# Good Horror.



## Industrial (Nov 14, 2008)

Give me all you're sick nasty horror.

I mess with Lovecraft, King, Matheson's, and Poe. Lovecraft is a beast.

Can anyone turn me on to some sick Lovecraftian shit or something just good?


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## shipwrecker (Nov 16, 2008)

Thematically, it would help me to know more about where your interests lean towards (obviously sick and twisted), as I've noticed that lots of horror readers tend to get/go on runs of "same topic" books (eg - zombies, vampires, etc.) once they read one they particularly enjoy. 

As a major league horror reader (and seeing who you've listed), I'd recommend you venture into reading books by:

Richard Laymon -- start w/ "The Cellar" (which leads to "the Beast House", then "The Midnight Tour"...then kind of peters out into a very hard to find "Friday Night in the Beast House"...no need)

Or, pick up "Island" (twisted), "One Rainy Night", "the Stake" and "No Sanctuary". He's done about thirty, check Amazon.

Bentley Little -- start w/ "The Store", "The Revelation", "The Association", "The Policy", "The Resort", "The Walking" or "The Collection" (shorts). He's done 21, a current favorite of mine. Sorta King-esque...way more plot movement/advancement every 10 or so pages

If zombies/post-apocalyptic aren't something that puts you off, pretty much anything published by Permuted Press, though I personally prefer the novels over the short story collections, I'd recommend highly. Ask and I'll list what I've really liked by them

John Skipp and Craig Spector - basically, their first three and "Book of the Dead".

Other aouthors to check out:
Clive Barker, Joe Lansdale, Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum, Dan Simmons, Phil Rickman, Brian Keene, Douglas Clegg, Ray Garton, Robert McCammon and a host of others that I can put book to name if interested...mostly one or two books or not on the tip of my fingers right now.


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## SevenWritez (Nov 16, 2008)

The last "horror" novel I rememebr reading was one from - I think - a year back, titled "Sharp Objects."

The horror involved is much more psychological than physical, though the visceral sense of bodily harm does crank up towards the end. It was a lazy though fun read.

Here's the Amazon page if you're interested: Amazon.com: Sharp Objects: A Novel: Gillian Flynn: Books


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## WriterDude (Nov 16, 2008)

Clive Barker - The Hellbound Heart (aka Hellraiser) and Books of Blood. It doesn't really get more sick and nasty than that.


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## Industrial (Nov 16, 2008)

Thanks for the authors I'm going to check some out.

I'm not really into the monster sub-culture. More of psychological horror.


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## Stewart (Nov 17, 2008)

Why am I seeing Richard Laymon's name in a thread about 'good horror'?


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## SoNickSays... (Nov 17, 2008)

Industrial said:


> Give me all you're sick nasty horror.
> 
> I mess with Lovecraft, King, Matheson's, and Poe. Lovecraft is a beast.
> 
> Can anyone turn me on to some sick Lovecraftian shit or something just good?



Meat, by Joseph D'Lacey.

A pretty sickening book on cannibalism.

Nick


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## Tarantula (Nov 17, 2008)

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.


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## Kayleigh7 (Nov 17, 2008)

omg! I've wanted to read that book Tarantula!! Was it good?


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## Tarantula (Nov 17, 2008)

I loved it. It has a fantastic creepy atmosphere and manages to scare without gore or monsters or ghosts or anything else you might be thinking of.


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## Wintermute (Nov 17, 2008)

Definitely Clive Barker for the sick and nasty.


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## LoveLetter, (Jan 1, 2009)

Read 'Hell House', by Richard Matheson. It's very twisted.


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## Generation (Jan 3, 2009)

'The Terror' by Dan Simmons was the last horror novel I read and is definitely worth checking out. Nothing in it is particularly sick or gruesome, but at does have some genuinely unsettling and scary moments in it.


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## kidstaple (Jan 9, 2009)

Stewart said:


> Why am I seeing Richard Laymon's name in a thread about 'good horror'?



Probably because he's amazing...


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## Talia_Brie (Jan 9, 2009)

kidstaple said:


> Probably because he's amazing...



That's a stretch. Laymon's little more than soft porn a lot of the time, and I wouldn't put him in the same sentence as Stephen King, and definitely wouldn't compare him with Lovecraft. Robert Bloch however...

I've also heard great things about House of Leaves, but it's hard to get.


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## kidstaple (Jan 10, 2009)

Maybe that's why he did so well in the UK?


