horror writing

[tommytucker]

i was thinking this morning, is it possible to write a scary story? i dont know how that works. you know with cinema they build up the tension and then suddenly you see something that makes people scream. then everyone screams. and then you scream. i dont see how a book can spring a surprise like that on you? im sure there are some very successful scary stories, but i dont know how.

"she crept along the corridor. it was dark and she felt an overwhelming sense of fear. she turned the door handle and BOOOOO!!!!."

you probably saw that boo quite a while before you reached that paragraph. unless its at the beginning of the next page when you turn over. i still cant see it being scary, even then.

can somebody suggest a very scary book to me, that will make me want to keep the light on when i go to bed? or make we want to close the book, not through boredom, but through fear of what i might read next.

tommy.

[crisaor]

I guess it all depends on the person, because after all, what scares somebody might not scare somebody else. Personally, I believe that after you reach a certain age, nothing in fiction can scare you, that's a job for reality.
That being said, I could suggest you try reading anything by Lovecraft. Despite I didn't find it in the least scary, some people I know did. Also, if you have a broad definition of fear, you might want to check out some pessimistic novels such as Brave New World or 1984 for a grim picture of the possible future.

[Koa]

Ok this is just me, but in Crime and Punishment when he kills the old woman, my heartbeat was so fast that I thought I'd die...

[emily655321]

"Scary" doesn't have to mean "BOO!" you know? That's not fear, it's surprise. What about the skin-crawling, something-very-strange-is-lurking-in-the-shadows type of scary? Even if the "boo" never comes, you were still scared, weren't you? I've seen movies that scared me without making me jump out of my seat. Personally, though, I've never read a book that scared me either.

[simon]

Try reading some of Shirley Jackson's novels, such as We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House. She is the author that wrote the shocking short story The Lottery. I recomend reading that too.
Like Crisaor says it depends on what you are scared of, for some people jsut the idea of corporate control is scary or moral dilemmas pose the most frightening.
Right now I am mixing The Haunted and the Haunters, light and interesting shot stories, just cruise the shelves at the library for titles of those sorts and you'll come accross something.
Just as emily said though cannot recall ever being physically afraid from reading a book.

[papayahed]

I have a book called Michigan Haunts and its a bunch of short stories/suppossedly true events that happened in michigan, it gave locations where all these things happened. I remember reading it at home alone at night and being creeped out. Does this count? Is that what your talking about?

[tommytucker]

thanks for all the responses guys. let me start by saying horror films like scream or you know the ones where they just pack in loads of zombies and aliens and baddies dont do a lot for me, even if they are rated 18. the scariest film i ever saw in cinema was 15-rated. 'what lies beneath' scared me because it was so well made that it was believable. im also glad i didnt watch blair witch until it came onto tv. i guess this sort of makes me seem a little soft by some peoples standards.
likewise, a book that goes BOOO all the time will not scare me much, but books that are well written and creepy, well who knows.
i would prefer fiction. its more of a challenge for the author. i would prefer. if i have one fear it would be ghosts. nothing else seems to work. it probably goes back to watching ghostbusters when i was very young, if you can believe that being scary. but enough about films.
tommy.

[Ashley]

I don't know about scary books, but there are a few good sites out there. Castle of Spirits.com has mostly ghosts, and it is a good idea to keep the lights on and your guard up when reading them. There are hundreds of "True Ghost Stories" and a few fiction stories, most derived from urban legends and classic ghost stories. Which, speaking of urban legends, Snopes.com has plenty. From television to radio, to luck and love, this site has the craziest collection of pretty wacked out urban legends. There is a place for free short films to watch, and it's called Urbanchillers.com. People make their own films, and submit them (some are pretty good). Be sure to check out all the sock horrors (modern horror movies, all rolled into thirty seconds)and the scream test (hilarious!). If none of these work for you, there's always the old-fashioned make a horror story, sell it, make billions way. {note: the billions part doesn't always work.}

[Taliesin]

Of course it is possible to write a scary story. There is a genre called horror you know.
Well, one of the best horror writers in my opinion is Stephen King.
Some of his works are: "The Shining", "Misery", " "Golden Years" etc.

