Stephen King is a given, but do you guys have any good horror stories? It could be anthologies or short stories or poems or whatever you can throw at me, but I really want a good book to make my skin crawl. Something to make my head spin, y'know?
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Stephen King is a given, but do you guys have any good horror stories? It could be anthologies or short stories or poems or whatever you can throw at me, but I really want a good book to make my skin crawl. Something to make my head spin, y'know?
Well I have to touch back to old Edgar Allan Poe, he will remain a faveorite for me in the realm of horror, but if you are looking for something more moden, I acutally like Peter Straub a touch better than Stephen King. Though I have not read as much of his work, what I have read I really enjoyed.
H.P. Lovecraft, perhaps?
I second that.Quote:
Originally Posted by johann cruyff
I'm not much of a lovecraft fan. His writing style seems sorta convoluted and overrated.
But I'll admit, his subjects were VERRY interesting. I'd read it if I didn't have to read and reread everything he wrote just to understand a single line.
Has anyone tried Darren Shan's novels. They were recommended to me but I'm a bit of a newbie in this particular genre.
I like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series though (at least the first 7 books, then the story sort of collapses).
For classic horror, I would read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
ask me about horror fiction! :D
if you're keen on the Cthulhu Mythos but you dont prefer Lovecraft you can always try Ramsey Campbell. he's a UK chap who wrote some good Mythos stories IMO, but his novels like The Nameless and The Doll Who Ate His Mother arent exactly my fancy. check out Campbell's non-Mythos story 'The Will of Stanley Brooke' in the anthology Cold Print, that'll freak you out real good.
some selections of mine are Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, and for zombie novels check out David Moody at djmoody.co.uk, has some great ebooks of his zombie saga Autumn available for download. also the Book of the Dead, an anthology of zombie literature edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector.
cheers
imperiex
Lovecraft was great, but one of the best horror novels was Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber. Lovecraft is out of copyright, but most U.S. sources don't know that; but his works are available from Australia.
Sheridan LeFanu's short stories are creepy as hell, I think. Just give them a try!
A lot of Lovecraft stories that I have read thus far I found more "surreal" than truly horrifying. They were dark, but I am not sure I would call them horror, there was one story The Cats of Ulthar that I really liked.
I have found that most Horror stories are not horrifying, and many are rather humorous.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
Hrrmmm.... I found a site with some good short, creepy stories. If you're from a chan then you'd call it creepypasta.
www.creepypasta.com
Some of my favorites stories from her selection are:
http://www.creepypasta.com/the-baby-doll/
http://www.creepypasta.com/the-growths/
http://www.creepypasta.com/my-girlfriends-eyes/
http://www.creepypasta.com/the-red-wristband/
http://www.creepypasta.com/one-more-for-the-orphan/
http://www.creepypasta.com/just-be-careful-out-there/
http://www.creepypasta.com/white-with-red-eyes/
Most of the stories are just redundant instructions on how to employ spirits to kill someone, but sometimes a good story will sneak between the cracks. Pretty sure I've already listed most of them off.
I don't know how anyone could find a book truly horrifying anyway. Dark, surreal, sometimes making the reader uneasy - absolutely, but scary... I don't think it's even possible, as a matter of fact, it can only end up being humorous, especially if the writer is trying too hard.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterL
That is true. I cannot say I have ever found a book truly scary, though chilling at times and unerving, I have never really been frightend by a book as of yet.
I suspect that it's something that modern culture has lost. In times past, the night and things that might be out there truly scared people. People disappeared under Puck's hill; there were evil witches who fattened little girls for slaughter. These days there are some Jeffrey Dahmer types, but even he was strange in ways that were sort of funny, even though he did slay and eat parts of his victims.Quote:
Originally Posted by johann cruyff