# Anyone know some good horror books?



## PageOfCups (May 3, 2008)

Hi, I used to read horror books a lot when I was a kid but then I drifted over to fantasy. Lately though I've been getting curious about horror again. The problem with this is that when I took a look at the horror section the whole thing was taken up by Stephen King (who I have nothing against, but my mother was a prolific horror reader and tells me that he has one or two excellant books but the rest are mediocre and that seems to be the general concensus), Dean Koontz (who just doesn't interest me for some reason), and a slew of books with watered down vampires.

The last of these is what bothers me most. To me a horror book should be scary or it should make you cringe. Those books don't do either.

So I was wondering if someone could recomend me some good horror books that don't fall into any of those catagories. Thank you ^.^


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## Linton Robinson (May 3, 2008)

H.P. Lovecraft


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## PageOfCups (May 3, 2008)

Anything by him in particular or is pretty much everything of his worth reading? (thanks by the way)


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## SoNickSays... (May 4, 2008)

I know you said not Stephen King, but I DO recommend Cell. 

I know what you mean by King. The general plot of the book will be good, but then he seems to drift off into random explanations of completely irrelevant things.

But, Cell kept me interested (which is rare to me for a book of that size and for the annoying style King writes in), so hopefully it should you too.


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## PageOfCups (May 4, 2008)

Well, I was really hoping to hear about authors that I'd never heard of, but I'll take a look at Cell. Thanks for telling me about it ^.^


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## Sam (May 4, 2008)

_Cell_, in my opinion, is one of King's finest pieces of literature. For once the man didn't go off on a tangent every page. 

Koontz is pretty good - I recommend reading _The Taking. 

_Richard Matheson - _I am Legend. _

F. Paul Wilson - _The Keep. 

_Susan Hill - _The Woman in Black. _(Chilling novel.)

Thomas Harris - _The Silence of the Lambs

_Clive Barker - Pretty much anything he's written. 


Sam.


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## PageOfCups (May 4, 2008)

I've read one of Barkers, Cabal. I've ordered another one (The Hellbound Heart). Cabal was actually the book that reignited my interest in horror.

Thanks for the other recomendations ^.^ I'll definitely have to look into them.


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## Sam (May 4, 2008)

Jack Priest - _Gecko 

_James Rollins - _The Judas Strain 

_Richard K. Morgan - Th1rTe3n (Thirteen)  



Sam.


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## Sam (May 4, 2008)

Glad to help. 

Sam.


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## Katastrof (May 4, 2008)

H.P Lovecraft's mostly shorts (I think) but they are really, really good. Some are bit on the long side and some are only for the most hardcore Lovecraft fans but here are a few good ones that I loved reading:
_
The Call of the Cthulhu
The Whisperer in the Darkness
The Music of Erich Zann
Pickman's Model
The Color of Outer Space 

_He's got a lot more but these I thought were the best that I have read so far.


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## PageOfCups (May 4, 2008)

I thought James Rollins wrote action/thriller. I've got one of his (Map of Bones) and really enjoyed it. I didn't realise he wrote horror under that name. (I know he writes fantasy under the pen name James Clemens, he's kind of my role model when it comes to writing.)

The title Thirteen sounds familiar as well.

And Katastrof, thank you for letting me know what I'm looking for when it comes to Lovecraft ^.^


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## Dr. Malone (May 4, 2008)

Good horror?  I didn't know there was such a thing.

Everyone raves on Lovecraft.  I have his complete works but have yet to read a single story.

Thomas Harris writes good page turners, but I always thought of them more as detective novels than horror, although I can see how they could be viewed that way.

Koontz is lame, watered down shit.

King is the man in this genre.  IT, The Stand, The Dark Half, Christine, Desperation...I could go on and on.  I've yet to find another writer in the horror genre that interest me anywhere near the level of King.  He's as famous as he is for a reason.


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## SoNickSays... (May 5, 2008)

I have heard of the success King received for The Stand, and I suppose once you're in to it The Dark Half gets good, but beware of IT and Christine! He just goes on and on and on and on!

Especially with IT. 

Erm... to be very honest, King is really the only horror writer I have had the pleasure of reading a book from. Four Past Midnight, maybe? The Langoliers and Library Policeman are good inside that book. 

Other than those I really can't suggest better horror books. I've been getting into them too, so I may have to check out the ones people recommend.


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## SoNickSays... (May 5, 2008)

I have heard of the success King received for The Stand, and I suppose once you're in to it The Dark Half gets good, but beware of IT and Christine! He just goes on and on and on and on!

Especially with IT. 

Erm... to be very honest, King is really the only horror writer I have had the pleasure of reading a book from. Four Past Midnight, maybe? The Langoliers and Library Policeman are good inside that book. 

Other than those I really can't suggest better horror books. I've been getting into them too, so I may have to check out the ones people recommend.


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## horrormike (May 5, 2008)

I would reccomend Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Poppy Z. Brite, Ryan Harding, Michael Slade, Bret Easton Ellis, Matthew Stokoe, John Skipp, and Monica J. O'Rourke. Those are all "extreme horror" authors, which is the genre I dig, and discovered after suffering pretty bad horror burnout (there are only so many zombie/vampire stories you can read!)