[verybaddmom]

i'm with you there Taliesin. Stephen king really is the master of all things scary (to me at least). some argue that he's all pop culture, but frankly the man has a way of turning a phrase that i have always thought underrated. i remember in the talisman, when wolf was going down the stairs during the big riot at the "boys camp"/prison, king described his movement as "slick as oiled smoke". that has stuck with me for years (i think i last read that book in '96)
he also mastered the art of building fear and suspense in his books Cujo (the movie came nowhere close) and Christine (same thing with that film)
to be quite honest, i have hated virtually every movie based on a king novel or short just because there is always such a background built in the writings that are not addressed in the films. (internal dialogue and connections between phrases etc)
the thing is, he can take a totally unbelievable thing (a demon clown in the sewer? a posessed car? c'mon now...bah) and make you scared of it while you are in those pages. i admire his ability to do that.

[crisaor]

Stephen King has mastered the art of how to get rich by copying himslef year after year. I'm tired of seeing the same plot arguments over and over. Yeah, probably the cybercoffee where I'm writing this was built over an ancient indian burial ground. *Sigh*

[simon]

Yeah he has many years of money making novels that are low grade, but recently he has improved and returned to his first style of writing. I believe I heard or read somewhere that he was in a car accident and it changed his perspective on things and that is the cause of his renewed writing ablities.

[Tigy]

Hi everyone,

I had to think of the scariest book I ever read:

Gerald's game, by Stephen King

At one point, I had to put the book aside - I thought I had to throw up, because it was so scary! Which had never happened before ;)

It is about a couple that spends a weekend at their summer house near a lake, where it is really lonely. When they have sex, the husband chains his wife to the bed, but then dies unexpectedly of a heart attack ... Now the wife spends several days on that bed, and that's only the beginning ...

It is now a few years ago that I read that book, but when I wake up at nights I'm still scared of that figure with the basket full of bones standing at the bed ...

[tommytucker]

hey thanks, tigy. this is just what i was after. a book which you get scared of reading. a book to read from behind the sofa(?). not a book which makes you scared later, although this does that too (so you say).
tommy.

[subterranean]

i agree with some post, scary can have many different meanings.. I dont really like "scary" stories about ghost or dead people rasing from death haunting people etc..most stories that give me goosebumbps are stories like lord of the rings (what would happen if those orcs are real and can be created), or 1984, etc. I prefer seeing horror movies than reading them.

[baddad]

Fear is most easily built upon a base of reality. I've commented on Msr. King in another thread so no need to repeat it here. Besides, I notice he has a few fans....wouldn't want them to hide in my sewer dressed as a **** clown....


.........ditto Criasor's comments above... (funny stuff)

[verybaddmom]

you better watch baddad, you never know what may be lurking around the next corner........... :brow:

[subterranean]

Admin....???!

[bibliophile190]

Well, this isn't quite what you're looking for, but the short story "The Feather Pillow" really creeped me out. I eyed my bed suspiciously for the next month. I can't remember who the author was, but I'm pretty certain that he was South American. Anyways, I highly recommend it. It really got me.

[Stieg]

Yes, there is different types and level of scariness, the best is the psychological kind, the suggestive ones that stir the imagination that bump-in-the-night isolationism between book and reader.

There are also shock horror relying on violent imagery or gore.

I would recommend the classic work of Lovecraft and Montague Rhodes James.

Also Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived In The Castle (not really scary at all, but brilliantly exquisite literature), Richard Matheson's Hell House and I am Legend. Also Matheson is a supreme short story teller, delving between fantasy, crime, science-fiction, and of course mostly horror major influence on Stephen King and if you are constant reader you'll find they're satire and black humour quite similar. There is a three volume set that is very affordable available at the moment.

