Looking for horror fiction recommendations

[AuntiePam]

I used to read a lot of horror, almost exclusively, in fact. But I've hit a dry spell over the last few years. I don't know if I'm jaded or what.

I'm not real crazy about the newer stuff. The writing is either long on style and short on story (or vice versa), and it's not very original. Seems like everything is vampires (detectives and waitresses), or haunted towns with secrets unleashed by newcomers with troubled marriages.

I want something new, original, well-written, and scary.

Most recently I've enjoyed The Good House by Tananarive Due, Night Country by Stewart O'Nan, lost boy lost girl and in the night room by Peter Straub, and Feesters in the Lake by Bob Leman.

I don't like gore and torture and things that eat babies.

So does anyone have any recommendations? Is anyone still reading horror? There seems to be a ton of horror movies, but no books. Thirty, forty years ago it was just the opposite.

[Mudshark]

Well, Harvest Home and The Other by Thomas Tryon are pretty good. However, they are not now, and they are out of print, also, not always easy to find. They are definitely worth it if you can find a cheap copy.

House of Blood by Brian Smith is relatively new. It isn't bad, but its not something that will ever be regarded as "classic". And, there were a lot of proofreading mistakes in grammar in my copy. If you can get past that, it isn't a bad little book.

Other than that, I have no real recommendations on newer horror that isn't all blood and gore, or just plain awful. I agree that horror novels aren't what they used to be. What I do a lot of the time is go to used book stores, and get horror novels from the 60's 70's and 80's, that are out of print, unheard of, or just hard to find. They are just written much better.

[Dung Beetle]

I was all excited by the title of this thread, but then I saw it had been started by one of the posters I consider a Horror Writing Authority.

I did see yesterday that my library has ordered something I haven't read yet, so I hope that will be the case for you also: Best of the Borderlands, which is a collection featuring Elizabeth E. Monteleone, Stephen King, Paul F. Wilson, Whitley Streiber, Joe R. Lansdale, Ramsey Campbell, Poppy Z. Brite, Charles L. Grant, and Bentley Little.

[Cluricaun]

Don't forget David Schow or Brian Lumley, although Lumley is exactly that vampire dective thing you asked against, he's still pretty good.

[ultrafilter]

See if you can track down a copy of Nick Mamatas' "Move Under Ground". It's a first-person narrative of Jack Kerouac's fight against Cthulhu, and it's worth it just for the idea alone. I'm finding it slow going because I hate Kerouac's prose style, but you might like it..

[don't ask]

I have really enjoyed everything I have read by English author Christopher Fowler. Most of his work is spooky and unsettling without resorting to gruesome crap.

[Stark Raven Mad]

Doesn't quite go with your criterion of new, but H.P. Lovecraft's stuff is pretty awesomely freaky. Most of it's available online as well (I think it's in the public domain). When you've exhausted his oeuvre, go shopping for Cthulhu plush toys that you can display prominently so you can be the envy of geeks everywhere.

[AuntiePam]

Thanks for the suggestions. :)

MudShark, Thomas Tryon is one of the writers I was remembering fondly when I was typing the OP. :) Bryan Smith -- I read a few pages of House of Blood. It felt derivative, and I put it aside for a time of desperation. I'm almost there!

DungBeetle, thanks for the compliment. I've read most of those authors and enjoyed them. I haven't had any trouble finding good horror in short story form. Maybe that's where it belongs.

Cluricaun, the first paragraph of Necroscope put me off Lumley -- clunky description of a room or a building, if I remember right. Isn't the beginning of a novel the place where a writer is supposed to shine? Get us hooked, and then they can disappoint later? I like David Schow's short stories, haven't tried a novel.

ultrafilter, I'll try that Mamatas title. Sounds intriguing.

don't ask - cool! Spooky and unsettling is good. I think I've read some of Fowler's short stuff in the Year's Best anthologies, either Datlow or Jones.

Stark Raven Mad, I love Lovecraft. I heard there might be a movie of At the Mountains of Madness! :)

I'm getting a bit of a horror fix from fantasy -- George R. R. Martin, Steven Erikson, and R. Scott Bakker have some nice horrific elements in their books. Sometimes it's even more effective when you're not expecting it.

[LiveOnAPlane]

Have you read "Wolfen" by any chance? If you saw the movie, I can understand thinking it kind of sucks, but I found the novel quite different, not too gross and genuinely scary in places.

(Or, was the title "The Wolfen" ?) I shoulda Googled first, no time now at work.

[Beadalin]

How do you feel about horror that treads into fantasy? Some of my favorites are Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman and Ramsey Campbell (well, only some from that last one).

For Ramsey Campbell, maybe try The Long Lost or The Hungry Moon.

Neil Gaiman: Coraline (technically for young readers but creepy as hell!) or Smoke and Mirrors

Clive Barker: The Books of Blood, Hellbound Heart (this was what the movie Hellraiser was based on), The Damnation Game. For more fantasy (mixed with horror), I tremendously enjoyed The Great and Secret Show and its sequel, Everville.

[don't ask]

Have you read "Wolfen" by any chance? If you saw the movie, I can understand thinking it kind of sucks, but I found the novel quite different, not too gross and genuinely scary in places.