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## Dr. Malone (May 6, 2008)

I've never understood why people try to group Easton-Ellis into the horror genre.  Only one of his books come close, and it is much more a social commentary/satire with violence than horror.


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## buyjupiter03 (May 6, 2008)

For sheer creepiness value (and it still spooks me) "Something Wicked This Way Comes" is great.

Also, King's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" has a few really great horror short stories. "Crouch End" is really worth a look at.

Kostova's "The Historian" had some genuinely creepy bits in it. It is rather long (800 pgs I think), and it's more a historical novel about the origins of Dracula...but really well written/researched.

Lovecraft, well he's interesting. More fantastic fiction than horror IMO. Gaiman did an interesting tribute story to him in "Smoke and Mirrors". Actually I'd recommend Gaiman for good strange and almost horror reading.


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## Katastrof (May 6, 2008)

buyjupiter03 said:


> Also, King's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" has a few really great horror short stories. "Crouch End" is really worth a look at.



I've read that one! It's really good, which is surprising because the beginning is really slow. Really one of the best ones in that collection, well besides the one story about the House that is a rocket ship...


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## RinK (May 13, 2008)

SoNickSays... said:


> The general plot of the book will be good, but then he seems to drift off into random explanations of completely irrelevant things.


 
I disagree. Even his irrelevance is well-done and interesting.  I love the fact that you can see from every character's point of view - by the end of the book, everything is so clear.

He writes good short stories too, though.

Try Richard Matheson. Great writer - an inspiration of Stephen King. I'm sure you've already heard of him, but if you haven't gotten a chance to read any of his works, I'd definitely recommend it. Especially his short stories.


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## Damian_Rucci (May 20, 2008)

Anything by Stephen King(shouldn't always listen to what you hear) but some others would have to be by Koontz and by Hitchcock


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## starseed (May 20, 2008)

I don't think Ive ever found a book I thought was scary. 

Maybe I should write one.



I wouldn't really consider it horror, but I love _The Silence of The Lambs._


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## CourtneyC (May 21, 2008)

Try checking out "John Dies at the End" by David Wong. It's a horror-humor book. Although the two genres sound difficult to blend together, he managed it really well.

It's the kind of horror that isn't really that scary while you're reading it, but makes you paranoid once you put it down.

If you're interested, he's got a website where he actually has the entire book available for free. Or if sitting down on a couch is more your thing, it's been published too. Website is http://www.johndiesattheend.com/


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## LionofPerth (May 21, 2008)

Dare I say Brian Lumley's Necroscope books?

I like them, while not that scary to me, they are rather... grim at times.


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## Damian_Rucci (May 21, 2008)

LionofPerth said:


> Dare I say Brian Lumley's Necroscope books?
> 
> I like them, while not that scary to me, they are rather... grim at times.


my step dad is reading those books I've checked the back of them and they seem really kick ass.


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## starseed (May 21, 2008)

Something Wicked this way Comes is next on my list.

Sounds interesting, and I love all the Bradbury Ive ever read.


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## moderan (Jun 11, 2008)

Matheson wrote a goodly number of horror novels...I Am Legend and The Legend of Hell House are highly recommended. His Twilight Zone colleague Charles Beaumont is also recommended-his omnibus The Howling Man is very good.
Lovecraft and Poe are givens (though Lovecraft is really more sf than horror)...I'd also recommend Ambrose Bierce for classic horror. A best of collection or any omnibus would fill the bill.
I don't care for vampires/werewolves or ghosts usually...however Shirley Jackson is a name to consider. The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House are classics and must-reads.
Dennis Etchison's collections Red Dreams and The Death Artist are high-quality short stories.


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## GooGooMuck (Jun 13, 2008)

There's a great Lovecraft collection called 'The Road to Madness', it has a lot of his great stuff like Dagon, Herbert West- Reanimator, The Horror at Red Hook, and at the Mountains of Madness. Definitely check out Thomas Harris' stuff as well, Red Dragon is particularly good.


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## Jocelyn (Jun 13, 2008)

I just finished _Heart-Shaped Box_ by Joe Hill.  He is the son of Stephen King.  I could see some of King's influence on his writing, but Joe definitely has a voice of his own--and he did not go off on lengthy tangents like King tends to do.  It wasn't downright scary, but it was creepy and kept my interest.


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## BOURBON (Jun 13, 2008)

I am a big fan of Curt Siodmak. Donovan's Brain is on my desert island list of books. Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby is creepy. James' Turn of The Screw. Uncle Silas by Sheridan Lefanu. I also love curling up with Stoker's Dracula.


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## moderan (Jul 10, 2008)

I have to thank you, Bourbon, for the above recommendation...I had read Donovan's Brain before, way back in high school, and after seeing this, I found a couple of his other books at the local used shop. Hauser's Memory is a must-read imo.
Siodmak is also responsible for a number of classic screenplays, for example, the Wolf Man and I Walked With a Zombie. He did a lot of other b-movie scripts as well...some of them are pretty silly, but the dialogue is usually good.


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