Disquieting paranoia science fiction horror can be found in Wyndham's Day of the Triffids and Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

I also love the writing of Michael McDowell try The Elementals, Cold Moon Over Babylon, and The Amulet.

Max Brooks World War Z was a love affair and has plenty of scares.

If you want to read one of the most shocking horror novels try Ketchum's The Girl Next Door based on a real nightmarish shocking true crime. For you gore and charnel-house cannibal in the woods lovers the require the suspense and psychological angle ratcheted up try this author's Off Season recently released mmpb. The sequel Offspring is not nearly as good nor original also available in mmpb. The latter might not be for all tastes but I thought they were great late nite fun.

Another great horror novel with a cult following is The Nightrunners by Joe R Lansdale the author responsible for Bubba Ho-Tep, The Drive-in, and Dead in the West. Thunderous supercharged thrills and prose.

[Stieg]

*bump alert*

Oh, and I loved Robert Marasco's Burnt Offerings, begins in a New York tenement set during the 1970s, a young couple and boy, and moves to a rural upstate mansion resident with the caretaker and elderly brother and sister annual vacation needing overseers of their house and their convalescing mother in a room. The author is brilliant at raising startles within the decrepit walls of the old mansion. The tricycle encounter is simply delivered yet so very creepy. The climax is definitely odd but good.

[applepie]

If you are looking for something scary to read you might want to try a book called "Black Lightning" by John Saul. It is still more suspense than scary, but the subject matter is quite disturbing. Stephen King is also always a good option. "Misery" is really great. I've found that as I get older if I am looking for something scary to read I end up having to settle for something I think is suspenful with a really disturbing topic.

[Stieg]

Hmm, John Saul is too melodramatic and pulpy for my tastes. I don't dig Saul. I suspect he has been writing the same novel over and over again for the last 40 years. He's been called horror's most gastricatic hyperbolic writer ever. But then again, I haven't read all his novels (and maybe I am fortunate for that).

;)

[PeterL]

Most stories that are called "Horror" are funny to me, but stories that bring all of reality into question are usually frightening to me. There are parts of Conjure Wife that are very frightening. "The Color Out of Space" is somewhat frightening. But stories that remind me that we all live on the knife-edge of "now", that there is nothing in front until I get there, and there is nothing behind me anymore; those stories scare me. Some of Lord Dunsany's stories are of that sort, although they are fantasy. Some fairy tales also speak to those themes.

[Stieg]

Most stories that are called "Horror" are funny to me, but stories that bring all of reality into question are usually frightening to me. There are parts of Conjure Wife that are very frightening. "The Color Out of Space" is somewhat frightening. But stories that remind me that we all live on the knife-edge of "now", that there is nothing in front until I get there, and there is nothing behind me anymore; those stories scare me. Some of Lord Dunsany's stories are of that sort, although they are fantasy. Some fairy tales also speak to those themes.

But horror is a form of escapism from real monsters however, writers such Jack Ketchum rarely visits the supernatural, Leisure has many of his better titles available www.dorchesterpub.com at a very afforadable price but I recommend avoiding She Wakes he broke one of his own rules and delved disasterously into the supernatural.

Horror however wouldn't be my first choice to take a long real hard look at reality or into the mirror of the human condition. That can be a difficult maybe miserable task to perform according to the mood as one doesn't necessarily desire a ice cold dose of reality dumped in one's face. Orwell wrote one of the greatest horror stories ever a work so well depicted and well written I not once felt compelled to drop it on the contrary I read it cover to cover in a single sitting. In that regard, horror is more padded and fantastic yet doesn't necessarily make it any less frightening.

I have been meaning to read Lord Dunsany.

