Jump to content

What Are Your Favorite Horror Novels and Short Stories?


GAROVORKIN

Recommended Posts

Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale, NOSR42 by Joe Hill, Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, Psycho by Robert Bloch, Dracula by Bram Stoker, M. R. James ghost stories and Edgar Allan Poe shorts are all good. I liked a short story collection called The Knifepoint Horror by Soren Narnia, but it's only available as a podcast right now, apparently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never read anything by Stephen King before and I've just started his Bazaar of Bad Dreams collection.

I love it.

The first story (Mile 81) was scary AF, IMO. The second was sad. But like a "that is terrible" kind of sad. I don't think this collection qualifies as scary in the horror sense, though (apart from Mile 81) and is more creepy and disturbing and sad.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth scared me. YA, but still a good read.

Luke Duff's The Dead Walk the Earth scared me as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll nominate many works of HP Lovecraft but especially "Imprisoned with the Pharoahs" aka "Under the Pyramids, The Shadow over Innsmouth, Dagon, At the Mountains of Madness," Plenty of others. It's great horror, suspenseful and very pessimistic - the dark forces, the monsters are taking over and winning and they may conquer us. In fact you may already be one of them, but not know it.

Also Lovecraft's friend Robert E. Howard had great horror elements in the Conan the Barbarian stories. I don't think of Conan as truly horror but in  "The Scarlet Citadel" he hacks off head of evil wizard and then bird of prey swoops down, grabs head and the headless body chases after it, arms waving about. Sound pretty horriific to me.

TDAxe from the Citadel library, reading "The Call of Cthulu..."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/28/2017 at 6:39 AM, Tyrion's Double Axe said:

I'll nominate many works of HP Lovecraft but especially "Imprisoned with the Pharoahs" aka "Under the Pyramids, The Shadow over Innsmouth, Dagon, At the Mountains of Madness," Plenty of others. It's great horror, suspenseful and very pessimistic - the dark forces, the monsters are taking over and winning and they may conquer us. In fact you may already be one of them, but not know it.

Also Lovecraft's friend Robert E. Howard had great horror elements in the Conan the Barbarian stories. I don't think of Conan as truly horror but in  "The Scarlet Citadel" he hacks off head of evil wizard and then bird of prey swoops down, grabs head and the headless body chases after it, arms waving about. Sound pretty horriific to me.

TDAxe from the Citadel library, reading "The Call of Cthulu..."

I would recommend Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin stories . He was contemporary of Lovecraft , Howard and Clark Ashton and quite prolific, he less well known. 

Nightshade books is reissuing all 93 of his  De Gradin stories two collection have already been releases in hardcover with 3 more to follow 

Volume 1 . The Horror in the Links

Volume 2 The Devils Rosary 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favorite horror novel is probably Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.  William Peter Blatty's work is good as well.  Legion comes across better as a book than a movie, though The Exorcist is still better.

As far as current writers go, I like everything by Christopher Buehlman and the first two (Seed and The Neighbors) Ania Ahlborn books are great. I'll continue to read her work and hopefully the quality keeps up. 

I'm also a fan of Sarah Langan and Jeff Long. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, GAROVORKIN said:

And one of the best Apocalyptic novels ever written. A classic . B)

Completely agree! It's far better than The Stand but gets continually overlooked as one of the best horror (and apocalyptic!) novels ever written. Stephen King even acknowledges that in Four Past Midnight.

Scared the bejeezus out of me. 

Here we go round the mulberry bush...

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strawberry Spring by Stephen King. I've always found his short stories more frightening that his novels (with the notable exceptions of Salem's Lot, Pet Semetary and The Shining).  Strawberry Spring is the one that stays with me long after I've read it.

The final two sentences fill me with dread - I won't quote them because I don't want to spoil anyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/3/2017 at 9:01 AM, Tyrion's Double Axe said:

GAV, thanks for the steer. Read a bit about it, deGrandin the Herc Poirot of the occult/supernatural?? Merci.

TDAXE, From The Citadel Library Supernatural section

 

Im always glad to recommend books and writers 

I have some addition books you might find of interest  not all of them are horror.

The Star Rover by Jack London  his only fantasy novel  about straitjacket death row inmate who discovers he can astral project himself into his past lives at will .  This book unknown and unlike all his other books. Its his only fantasy novel ants a great book ! 

If you like Robert  E Howard,  try The Kane The Mystic Swordsman saga by Karl Edward Wagner . The main character Kane is a heroic villain/antihero . Its dark fantasy saga comprising 5 books.

1.Bloodstone 

2. Darkness Weaves 

3. Dark Crusade 

4. Death Angels Shadow 

5.  NightWinds 

Wagner also wrote an excellent  Horror anthology In a Lonely Place    and two excellent pastiche of Conan and Bran Mak Morn 

Conan Road of Kings

Bran Mak Morn Legion of the Shadow 

He also cowrote an excellent science fiction Novel Killer with water David Drake. 

 

 

The Dark World by Henry Kuttner 

Black Gods Kiss  by C L Moore 

The House on the Borderland  by William Hope Hodgson  

Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Cornell Woolrich 

The Three Imposters by Arthur  Machen 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Colours Out of Space, At the Mountains of Madness, and the Case of Charles Dexter Ward, by Lovecraft.

The Pear-Shaped Man, and In the Lost Lands by George Martin.

The Telltale Heart, and the Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg

The Mezzotint by MR James

The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/10/2017 at 9:29 AM, SeanF said:

The Colours Out of Space, At the Mountains of Madness, and the Case of Charles Dexter Ward, by Lovecraft.

The Pear-Shaped Man, and In the Lost Lands by George Martin.

The Telltale Heart, and the Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg

The Mezzotint by MR James

The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs

All excellent choices.B)

Bats Belfry by August Derleth 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...