Blood, gore, and ghouls. Beware, beware the horror thread!

I know we have separate threads for Stephen King and Dean Koontz, inarguably the most prolific horror writers out there, but since I'm on a bit of a horror binge right now, I looked around for a thread for horror novels in general and couldn't find one. This is the place to discuss anything deliciously horrific, contemporary or classic. I know I'm not the only one with a weak spot for the dark side of fiction, so let's share our experiences of the genre. Who are your favourite horror writers and horror novels? Is Dracula THE vampire novel? Are you a blood, gore, or ghoul kind of person? (I'm quite partial to ghouls, vampires, and shape-shifters, myself. :lol) Once you've gone all the way down the King and Koontz alley, where should you go from there? Et cetera, et cetera. You get the picture. Anything scary goes into this thread.

Since I started the thread, I may as well go first. As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's. While I've read and enjoyed some of Dean Koontz's work, I don't think I'm ever likely to rival John in terms of being FORT's biggest Koontz fan. What else, what else? Perhaps a list of favourite horror novels and/or writers is in order?

Here it goes.

Geek the Girl's ghoulish treats

- Anything Peter Straub, particularly Ghost Story, which remains one of the scariest novels I've ever read. I consider myself quite blasé when it comes to all things horror, but man, I literally woke up screaming in the middle of the night, convinced that various characters (or should I say beings?) were in my bedroom. So yes, Ghost Story is a must-read.
- Short stories by Edith Wharton, Henry James, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. That's right, even the literary giants have a thing for the scary stuff.
- H.P. Lovecraft, obviously. I know that his use of language bugs many people, but I think the ostentatious tone goes well with the grandeur of his ideas. The Cthulhu myth is a milestone in horror.
- The ghost stories of M.R. James. Pure Victorian delight. "Whistle and I'll come to you, my lad" still gives me nightmares.
- Dracula by Bram Stoker. Not nearly as silly as Francis Ford Coppola's movie rendition - no wooden Keanu! A wonderful, wonderful novel.
- Bentley Little. So far, I've only read The Resort but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style and tongue-in-cheek approach.
- Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I've mentioned this in the "What are you reading?" thread, but I might as well give him a shout out here, too, since he definitely qualifies as a horror writer. He is the eldest son of Stephen King, and his debut novel, released just the other week, is very promising indeed. The premise of the story is simple and gets your attention right away: a ghost for sale on the Internet. It's contemporary, it's totally rock'n'roll (the purchaser of the ghost is an Ozzy Osbourne-type fifty-something shock rocker with a penchant for occult collector's items), it's well-written, and it makes your flesh crawl. Great stuff! :up

Those are the names that jumped at me straight away. Needless to say, there are many, many writers - for lack of a better word, I'll call them traditional writers - who have made excursions into the horror genre, but don't get associated with the horror genre anyway. Joyce Carol Oates, for instance, is a self-proclaimed fan of gothic literature and actually introduced Stephen King when he gave a speech at Princeton years ago, and has written many stories that transcend horror. Same with Bret Easton Ellis - check out Lunar Park and The Informers! - and Chuck Pahlaniuk, to mention a few.

Oh, and I have FINALLY gotten my filthy paws on Twilight by our very own Stephanie Meyer! On my lunchbreak, I went to a bookstore that specializes in sci-fi, fantasy to get some new reading material and lo and behold, I found Twilight! Too cool. Can't wait to read it. I also bought yet another Peter Straub novel, The Hellfire Club, and California Demon by Julie Kenner. The latter seems like a fun Buffy the Vampire Slayer goes Desperate Housewives romp - has anyone read anything by Julie Kenner? Apparently, there's a whole series of novels about her suburban demon hunter.

PS: Sorry for double-posting, but I didn't want the first post to be two pages long. :)

Cool thread! I occasionally get on a horror kick and don't know where to go beyond King and Koontz. :nerd I did read "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub, and loved it, but my area Barnes and Noble has nothing else by him! I'll have to look around, we do have a ton of bookstores here, I'm just lazy. :lol

I will add a recommendation: "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. Creepy!

Not a horror fan per se, but I've got to say I love the title of this thread. :lol Well chosen, geek the girl!