[PeterL]

But horror is a form of escapism from real monsters however, writers such Jack Ketchum rarely visits the supernatural, Leisure has many of his better titles available www.dorchesterpub.com at a very afforadable price but I recommend avoiding She Wakes he broke one of his own rules and delved disasterously into the supernatural.

While Horror is escapism, good horror is horrific in some way, and great horror plants fear in the reader at the same time as it makes the reader think. I am not very familiar with Jack Ketchum, although I think I have read something by him.


Horror however wouldn't be my first choice to take a long real hard look at reality or into the mirror of the human condition. That can be a difficult maybe miserable task to perform according to the mood as one doesn't necessarily desire a ice cold dose of reality dumped in one's face. Orwell wrote one of the greatest horror stories ever a work so well depicted and well written I not once felt compelled to drop it on the contrary I read it cover to cover in a single sitting. In that regard, horror is more padded and fantastic yet doesn't necessarily make it any less frightening.

Yes, most horror is rather light-weight. The good stuff might have me afraid to get out of bed, but zombies and such are humorous.


I have been meaning to read Lord Dunsany.

Everyone should. His style is unusual, but he largely created the sub-genre of adult fantasy.

[Stieg]

While Horror is escapism, good horror is horrific in some way, and great horror plants fear in the reader at the same time as it makes the reader think. I am not very familiar with Jack Ketchum, although I think I have read something by him.

Perfect assertion. If you read any book by Jack Ketchum read The Girl Next Door based on a real shocking case. One can dig around on the net notably wiki for Jack Ketchum and the book title to gain the facts about the story that inspired this book then again it would be abit spoilerish. This one is what all nightmares are made of. Disturbing!

Yes, most horror is rather light-weight. The good stuff might have me afraid to get out of bed, but zombies and such are humorous.

I love survival apocalyptic bent horror and the good ones usually have social and political messages. Horror offers readers a stimulating dose of atmosphere and the macabre. A dark fantasy.

[bibliophile190]

I second Stiegs reccomendation of World War Z. It was an very good book, lots of very intense moments.

[Stieg]

The Girl Next Door was inspired by the 1965 case of Sylvia Likens.

David G Hartwell asserts in the forward of The Dark Descent there are three streams, three modes or clusters of emphasis in contemporary horror, not mutually exclusive but rather three currents in the same ocean of varying degrees of focus. (Paraphrased from the anthology.)

1. moral allegorical (moral calculus)

2. psychological metaphor (aberrant human psychology)

3. fantastic (differing degrees of ambigious blendings, paradoxical realities, radical doubt)

[applepie]

Hmm, John Saul is too melodramatic and pulpy for my tastes. I don't dig Saul. I suspect he has been writing the same novel over and over again for the last 40 years. He's been called horror's most gastricatic hyperbolic writer ever. But then again, I haven't read all his novels (and maybe I am fortunate for that).

;)

:) I've only read the one so I'm not sure about the rest of his books. It was kind of melodramatic and soap opera like, but it was alright to read once or twice. It is one of those books you get from the used book store and don't bother to buy new, but if you are looking for a horror read it is worth checking out. I suggest King much more strongly though.

[Stieg]

:) I've only read the one so I'm not sure about the rest of his books. It was kind of melodramatic and soap opera like, but it was alright to read once or twice. It is one of those books you get from the used book store and don't bother to buy new, but if you are looking for a horror read it is worth checking out. I suggest King much more strongly though.

John Saul first book was a bestseller and he broke through right around the time Stephen King brought commercial success to horror in mainstream literature.

However, IMO, he is too predictable essentially a one trick pony and a vestigial piece of 1970s horror melodrama and poor form at that.

[Dark Star]

I'm going to second the Lovecraft recommendation. If one can read all of his works and not find something scary within there...well...you aren't going to find a piece of literature that does scare you.

