I love horror books. From Stephen King to Anne Rice to Poppy Z Brite.

Which horror authors do you like reading?

Do you prefer gruesome horror or "everyday" horror?

Do you think horror is "sick"? Why?

Blessings

MeKare

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Man's love is of a man's
life a thing apart, 'tis
woman's whole existence
~Lord Byron~

I also love Ann Rice which you know if you've been to my post on Ann Rice (cool nickname by the way) and horror is not "sick" it think because it is just another expression of nature, everything can trike fear in some way. Not to mention horror is everything from a bump in the night to Freddy Kruegar (which I still have not seen). Horror is the expression of peoples fear which can sometimes help them deal, I think.

why hasn't anyone said anyhting? come on! speak up!

Horror of Horrors!
I think horror stories have there place somwhere, I just can't find it anywhere.

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dragonsaver

Stephen King is my all time favorite. I also like Ann Rice and Peter Straub.

So you don't like horror Dragonsaver?

May I ask why?

What horror have you read, or do you just avoid anything with "horror" on the cover?

Blessings

MeKare

Why don't I like horror? good question, I guess it's beause I feel there is enough horror out there in the real world without bringing it into the home in books, I have read a couple of horror books, Dean Koonts and Stephen King, can't remember the titles and they did not impress me at all.
SO!That's it I suppose good luck in your search for horror stories and happy reading

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dragonsaver

my best horror author is Dean Koontz not sure how to spell his surname..

regards
Caer

Edgar Allen Poe? I've heard he's rather good too! Anyone?

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"What is life, without a little Spice".

Cohalen, I found him rather dark. He was boring also. BUT,that was a long time ago when I was young. I think I might pick up his books again and give it another try. I might just not have understood him at a young age.

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Sandalwood's Cosmic Creations: Working with the magic of love....

I love Poe, although sometimes I find him a little obscure!

I adore "The Tell Tale Heart" and "Murders on the Rue Morgue", "The House Of Usher" and "The Black Cat".

Blessings

MeKare

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"Four be the things I'd been better without
Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt"

~Dorothy Parker~

I think that the National Budget is a horror story.
But, seriously folks...no one has mentioned books by Thomas Harris (who created Hannibal Lecter), brrr.

Hi fjohn

Yep, I love Harris - Ive read all three Lecter books - and Hannibal has to be one of the most gruesome books I've ever read. Have you read it yet?

It kind of explains why Jodie Foster won't do the movie *G*

Blessings

MeKare

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"Four be the things I'd been better without
Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt"

~Dorothy Parker~

Among my favorite horror scribes are: Ambrose Bierce, possibly best known for his 1916 disappearance in Mexico, but he wrote a slew of great horror tales(and also penned the "Devil's Dictionary); L.P. Hartley of "The Go-Between" fame, whose horror ouvre includes "The Travelling Grave", which Bierce would have loved; William Fryer Harvey, author of "The Beast with 5 Fingers"'; Bram Stoker, who besides "Dracula", also wrote "The Judge's House" and "The Squaw", and Oliver Onions, whose "The Beckoning Fair One" is a classic of the haunted house subgenre.

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Terry Bigham

King and Poe have already been mentioned (Great Ones that they are!), but what about H.P. Lovecraft and Henry James? You have to admit that "The Turn of the Screw" is definitely one of the creepiest stories ever written...!

I am really not into reading horror, yet I love Poe. Maybe that's because Poe is more about artistry to me; how he creates these wonderfully creepy short stories. It is like watching the X-Files I suppose. I mean I can't stand horror movies or novels, but I can enjoy creepy TV shows and short stories.

Could someone explain to me as what you mean by"Horror"..?? Creepy, gory, suspence, gothic, or just scary??

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Pinhead

My favorite horror author is Robert R. McCammon. Especially good were:
"The Wolf's Hour" (a werewolf secret agent in WWII, what a great story idea), and "Boy's Life". I highly recommend both.

Pinhead: All of the things you mention and more. Anything that sends a little shudder of unease up my spine, makes me think about the darker side of the world we live in, or speaks to some part of myself that would love to experience eternal life, to become a different creature, etc.

Blessings

MeKare

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Religion is a wizard, a sibyl . . .
She faces the wreck of worlds, and prophesies restoration.
She faces a sky blood-red with sunset colours that deepen into darkness, and prophesies dawn.
She faces death, and prophesies life.
~Felix Adler~

The original "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is outstanding. I was hesitant to read it at first, since it was written in the late 1800s, but it's a phenomenal read.
Also enjoy Stephen King's earlier work (he started losing me after "Dolores Claiborne"). Peter Straub can send chills down my spine, too.
One that I DON'T like is Andrew Vacchs -- his preoccupation with child victims is creepy.

Clive Barker is a real good read !

The most spooky stories I ever read were a collection of ghost stories by M.R.James, but I like some Stephen King, Dean Koontz and stuff like that.
I actually kind of liked the most recent Hannibal book when I got around to reading it too.
I've gone off horror a little bit now, and I'm more in to crime and suspense novels - I never liked straightforward gore, but think things are scarier if they come from within your own mind.

up to the top!! For Limpbiz, others here like horror too!!

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You can tell the quality of a person by how they treat people they don't need.

[This message has been edited by shuttlebunny (edited 09-10-2000).]

When I was younger Stephen King really freaked me out. "It" - I still hate clowns!! And "Pet Semetary" too.

I agree with taprellim - Clive Barker is very very dark and creepy. Some of his books are bordering on fantasy and horror, and others are just down right creepy and gruesome!!

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"What happens if you get scared half to death twice?"

I hated clowns long before I read It (or the other great evil-clown novel, Alan Ryan's Dead White); it just served to show me that there were other clown-haters in the world.

Most of the horror novels I find that really scare me aren't considered "horror" novels. The be-all and end-all of the horror novel is Dalton Trumbo's excruciating _Johnny Got His Gun_, set during the Spanish-American war. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The movie made of it is also good, but it doesn't have the same sense of helpless claustrophobia.

Great horror can also be found in nonfiction; I'll beat my dead horse once again and recommend the work (for those with the stomach to handle it) of Peter Sotos, a Chicago writer whose work deals with the extreme underbelly of human life. The, ah, "pictorial" equivalents of Sotos' writing are Trevor Brown and Romain Slocombe; I know Brown's published at least one book (Velvet Press, I think, but not entirely sure), and Slocombe has published at least two, both through Creation Books. No nudity, but certainly not for the faint of heart.

Horror poetry, anyone? Hayden Carruth's _The Bloomington Papers_ (I think that's the title; excerpts can be found in Selected Shorter Poems 1946-1991) details time he spent in a mental hospital during WW2.

As far as horror that's actually horror, Robert Deveraux's _Deadweight_ is still the finest piece of splatterpunk that's ever cone across my desk; Clive Barker's early stories are inconsistent, but when he's on he's on (he no longer writes horror); Dan Simmons' _Song of Kali_ has the kind of climax you just can't bring yourself to believe someone would actually write, and _Carrion Comfort_ is, simply, a masterpiece; Kathe Koja, aside from one book, has never penned a wrongheaded word in her life; Lucius Shepard does for Vietnam what Trumbo did for the Spanish-American war. There are many, many others, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

R

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FINALITY