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I also bought yet another Peter Straub novel, The Hellfire Club,

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After you read it, you'll have to let me know what you think. I am a huuuuge Straub fan, and I read this about a year ago, on the advise of a friend who compared the quality of it to Ghost Story. It was good, and I did enjoy it... well, read it first then we'll "talk". Hee.

My favorite Straub novel is actual the trilogy of Koko, Mystery, and The Throat. Have you read these? Did you like?

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Originally Posted by Lucy;2259283;

I will add a recommendation: "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. Creepy!

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I'm so glad you mentioned Ray Bradbury! I've been meaning to read something of his ever since I read Stephen King's Danse Macabre - a great and enthusiastic introduction to horror in pop culture, by the way. The way he described Bradbury's work made me really eager to explore his writing. Also, my brother is a big Bradbury fan, and we tend to like the same things, so I really don't know why it's taken me this long to pick up something of his. Perhaps Something Wicked This Way Comes is a good place to start? My brother can't stop talking about how much he loved The October Country, so you might want to check that one out if you haven't already, Lucy. :up

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Originally Posted by remote_goddess;2259632;

After you read it, you'll have to let me know what you think. I am a huuuuge Straub fan, and I read this about a year ago, on the advise of a friend who compared the quality of it to Ghost Story. It was good, and I did enjoy it... well, read it first then we'll "talk". Hee.

My favorite Straub novel is actual the trilogy of Koko, Mystery, and The Throat. Have you read these? Did you like?

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Yay, a Straub fan! I'll let you know how I like Hellfire Club as soon as I've finished it. I'm relatively new to Peter Straub: so far, I've only read Ghost Story and Lost Boy Lost Girl as well as his collaborations with Stephen King. I've loved everything I've read, though, so I imagine I'll end up reading all of his work eventually. I'll definitely check out the trilogy you mentioned.

Has anyone read Roald Dahl's short stories, by the way? Many of them are decidedly horror. Very creepy and atmospheric. My favourite story is probably "The Landlady". It actually inspired me to write a short story of my own, a continuation of sorts, back in high school. :nerd

gtg - if you like short stories, and Peter Straub, you should check out his book of shorts - Houses Without Doors. It's more "thriller" than "horror", in my opinion, but it was pretty good.

Another author I'd recommend in the horror genre would be Clive Barker. I've read several of his and have never been disappointed. Start with Cabal, it's short and a good representation of his style, see if you like, and go from there. His work is a little on the dark side, so not everyone I've recommended him to really likes it.

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Originally Posted by remote_goddess;2260843;

His work is a little on the dark side, so not everyone I've recommended him to really likes it.

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Don't worry, I have no issues with dark! :) I love the Hellraiser movies, so I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy Clive Barker. Thanks for the recommendation!

I used to be a huge horror fan, but I kind of got burned out. Other than King (of course :lol), I favoured the works of Michael McDowell (particularly the six part Blackwater series), who subsequently quit writing books and turned to screenplays - he's probably best known for writing Beetlejuice, Joe R. Lansdale, who writes a sort of Texas noir horror, Charles Beaumont (best know for writing a number of episodes of The Twilight Zone) and Robert R. Bloch (best known for writing the book Psycho), just for the classic cheesiness. On the whole, though, I prefer my horror in the short story or novella format, which is odd because I don't generally care much for short stories in general. I have an entire shelf devoted to anthologies, of which my favourite are Greystone Bay, Doom City and The Seaharp Hotel. This is a series edited by Charles L. Grant, who set a number of writers to the task of writing a tale about the fictional town of Greystone Bay.

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Originally Posted by remote_goddess;2260843;

Another author I'd recommend in the horror genre would be Clive Barker. I've read several of his and have never been disappointed. Start with Cabal, it's short and a good representation of his style, see if you like, and go from there. His work is a little on the dark side, so not everyone I've recommended him to really likes it.

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I'm a HUGE Barker fan and have read pretty much all of his stuff, though I haven't gotten to the last 2 books in the Imajica series. Weaveworld is my personal favourite, and I've got the second Arabat book on deck right now. His work is pretty diverse - not everything is serious blood 'n' guts stuff. I've seen every single Hellraiser movie made - I don't care how bad they get. :teeth