[*Classic*Charm*]

I think that how scary a piece is depends entirely on the individual reading the work. If a person is scared of clowns and has a genuine fear that there are clowns hiding underground waiting to kidnap children, then yes, King's IT will surely keep them up at night. I think that in reading such a piece, the reader becomes aware that someone else thinks the same way they do, and it's almost an assurance to them that their fear is true. For myself, I don't have such a fear. I think that the idea is completely ludicrous. Thus, when I read something like that, I laugh at the idea that something like this could be taken seriously, rather than be scared by it. I think that for a person to be scared, the person has to believe that the situation or person could actually exist, and they they could be faced with it.

[Stieg]

I think that how scary a piece is depends entirely on the individual reading the work. If a person is scared of clowns and has a genuine fear that there are clowns hiding underground waiting to kidnap children, then yes, King's IT will surely keep them up at night. I think that in reading such a piece, the reader becomes aware that someone else thinks the same way they do, and it's almost an assurance to them that their fear is true. For myself, I don't have such a fear. I think that the idea is completely ludicrous. Thus, when I read something like that, I laugh at the idea that something like this could be taken seriously, rather than be scared by it. I think that for a person to be scared, the person has to believe that the situation or person could actually exist, and they they could be faced with it.

Yes, horror can invoke strong associations. Horror can be more than simply green-blooded bug-a-boos because or even supported by certain settings, circumstances, or personal experiences that naturally recreate unease in the reader. Or even generate reflections of society at large.

[Dark Star]

Come to think of it, I'd also recommend I Am Legend, however, that generates more of a creepy vibe and shock and horror in an existential manner than straight out heart-in-the-throat horror.

[Stieg]

Any persons curious about Scott Sigler's popular podcast novel EarthCore?

The prologue and four chapters are posted at buried.com

Eartcore Excerpts (http://www.buried.com/features/earthcore.shtml)

Not too original but does have an enjoyable movie-like flow.

[Dickens59]

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I also enjoyed The Lottery.

[Video Drone]

I do not believe in horror books... you can't scare with writing. I hardly even believe in horror movies... I'm just not a very scare able person. When our class watched Pan's Labyrinth, they were all terrified. I was like "sheesh".

[Stieg]

I do not believe in horror books... you can't scare with writing. I hardly even believe in horror movies... I'm just not a very scare able person. When our class watched Pan's Labyrinth, they were all terrified. I was like "sheesh".

Pan's Labyrinth being a fantasy film didn't scare me the least.

I'd suggest for a great scarey film try Brad Anderson's Session 9 available at most rental video stores. One of the scarier films of recent memory. Give this one a shot! ;)

Medak's The Changeling is quite creepy too starring George C Scott and Romero's Night of the Living Dead.

Films that have the ability to disturb are the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, original The Wicker Man, and Tod Browning's cult classic Freaks.

I confess I am a pretty jaded horror film lover but the films nonetheless entertainment me and never fail to draw me to them.

As far as horror lit goes, I have been scared numerous times and re-iterate the fact, such readings are best experienced in quiet and isolated settings between you and the novel, preferably during the evening alone or with very little distraction. Commuting on the bus or on a work lunch break is going to create a pleasant secure if not thoroughly distracting atmosphere like state of fact if one turned on the lights during a horror film in the movie theatre.

[Video Drone]

Yeah, why did Pan's Labyrinth scared anyone...? I guess they don't see a lot of R-rated stuff at home. I saw Shining and Xtro (this one is just... not for kids, really, not for kids at all) when I was 6 or something so it is really hard to scare me now. It has to be something relevant to our world. In that way, the book 1984 was pretty close.

I'll check Session 9 out, but movies like Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead are too ridiculous and gory to scare me, even White Noise and such are a bit closer. I need something more subtle and realistic, but I've got a feeling it just doesn't exist. The most I got is "disturbing", from some exceptional things that are often not even horrors.

Ghosts, zombies, torture, blood, gore, not scary. Maybe disgusting, but not scary, not even disturbing.

