that I probably write for hours about. Instead of listing book titles (because this would suddenly turn into a multiple page post, just from my post), I'm going to list authors. The first handful of authors will make you realize why I'm not listing titles, because I like most of what they have written. Stephen King Dean Koontz Bentley Little Richard Laymon Clive Barker Ray Bradbury Douglas Clegg Edgar Allen Poe Brian Keene Joe R Lansdale H P Lovecraft Brian Lumley Richard Matheson Peter Straub H G Wells Brandon Massey Gary A Braunbeck Scott Nicholson Poppy Z Brite Tamara Thorne John Saul Skip & Spector John Paul Allen Brett McBean Tom Giglio Should I go on? I think that's enough for now, but I can't leave out my favorite new author.... Terry Durbin.
Since reading Stoker's, Dracula at age nine, I've been a horror fan. Here is a list of my favorites, roughly in order (that could change by tomorrow); 'Salem's Lot Stephen King Summer of Night Dan Simmons They Thirst Rober R. McCammon The Shining King Collected works of E.A. Poe The Bad Place Dean Koontz The Doll Who Ate His Mother Ramsey Campbell Watchers Koontz Swan Song McCammon Carrion Comfort Simmons Thanks, Kevin you're shameless!
...Ha. Oh, honey, you're so confused. Branch out a little, eh? And don't be so stereotypical, please. I'm sure there is nothing in your religion that's against reading a good book every now and again. If horror is what you're interested in, check it out. Reading a book is a far cry from summoning demons to eat your unborn children while you dance around naked in the middle of the woods after having a blood orgy. I promise.
THIS. Poppy is amazing. Though not everything she's written has been horror. I'd suggest starting with Drawing Blood, then, perhaps, Lost Souls, and then Exquisite Corpse. However, that last one takes a special kind of person to appreciate its beauty. There are more, of course, but that would be a little unnecessary. I don't know how scary her books are though, really. They're good. They're horror. They're gripping. But... scary? I don't know. It's the closest I've ever gotten to being scared by a novel, but not quite there. If you want to REALLY get scared, I can hook you up with that. I don't know if you've ever heard the term, but creepypasta is brilliant for a good scare. If you haven't, its basically... Short stories that are really scary. Like, don't-sleep-for-2-nights kinda scary. Coming from someone who laughed in the face of paranormal activity. Its not published anywhere though, just sent around online, so, yeah. Send me a PM or something if you're interested. =)
Ha, I've been published on creepypasta, although recently it's been diluted down with a load of garbage. I also once got rejected for being 'too dark' which was easily a highlight in my career. Anyway if you want something that's going to freak you out and make you question if your life is really worth living, get any collection by Thomas Ligotti. I'm currently reading one of his books now, and there was a story in one about a deformed man who was buried alive it's the best thing I've ever read.
H.P. Lovecraft rocks. I love his story "The Beast in the Cave." The ending is deliciously disturbing and the questions it raises could be turned into a new horror story in itself. EDIT: "The Return" by Bentley Little needs to be on this list.
House of Leaves gets uncomfortably creepy after a while...creepy in that you periodically glance around at a noise you're sure you just heard...or at the shadow you were certain flitted at the periphery of your vision... Lovecraft is good but i have always found that either the story is awesome but the monster dumb....or the monster is awesome and the story weak...at the Mountains of Madness seems to avoid this trend...architecture is eerie...
no,lovecraft has very racist subtext in his work. i like: the exorcist 1408 lost boys(only the first one) flowers in the attic also,goths don't lick razor blades more than anyone else. they just look scary,and like creepy things and admit to it.
