Spockydog Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Greetings Horror fans,I was about to start a thread bemoaning the lack of good new horror novels, then I found this one.Anyways, here are three of the scariest books I've read recently.Breed by Chase Novak. Reading this, I was reminded of an old Stephen King quote about being a parent and trying not to kill your kids. But in this case, it's more about being a parent and trying not to eat your kids. Highly original, deeply unsettling, this is one of my favourite books of all time.Alex and Leslie Twisden told each other they would do anything to have children. The price didn’t matter. But the experimental procedure they found had costs they couldn’t foresee.Adam and Alice Twisden’s lives seem perfectly normal. Except that, every night, without fail, their parents lock them into their rooms.And the twins know that the sounds they can hear are not just their imagination. They’re real. And they’re getting louder...From a new name in horror, Breed is a stunning thriller in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby, brilliantly written, daring, and unforgettable The Ritual by Adam Nevill. This one's more traditional. Starts out as a straight-up man versus nature story, before unfolding into something altogether more terrifying. Highly recommended. When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. As the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees . . .Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs. Atmospheric gothic horror, set in the deep south. Dark and gritty, the ending is definitely not for the faint-hearted.Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin’ John Hastur. The mysterious blues man’s dark, driving music–broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station–is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur’s trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he’ll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Dragone Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 You can try reading older works, some short stories by M.R. James are really good, and Allan Poe too.I've never read a book that was scary, most horror is just shocking. I like Joe Hill's works very much for example, but there is nothing scary about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Wow Southern Gods looks good. Adding it to my to read pile. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Frost Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Tricky one. Off the top of my head I'd suggest:The House Next Door - Anne Rivers Siddons'Salem's Lot - Stephen KingThe Doll That Ate His Mother - Ramsey CampbellThe Books of Blood - Clive Barker (short stories)The Woman in Black - Susan Hill (much better than the film) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowDogJen Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Mister OJ - I've read it. It's good, really good...but not all that scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSez Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Not a novel, but "The Emissary" by Ray Bradbury was and is, scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Heart Shaped Box- Joe HillAfraid- Jack KilbornThe Exorcist- William Peter Blatty(you've probably seen the movie and the two are almost identical)One for the Road- Stephen King short story in Night ShiftThe Mist- S.K. In Skeleton CrewNight Flier- S.K. In Nightmares and Dreamscapes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Mister OJ - I've read it. It's good, really good...but not all that scary.I disagree. It's so frightening that I've never been able to make it to the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Dragone Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 This.The title kind of gives away the ending. But other than that, it looks terrifying.Heart Shaped Box- Joe HillRead NOS4A2 if you like Joe Hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Buck Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Nice, Spockydog. Upon completion of my current reading regimen (which is just the long-awaited Dune series -- the Frank Herbert ones, anyway), I had intended to dive into some serious horror, since I've never really tried it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Read NOS4A2 if you like Joe Hill.Aight. I didn't really care for Horns but will check this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Wow Southern Gods looks good. Adding it to my to read pile. ThanksIt's a really good book. I'm definitely interested in his second book, even though I'm not a big fan of zombie fiction, The Dark Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morienthar Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Anything written by Lovecraft is eerie and sort of haunts but doesn't scare you outright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukka Sorasti Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I absolutely agree with Survivor Type by King. I would also add N. from Just After Sunset. Richard Matheson is also a great writer and a major influence on King. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Try Jack Williamson's Darker Than You Think. Also try Clive Barker's Weaveworld, and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 I'm fairly new to the horror genre, though I've become a fan of extreme-splatter pulp writer Edward Lee. But his writings are more like black comedy/satire to me than actually scary.I've never read Stephen King, but I was thinking of reading Salem's Lot. Should I?You've probably read this by now, but for anyone else who hasn't read 'salem's Lot, try to read it around October, when the leaves are turning and the air turns crisp. King really is great at evoking a New England town in autumn, and the shorter days will add to your terror.BWAAAAUAHAAHAHAHAHH!:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Mister OJ - I've read it. It's good, really good...but not all that scary.You're not reading it right then, try the appropriate voices, and opening the next page suddenly :laugh:works with this toohttp://www.amazon.com/Jabberwocky-Lewis-Carroll/dp/0810911507 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukka Sorasti Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 You've probably read this by now, but for anyone else who hasn't read 'salem's Lot, try to read it around October, when the leaves are turning and the air turns crisp. King really is great at evoking a New England town in autumn, and the shorter days will add to your terror.BWAAAAUAHAAHAHAHAHH! :PI read 'Salem's Lot when I was about twelve. It was my first Stephen King book. I finished it sometime after midnight. Not just because it was a page turner, but because I didn't dare turn the lights off. I now have a bookshelf full of his books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papirolle Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 The Descent - Jeff Long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.