[Stieg]

Two other horror films I thought were scary are Takashi Miike's Audition (a real mind twister like Session 9) and Bob Clark's Black Christmas (the original not the PG-13 crap that has saturated the theatres these days).

Have to recommend Hitchcock's Psycho of course and another great one is Polanski's psychological thriller Repulsion.

I give Session 9 highest recommendations as veteran horror buff, this film managed to majorly creep me out.

As far as realism is concerned you'll have difficult time topping Jack Ketchum, his books are steeped in realism considering they are usually based on real incidents. Known for his outlaw no-holds-barred writing because he never plays it safe or cops out, commercial companies are scared to touch him. Elements usually bordering on exploitive yet never sleazy or excessive and always psychological. His novels can have shocking moments of violence yet by the time I've completed his books it feels like I have wakened from a nightmare and the books always have strong emotional finishes because of his character investment and sometimes sympathetic antagonists. Arguably horror's best living horror writer, Stephen King is completely enamored with him, and definitely my favorite living writer in the genre.

Nobody writes like him, nobody.

Even his debut novels on cannibals in Maine titled Off Season is unbelievably suspenseful and quite plausible simply because Ketchum has the talent to take something that is so over-the-top and make it work. The ordeals of Carla and Laura in this book lingered with me long after finishing this novel.

Though Ketchum's magnum opus is definitely The Girl Next Door. And don't miss out on The Peaceable Kingdom, Ketchum's short fiction is mindblowing where his imagination and writing gist is displayed with great power.

Highly collectible author. Highly recommended.

[Video Drone]

Jack Ketchum sounds just right, I'll check him out, thanks. :cool:

[Stieg]

Jack Ketchum sounds just right, I'll check him out, thanks. :cool:

You're very welcome! :D

[Stieg]

*bump*

Just acquired four "lost" horror classics,

The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg

Bereavements by Richard Lortz

Children of Dracula by Richard Lortz

Lovers Living, Lovers Dying by Richard Lortz

and the author's thriller The Valdepenas by Richard Lortz.

The late Richard Lortz only wrote four novels from what I gathered, his book Lovers Living, Lovers Dead is named one of the top forty horror novels of all time by the Horror Writer's Association, see link. (http://home.comcast.net/~antaylor1/horrortopforty.html)

The "lost" horror writer Richard Lortz's work is available directly from the publisher, THE PERMANENT PRESS, see link. (http://www.thepermanentpress.com/order.ihtml)

[manolia]

Medak's The Changeling is quite creepy too starring George C Scott and Romero's Night of the Living Dead.

Films that have the ability to disturb are the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, original The Wicker Man, and Tod Browning's cult classic Freaks.


Allow me to add the first "Hellraiser"...
i liked the book as well

[Stieg]

Allow me to add the first "Hellraiser"...
i liked the book as well

I absolutely agree, Clive Barker is awesome one of the best ever. I guess he made his run in the literature genre circles though.

[manolia]

I absolutely agree, Clive Barker is awesome one of the best ever. I guess he made his run in the literature genre circles though.

Well, i don't know about that. I am not acquainted with all his works. I have only read "Hellraiser" and "The books of blood" ;) . I guess you know better..;)

[Stieg]

Well, i don't know about that. I am not acquainted with all his works. I have only read "Hellraiser" and "The books of blood" ;) . I guess you know better..;)

Yeah, Barker's horror works are great such as The Damnation Game then he went on to writing dark fantasy doorstoppers that's where my interest in him waned.

Hellraiser remake Barker interview (http://www.clivebarker.info/intsrevel15.html), being produced by the Weinstein brothers and scripted by Clive Barker and due to hit theatres in 2008. As you know, Clive Barker wrote and directed the original Hellraiser. No news if Doug Bradley (aka Pinhead) is coming aboard, he'll be very difficult to replace.

[manolia]

Yeah, Barker's horror works are great such as The Damnation Game then he went on to writing dark fantasy doorstoppers that's where my interest in him waned.