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## shipwrecker (Jan 11, 2009)

I agree Kidstaple, although everyone is entitles to their opinions. Laymon is like an addiction for me. I own 31 of 41 of his titles (one being listed at well over $500...but I understand it should be re-released after 2010..._The Wilds. _Another, _A Writers Tale,_ was only pressed 1-500 (and the same few copies seem to bounce around E-Bay at about $400-$500). So those are two I don't expect to own anytime soon. Laymon isn't the only author I read in the genre (as I forsake writing frequently for reading unfortunately...I CAN'T stop), nor is he the greatest per singular story, but if you count volume of work that has no steep decline and always has entertained me, he was/is the best at his horror/slasher/creeper craft. I will say without reservation, or fear of what all the cool kids will say, that over the last few years Laymon is _the_ horror writer that I have _enjoyed the most and I look forward to reading anything I can get my hands on._

Also just got through w/ a few_ (City Infernal, Infernal Angel, Brides of the Impaler)_ Edward Lee books. I really enjoyed them as well. Especially the _Infernal series_ (have _House Infernal_ on the way).

As far as the Stephen King thing...if I have some of his books on my bookshelf, does this mean I need a different area to store them in as well? So the Laymon titles don't taint them? Should I contact Laymons widow and daughter and ask for Stephen King's endorsement to be removed from any future pressing of his titles?

Regardless, horror's a scream. Read some.


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## Industrial (Jan 12, 2009)

Talia_Brie said:


> That's a stretch. Laymon's little more than soft porn a lot of the time, and I wouldn't put him in the same sentence as Stephen King, and definitely wouldn't compare him with Lovecraft. Robert Bloch however...
> 
> I've also heard great things about House of Leaves, but it's hard to get.



Some of Robert Bloch's work goes hard. I have to say Lovecraft is the king though. I arrived at this conclusion after realizing that when I'm done reading a lovecraft story I feel like curling up in a corner and crying.

Stephen King is sick but lately it seems like he's just trying to sell books and ride the blockbuster New York times best seller wave.


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## kidstaple (Jan 12, 2009)

Industrial said:


> Some of Robert Bloch's work goes hard. I have to say Lovecraft is the king though. I arrived at this conclusion after realizing that when I'm done reading a lovecraft story I feel like curling up in a corner and crying.
> 
> Stephen King is sick but lately it seems like he's just trying to sell books and ride the blockbuster New York times best seller wave.



Hasn't he been doing that for the last thirty years or so?

I'm not trying to stick up for Stephen King, -- not even in the slightest -- but I think that if a person were to sit down and read some of his new stuff, they would realize, that as a writer, he has become more mature in his writing voice than he ever was before. And I think because of it, there are many more people who are willing to read his stuff, or pick up one of his new books randomly and give it a whirl and see if they like it. Thus, growing his fan base, and keeping his status as a New York Times Bestseller, alive and going.


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## An Axe to Grundd (Jan 19, 2009)

I agree. Stephen King has matured as a writer. Sure, maybe he sold out a little, but most success stories require this because so many people are narrow minded about their media, they don't want to be challenged. I thoroughly enjoyed Cell, The Duma Key, and Lisey's Story. I thought Lisey's Story was one of his very best.

House of Leaves was fantastic! I love it. Creepy as hell, I slept with the lights on.


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## Katastrof (Feb 7, 2009)

An Axe to Grundd said:


> House of Leaves was fantastic! I love it. Creepy as hell, I slept with the lights on.



Only book I've read that actually fucks with your mind. I loved it. The footnotes get tedious, but the book has got to be one of the most refreshing in terms of horror and style.


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## Crazed Scribe (Feb 14, 2009)

The Darren Shan books by Darren Shan are good books - I enjoyed them anyway ! although they're probably the only horror i've really ever read and they're not really scary. Not the less perhaps worth a go?


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## Katastrof (Feb 14, 2009)

crazed scribe said:


> The Darren Shan books by Darren Shan are good books - I enjoyed them anyway ! although they're probably the only horror i've really ever read and they're not really scary. Not the less perhaps worth a go?



I read his _Procession of the Dead_; alot of plot holes and not written very well. Might just be me though. I read the whole thing, but that might have been just to see if the whole thing was just a dream...it wasn't.


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## Industrial (Feb 17, 2009)

Not really a big fan of Darren Shan. I can't say he is anything special.


