What is horror fiction?
This is a place for all horror fans and newcomers to come and get recommendations, give recommendations and generally discuss all things related to the genre. I will do my best to keep the opening posts updated with anyone's recommendations. Please let me know if you would like me to add it, and I will be happy to do so and give credit where it is due. I will try to follow the thread and add user’s contributions, but you can also add them to this Google document if you don’t see me adding them, and I will be sure to get them eventually.
Post 1: Books
Finding horror novels:
How do you find horror novels to read? Well that is a largely the point of this thread. Getting book recommendations from other readers and fans. Also I would recommend delving deeply into amazon’s recommended books, and books purchased by people that bought the book you own. I have found many of my favorite books using this method.
And finally I recommend just browsing. Not just in the used book store’s horror section(which is still excellent), but my favorite method, goodwill. Go to Goodwill and just browse the books, and find books with lurid covers, preferably with cutouts. That is the best way to find those wonderful b-grade guilty pleasures like books about giant rampaging crabs.
Authors:
Here are a list of authors that any horror fan should in general be pleased to read. The original list is by myself, but I am hoping for additions from readers. Comments below are of course my own, I ask everyone to please add their own if they differ from mine. I am hoping to grow these lists constantly as I find more books to recommend and other user’s recommendations come in.
Sometimes it is not an author that is great but just a single novel, from someone that doesn’t write many books, or doesn’t typically write horror novels.
Anthology Recommendations
Series Recommendations:
Graphic Novels:
Upcoming books:
Related threads:
Looking for a truly scary book
What are you reading (September 2012)
What makes horror literature so pervasive is that its need to evoke the necessary atmosphere and sense of emotional dread is utterly dependent on who we are as readers -- as people. As children, we might be afraid of the shadows looming from a half-closed closet door or of the monster we believe lies under the bed. Terrors of the imagination run wild at that age. As adults, our fears become more sophisticated, more grounded in worldly events. They become the death of a loved one, the terminal illness of a small child, the fear of our lives running out of our control. Horror, by nature, is a personal touch -- an intrusion into our comfort levels. It speaks of the human condition and forcibly reminds us of how little we actually know and understand.
This is a place for all horror fans and newcomers to come and get recommendations, give recommendations and generally discuss all things related to the genre. I will do my best to keep the opening posts updated with anyone's recommendations. Please let me know if you would like me to add it, and I will be happy to do so and give credit where it is due. I will try to follow the thread and add user’s contributions, but you can also add them to this Google document if you don’t see me adding them, and I will be sure to get them eventually.
Post 1: Books
Finding horror novels:
How do you find horror novels to read? Well that is a largely the point of this thread. Getting book recommendations from other readers and fans. Also I would recommend delving deeply into amazon’s recommended books, and books purchased by people that bought the book you own. I have found many of my favorite books using this method.
And finally I recommend just browsing. Not just in the used book store’s horror section(which is still excellent), but my favorite method, goodwill. Go to Goodwill and just browse the books, and find books with lurid covers, preferably with cutouts. That is the best way to find those wonderful b-grade guilty pleasures like books about giant rampaging crabs.
Authors:
Here are a list of authors that any horror fan should in general be pleased to read. The original list is by myself, but I am hoping for additions from readers. Comments below are of course my own, I ask everyone to please add their own if they differ from mine. I am hoping to grow these lists constantly as I find more books to recommend and other user’s recommendations come in.
[*]Clive Barker
Amazon Page Link
Wikipedia Page Link
One of the classic horror authors, you can’t go wrong with his short stories. If you are looking for a novel I would recommend “The Damnation Game". He is of course the person behind the stories of Candyman, Hellraiser, and The Midnight Meat Train, to name some of his movies.
[*]Robert Bloch(bengraven)
Wikipedia Page Link
Author of psycho, and was mentored by Lovecraft.
[*]Stephen King
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Wikipedia Page Link
If you have never heard of Stephen King......then I am dumbfounded. Probably the biggest name is horror fiction, and for good reason. The Shining is a novel that still creeps me out to read at night, and you won’t find many horror novels quite as epic as “It" or “The Stand".
[*]Richard Laymon
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Wikipedia Page Link
Laymon is one of those authors that horror fans love, but you don’t hear much about. A movie has never been made from one of his books. But they are gleefully full of gore, depraved sex, and situations that any horror fan should enjoy.
[*]Monica J O'Rourke
Amazon Page Link
Women are woefully underrepresented on this list. I would love to see more on it. O’Rourke has written the book that made me more uncomfortable than any other with “Suffer The Flesh". The only other thing I have read by her is the short story “Jasmine and Garlic", which was quite revolting.
[*]Edward Lee
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Wikipedia Page Link
Lee represents something of a turning point in my horror fiction reading. When I discovered his books, I discovered a treasury of some of the most depraved, disgusting and wildly amusing books I have ever read. I personally think The Bighead is his masterpiece, but The Pig/The House and the Infernal Series are also excellent. He also has a few novels as tribute to H.P. Lovecraft. Very very graphic stuff.
Wrath James White
Amazon Page Link
Writes very gory, very sexual novels. Not sure what to say beyond that. Read if you have a strong stomach.
[*]Conrad Williams
Amazon Page Link
Conrad Williams feels to me like a continuation of Clive Barker. His novels tend to have a touch of otherworldly fantasy too them, no unlike a Gaimen novel. His short novellas, “Nearly People" and “The Scalding Rooms" are excellent as is his novel “The Unblemished".