Hellraiser remake Barker interview (http://www.clivebarker.info/intsrevel15.html), being produced by the Weinstein brothers and scripted by Clive Barker and due to hit theatres in 2008. As you know, Clive Barker wrote and directed the original Hellraiser. No news if Doug Bradley (aka Pinhead) is coming aboard, he'll be very difficult to replace.

Thanks Stieg!! I didn't know that a remake was expected! It won't be the same without this guy though

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u106/manolia_niki/pinhead.jpg

He was soooo good as Pinhead. My all time fav villain by the way!

[Stieg]

No doubt, Doug Bradley (a long time friend of Barker's) took the ball and ran with that one and the role made him into one of horror's greatest icons.

[manolia]

No doubt, Doug Bradley (a long time friend of Barker's) took the ball and ran with that one and the role made him into one of horror's greatest icons.

You seem to know a lot about horror stuff ;) Till now i have limited my readings to Lovecraft mostly. I've been reading the whole thread again..Well, you convinced me too about Jack Ketchum ;) . I'll search for an english copy of TGND ;)

[Stieg]

You seem to know a lot about horror stuff ;) Till now i have limited my readings to Lovecraft mostly. I've been reading the whole thread again..Well, you convinced me too about Jack Ketchum ;) . I'll search for an english copy of TGND ;)

Excellent, hope you enjoy and please share your thoughts here. ;)

[Stieg]

*bump*

Most people have to agree Lovecraft is a master and the H P Lovecraft story collection as published adoringly by Arkham House are getting abit scarce in the online bookstore circles. I know Amazon Marketplace has them but that can have some risk involved.

Anyways a very nice gentleman named Otto Philips of Realm of Fantasy Books has five of the volumes available, At The Mountains of Madness and Other Novels (the Lovecraft novels), The Dunwich Horror and Others (considered by the editors and publisher the best of Lovecraft shorts), Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (nearly the rest of his works), Miscellaneous Writings (several more short stories, incomplete or otherwise, and essays etc), and finally The Horror At The Museum (Lovecraft made an income as editor and ghost writer for other authors). This isn't a shameful plug just an FYI.

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos is not Lovecraft original work but tales written by other authors inspired by his works.

Arkham House is the best way to enjoy Lovecraft, the dust jackets are screaming gorgeous and could serve a second purpose as framed art. Many of these volumes are in their ninth and eleventh printing so handling them with care is not particularly necessary but buyer beware these are eyecatching books melt the reader's hearts.

Link! (http://store.realmsoffantasybooks.com/arkhamhouse.html)

[Finn.Rhies]

I think that Lovecraft is not just a great horror writer, he is a great writer. He rises above the genre and places himself among the great writers, just like Poe (although, in my point of view Lovecraft is even better) and I consider him to be in the same sphere as Borges (one of my all time favourites).

[Stieg]

I think that Lovecraft is not just a great horror writer, he is a great writer. He rises above the genre and places himself among the great writers, just like Poe (although, in my point of view Lovecraft is even better) and I consider him to be in the same sphere as Borges (one of my all time favourites).

Lovecraft is a phenomenal writer, he takes a pulp imagination (no criticism intended in this example) and galvanizes the deepest unknown fears and spins out literary grandeur. Definitely transcends horror every bit like Poe. With these few words I am still not give Lovecraft full proper credit. I consider him a template.

Another source for the Arkham House books is the publisher itself, here (http://www.arkhamhouse.com) but the shipping is high and quite slow.

[PeterL]

I think that Lovecraft is not just a great horror writer, he is a great writer. He rises above the genre and places himself among the great writers, just like Poe (although, in my point of view Lovecraft is even better) and I consider him to be in the same sphere as Borges (one of my all time favourites).

Lovecraft was a great writer. His description and creation of mood were among the best. He had a wild imagination, and he actually went somewhere with his imagining.