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## Deleted member 14306 (Apr 26, 2009)

Read "A House on Haunted Hill" by Shirley Jackson


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## Leyline (Apr 26, 2009)

_Our Lady Of Darkness_ Fritz Leiber.

I read mostly short fiction, though. Check out any collection by Joe Lansdale. He rocks. He does every shade of horror from the splattermad to the slightly bizarre to the flat out comic, and does it well. _High Cotton_ is a good one to start with.

Also always worth the read are any of the Datlow/Windling edited _Year's Best Fantasy & Horror_. The two editors have very good taste and very broad tastes, so there's sure to be something in these huge collections to appeal to you. In the Sixteenth collection, China Mieville has a story called "Details" that is the best Lovecraft inspired tale I've ever read. It came from a collection called _Children Of Cthulu_, so you may also be interested in that.


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## Talia_Brie (Apr 26, 2009)

Vulgar` said:


> Read "A House on Haunted Hill" by Shirley Jackson



Anything by Shirley Jackson, but I think you're talking about _The Haunting of Hill House_.


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## Kayleigh7 (Apr 27, 2009)

Jack Ketchum has some sick and twisted stuff. Open Season and the sequel to it were almost too much in my opinion.


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## Stewart (Jun 3, 2009)

An Axe to Grundd said:


> I thought Lisey's Story was one of [King's] very best.


We have a thread on it *here*. I thought it a dreadful attempt at trying to be more literary and, despite being a voracious reader, he's just not able to carry off the influential styles of others to his own prose.


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## Tussell (Jul 2, 2009)

WriterDude said:


> Clive Barker - The Hellbound Heart (aka Hellraiser) and Books of Blood. It doesn't really get more sick and nasty than that.


I would like to also vote for The Hellbound Heart. It's a wonderful book! Definitely check it out! It's a quick and easy read and it will keep you wanting more.


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## Kayleigh7 (Jul 2, 2009)

An Axe to Grundd said:


> I agree. Stephen King has matured as a writer. Sure, maybe he sold out a little, but most success stories require this because so many people are narrow minded about their media, they don't want to be challenged. I thoroughly enjoyed Cell, The Duma Key, and Lisey's Story. I thought Lisey's Story was one of his very best.
> 
> *House of Leaves was fantastic! I love it. Creepy as hell, I slept with the lights on.*


 

finished this about a month ago and absolutely loved it. It sucks you in and when you're not reading it you are thinking about it. Or at least I was.


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## kidstaple (Aug 9, 2009)

Stewart said:


> We have a thread on it *here*. I thought it a dreadful attempt at trying to be more literary and, despite being a voracious reader, he's just not able to carry off the influential styles of others to his own prose.




I haven't had the chance to sit down and read _Lisey's Story_ yet, but as soon as my reading schedule opens up for a brief amount of time, I plan on picking this little morsel up and devouring it. Whether it is shit or not. King is a better writer than I'll ever be, so even if it is shit, I'm not going to complain to loudly about it.

Also, for anyone who does like Richard Laymon, or for that matter gritty, visceral, hardcore horror, then I highly recommend reading anything and everything by a man named Brian Keene. He's brilliant.

I'm about to finish up _The Strain _by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. So far, it's brilliant. I'm finding out rather quickly that anything with del Toro's name on it, is going to be excellent. del Toro gives a new twist to vampire's that I think really needed it, especially after that whole Stephanie Meyer fiasco, that the silent majority are regretting now.


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## moderan (Nov 25, 2009)

Some stuff not mentioned-Dennis Etchison's Red Dreams and Dark Country are superb volumes of short fiction. His auteurial voice is unique and the stories are well-written, unusual, and satisfying in a sick way.
John Farris' All Heads Turn As the Hunt Goes By has a number of genuinely creepy moments...imo it's much better than the bulk of his output, which is pedestrian.
Almost anything by James Herbert is worth picking up Likewise C.L. Grant.
LP Davies' The Paper Dolls is an excellent and overlooked volume. You could also pick up a collection or novel by Ramsey Campbell, onetime Lovecraft disciple and the man who inspired Clive Barker to write horror. Particularly recommended are the collection Cold Print and the novel Ancient Images.
Ira Levin is another name to reckon with. His titles are well-known because most of them became movies, but the books are better. Rosemary's Baby, This Perfect World, The Stepford Wives, The Boys from Brazil...those are good reading.
Nobody has mentioned in this thread the redoubtable Richard Matheson. Possibly the best fit is his Hell House, which attempts to one-up Shirley Jackson and almost succeeds.


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