[*]Ramsey Campbell
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Wikipedia Page Link
One of the old school writers of horror that isn’t quite as well read as Barker or King. Some complain about his slow pace, or generally boring novels, but I don’t see that. To start I would recommend Ancient Images or The Face that Must Die.
[*]H.P. Lovecraft
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Wikipedia Page Link
Come on, you now who Lovecraft is. He left a mark on horror fiction that lasts to this day. No horror author is uninfluenced by his work, and it stands to this day as some of the most imaginative fiction.
[*]Brian Lumley
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Lumley is a british author heavily influenced by Lovecraft. Some of his books like Titus Crow are directly influenced by Lovecraft. He has a lot of series, with different themes, like the insane vampire series starting with Necroscope, the science fiction series, House of Doors, and the fantasy series Hero of Dreams(directly inspired by Lovecraft’s dream stories).
[*]Thomas Ligotti
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Ligotti is an interesting writer. Mostly short stories with very surreal landscapes and stories, he appears to be the modern version of Lovecraft. This is no small praise. I can’t really describe his stories other than saying rather than plot and characters, it is the decaying lands that fill the stories are the characters, and your mind will keep returning to them long after you finish reading.
[*]Greg F. Gifune
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Wikipedia Page Link
I am not quite sure what to write about Gifune. Don’t be put off by the cheap looking covers of his paperbacks, there is some quality writing here and a great imagination.
[*]Brian Evenson
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Wikipedia Page Link
Brian Evenson is amazing. Used to be a teacher at the University of Brigham Young, he was told he could not write the books like Altmann’s Tongue and still work there. He was basically fired. Many of his books use imagery and language of the Mormon church like Dark Property and Last Days. His book Father of Lies is a very thinly veiled story of members in the Mormon church. But you don’t have to know these things to enjoy the amazing prose and vivid images that he paints.
[*]Dean Koontz
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Dean Koontz has written a LOT of books. They are enjoyable enough, particularly to me, the earlier ones, like phantoms and night chills. The problem is when you read too many of his novels you start to see his common themes and characters. I won’t mention them, so that you can still enjoy his books, but don’t read too many at once is my advice.
[*]John Saul
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Wikipedia Page Link
I think of John Saul, Dean Koontz and Stephen King as something of the beginner’s horror trinity. These are the authors that really started me down the path of being a robust reader of horror fiction. John Saul writes very readable books about ghosts and experiments gone wrong and usually about bullied meek mannered kids.
[*]Brian Keene
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Wikipedia Page Link
I have read a bunch of Keene’s work. He has a lot of books under his belt, and is always a good standby, but he doesn’t stand out to me as great or as terrible. I enjoy his books, but I don’t generally seek them out. Give them a shot and let us know what you think!
[*]Carlton Mellick III
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He writes books so bizarre it is a bit of a stretch to call them horror. You have probably seen some of the names and laughed, like “The Haunted Vagina", “The Cannibals of Candyland" and The “Morbidly Obese Ninja". His books seem to take a bizarre concept and just run with it in a completely logical way. They are juvenile and written simply, but sometimes you find something amazing in them. I really recommend “Apeshit", which was almost a revelation to me.
[*]Rick Hautala
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Personally I think this guys novels are awful awful trash. But I have read my fair share of his books, usually found via the Goodwill method above. Perhaps they are better now, I haven’t read any of them in probably a decade and a half.
[*]William W. Johnstone
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Unlike Rick Hautala, Johnstone writes b-level horror trash that is crazy enjoyable. Lots of cultists, zombies, satanic demons, and all that good stuff. Just search for his book called “Rockinghorse" and check out that cover!
[*]Bentley Little
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Wikipedia Page Link
Personally I have never read anything by Little. However many horror fans whose taste I respect have repeatedly recommended his novels to me. I will be reading some of his books as soon as I can.
[*]Tim Lebbon
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Much like Bentley Little above I have yet to read any of Lebbon’s novels. I have on my nightstand a copy of “The Thief of Broken Toys" which looks interesting and I keep meaning to start.
[*]Laird Barron (ebris)
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Wikipedia Page Link
You guys need to check out Laird Barron's works: the Imago Sequence. Occultation and The Croning. He's a modern Lovecraftian-inspired writer. He's one of the few who decided not to add onto Lovecraft's pre-existing Mythos and create his own - one that he is bringing to life with some incredible and imaginative prose, and one that is absolutely horrifying in its own right.
[*]Tim Curran
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I discovered Tim Curran by browsing the books in the Delierium Novella Series. I started out reading The Underdwelling, which was a good little book. Then I moved onto The Hive, which was a really good sequel to Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. Now I am reading Dead Sea, and it is really good. Really really good, actually giving me nightmares, and making me scared to read it at night. That hasn't happened in years. I am going to read everything by him now.
[*]Joe Hill(joeyjoejoeshabadoo and Alligatorjandro)
Wikipedia Page Link
Author of Heart Shaped Box, Horns and 20th Century Ghosts
Sometimes it is not an author that is great but just a single novel, from someone that doesn’t write many books, or doesn’t typically write horror novels.
- The Pilo Family Circus - Will Elliott
- Zombie - Joyce Carol Oats
- Anno Dracula - Kim Newman (Dresden)
- In The Miso Soup - Ryu Murakami (kmm182)
- The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart - Jesse Bullington (Maklershed)
Anthology Recommendations
- Genital Grinder
Series Recommendations:
- Infected - Contaigious - Scott Sigler
- Autumn - David Moody
Graphic Novels:
- The Walking Dead - Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard
- Manga by Junji Ito
Upcoming books:
- TBD
Related threads:
Looking for a truly scary book
What are you reading (September 2012)