Fortunately, his works are all out of copyright, because the person who inherited the rights to his writings neglected to renew the copyrights. His works are available for free, and legal, downloading in a variety of sites.

[Stieg]

A few selections of Lovecraft reading, "Herbert West - Reanimator", "Dagon", "The Lurking Fear", "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Rats in the Wall", "Pickman's Model", "Cool Air", "The Dunwich Horror", "The Colour Out of Space", "The Music of Erich Zann", and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".

Lovecraft had some great contemporaries, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen to name two - "The Willows" and "The Wendigo" by Blackwood and "The Great God Pan", "The White People", and "The Shining Pyramid" by Machen are AWESOME stories. You can find these tales free online.

[Stieg]

Selections of etexts on these pages:

Algernon Blackwood (http://www.litgothic.com/Authors/blackwood.html)

Arthur Machen (http://www.litgothic.com/Authors/machen.html)

M R James (http://www.litgothic.com/Authors/mrjames.html)

[manolia]

Nice links Stieg!
I found "The girl next door" but i only found it translated..i'll have a look again if i can find it in english (i hate translations).

[Finn.Rhies]

Lovecraft had some great contemporaries, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen to name two - "The Willows" and "The Wendigo" by Blackwood and "The Great God Pan", "The White People", and "The Shining Pyramid" by Machen are AWESOME stories. You can find these tales free online.

Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" is a must.

[Stieg]

Oh what a shame, Manolia. I sometimes order through amazon.co.uk, have you tried an online store?

---

On my screen these were the best etexts of these stories. Enjoy.

The Willows (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11438/11438.txt) by Algernon Blackwood, very eerie and misleading comparisions are oftened cited with The Blair Witch Project

The Wendigo (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-8.txt) by Algernon Blackwood

The Great God Pan (http://arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/horror/ggpan10.html) by Arthur Machen

The White People (http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/whtpeopl.htm) by Arthur Machen

[ReynardtheFox]

I'm in total agreement on Machen, Blackwood and Lovecraft. A real golden age of horror and speculative fiction (whatever that term really means).

The last book to really cause a slow creeping of my flesh was House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I actually suffered from 3 sucessive nightmares shortly after reading it.

I thought it had something to do with Freud's theory on the Uncanny - That what is most terrifying is when the familiar and everyday changes into the threatening and unsettling. But, rather than the familiar just being the plot of the book, old Mark gets a bit postmodern, chopping and changing fonts and narrative perspective, even the direction the text is facing - changing the everyday process of reading itself into something else, causing the reader confusion.

At the time I wasn't quite so cerebral about it though, I was just freaked out.

[jlb4tlb]

Lovecraft is a phenomenal writer, he takes a pulp imagination (no criticism intended in this example) and galvanizes the deepest unknown fears and spins out literary grandeur. Definitely transcends horror every bit like Poe. With these few words I am still not give Lovecraft full proper credit. I consider him a template.

Another source for the Arkham House books is the publisher itself, here (http://www.arkhamhouse.com) but the shipping is high and quite slow.

Greetings

Its nice to read the comments on HPL, his writing deserves it. Lovecraft wrote during what I consider the golden age of American Horror fiction.

The 1920's Thur 40's saw the rein of the pulp magazine. "Weird Tales" the best of the unusual fiction pulps published the bulk of HPL"s work. Other well known horror writers of the era , including; R.E. Howard of Conan fame, Ray Bradbury {Yes that Bradbury} :lol: Hugh B. Cave, Clark Aston Smith, Henry S. Whitehead' among others considered "Weird Tales" their main out let.

Check them out, lots of fun thrills.

Anybody wishing to chat about the pulps feel free to PM me or reply to this thread.

Jeff

http://www.philsp.com/data/images/w/weird_tales_193512.jpg

BTW, Thats Conan on the above issue of "Weird Tales."