Would you consider "The Exorcist" to be a horror book? I definately would - I thought it was pretty horrifying. I couldn't make it past the second chapter the first time I tried reading it (I think I was like, 13). Definately a great, scary novel. Also love Stephen King and Dean Koontz (loved "The Bad Place"). Favorite King is "The Stand"; not tons of horror, except for the concept, but remains for me the ultimate portrayal of good vs. evil.

Eh, slight correction, xterminal: "Johnny Got His Gun" was set in WW1. tjoeb};>

tjoeb: Really? Gotta go back and check... (oh, horrors, an excuse to re-read a book!)

The Exorcist is a horror novel buy a comedy writer. Heh. Seriously, Blatty, pre-Exorcist, was best known for writing brainless Hollywood sex comedies in the sixties. IIRC, he wrote The Exorcist on a dare. (If you like Blatty, check out both the book and film _The Ninth Configuration_, his finest moment. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.)

R

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FINALITY

I'm glad to see that nobody has mentioned "Frankenstein" by Shelley, seeing as how it is not a horror novel.
I adore Poe and Stephen King, however I feel that King's best works are The Green Mile, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, and Bag of Bones. For those of you who haven't read Bag of Bones yet, it borders on being a horror novel, but it is more than just that. Sorry, I guess the whole Stephen King this is a new topic, I will leave that alone. I am glad to see no mention of "Frankenstein" though.

I really agree with you on the best Stephen King novels - I was discussing this with someone last night, and those were roughly the ones that we arrived on as well.

I prefer psychological horror and suspense to straightforward blood and gore - which is probably why I like authors like Stephen King so much.

I read Hannibal and liked the parts where you got an insight into his mind, but the plot got downright silly in places.

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Little girls become young women, little boys have the job for life.

I love Anne Rice, never actually read a Stephen King novel, though I plan to one day :P Psychological stuff is just so much fun!

How could I forget one of my favorite scary books? It's "Rosemary's Baby" by Ira Levin. If I remember correctly, it came out sometime in the early sixties - I was in grammar school and the kids (boys!) used to tease me unmercifully (Rosemary is my real name). I read the sequel a couple of years ago and it wasn't bad, either.

Anne Rice is my all time favorite horror writer.I also like stephen King and Dean kootze.I love books that scare me to death.