(Or, was the title "The Wolfen" ?) I shoulda Googled first, no time now at work.

Wolfen by Whitley Streiber - terrific book an amalgam of detective story and horror/fantasy much like William Hjortsberg's Angel Heart. Both great reads.

[Cockatiel]

It's not particularly scary, but Robert McCammon's Swan Song (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671741039/104-0501610-1481502) is amazing. It's about the survival of American society after nuclear war breaks out, but there's plenty of supernatural and creepy stuff in there and the characters and story are enthralling. Beware, it IS long, but very worth it.

You might want to check out some more things by this guy, because books are good. I think he's very underrated.

[Cockatiel]

You might want to check out some more things by this guy, because books are good.

Of course books are good. His books are even better. :smack:

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Carrion comfort by Dan Simmons was pretty good.

[Cluricaun]

Cluricaun, the first paragraph of Necroscope put me off Lumley -- clunky description of a room or a building, if I remember right. Isn't the beginning of a novel the place where a writer is supposed to shine? Get us hooked, and then they can disappoint later? I like David Schow's short stories, haven't tried a novel.

Yeah, Lumley is an investment into future payoffs. It takes two books for the story to begin going anywhere, but it can be rewarding if you keep slugging away, and don't mind some dated material involving evil Russians.

Schow is a classic, well worth checking out. He's at his best in short stories, but he's got some skill.

I tremendously enjoyed The Great and Secret Show and its sequel, Everville.
Really? The Great and Secret Show was my downfall with Barker. I’ve attempted to read it several times, but always get mired down in, what to me, amounts to his garbled hallucinogenic volume. There may be a decent book in there somewhere, but it gets overwhelmed with hard to follow nonsense. I'm not really one to ever put down a book once I start, but I always fold about 3/4 of the way through.

[AuntiePam]

LiveOnAPlane, yeah, I've read and liked Wolfen, The Hunger, and Night Church. I think those were all written before Strieber had his alien experience. I stopped reading him after that.

beadalin, I love a mix of fantasy and horror, and Barker is good with that. I didn't read his Hollywood book but I've read all the others. Loved Coraline too. Haven't read much Gaiman, just American Gods and one of the Sandman books. I haven't kept up with Ramsey Campbell. I think the last one I read was Incarnate. I'd forgotten how nicely moody he gets.

Cockatiel, I've read everything by McCammon and liked all of it, even the early stuff. Stay away from Speaks the Nightbird. Bloated and predictable, with way too much to-ing and fro-ing.

Qadgop the Mercotan, I liked Carrion Comfort, Summer of Night (reminded me of King's It), and even Song of Kali, which is well-hated. Haven't read A Winter Haunting. I like his SF too, Hyperion and Ilium/Olympos.

I just remembered one recent horror title I really liked -- Eyes of the Carp, a novella by T. M. Wright. It's the journal of a psychopath, and it's clever and funny. Another good one is Shikar by Jack Warner. It's being reissued -- I think the new title is Maneater. It's about a Bengal tiger loose in Georgia, and it's a nice mix of southern/rural life, fantasy, and horror.

I've ordered the Mamatas book from Amazon. Not having so much luck finding good (and cheap) copies of Christopher Fowler books, but I know where I can go to trade for some. :)

[OtakuLoki]

Have you read any Tim Powers? I really like him and think that he's best described to newcomers to his work as horror. It's there, but it's not all that's in the books. For a good introduction to why I think he writes excellent horror, see if you can pick up On Stranger Tides (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930235321/sr=8-12/qid=1144951896/ref=pd_bbs_12/104-1250882-3812732?%5Fencoding=UTF8), or The Anubis Gates (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441004016/sr=8-4/qid=1144951896/ref=pd_bbs_4/104-1250882-3812732?%5Fencoding=UTF8), or The Stress of Her Regard.

Of course, if you like Lovecraft - try Dinner at Deviant's Palace. It's one of his earlier works, but I find that it reads like a spiritual descentand of "The Colour Out of Space."

[norinew]

The Great and Secret Show was my downfall with Barker. I’ve attempted to read it several times, but always get mired down in, what to me, amounts to his garbled hallucinogenic volume.
Well, I'm glad it wasn't just us! My husband bought this book second-hand (we get a lot of books that way) because he thought the premise was promising. Read a few chapters, then passed it to me and said "I can't make sense of this; see what you can make of it". Well, it was by me, too. I forced myself to finish it all, but I just couldn't grasp it. For a little while, it would seem to start to make sense, but then it would just veer off into hallucination land again.

Carrion comfort by Dan Simmons was pretty good.
I've also enjoyed Children of the Night and Song of Kali, by the same author.

[Beadalin]

Really? The Great and Secret Show was my downfall with Barker.
I know a couple of other people who feel the same way you do, so you're not alone. I loved it, though, because it was so bizarre and epic and detailed. I've always really gotten into books where the character(s) discovers some hidden world that's just a layer of this one -- anything that covers the overlap between the mundane and the supernatural is cool with me. I absolutely devoured Raymond E. Feist's Faerie Tale, and now that I think of it, almost all of Barker and Gaiman's books fall into this theme, as well.

[OtakuLoki]

Bah, hit submit by accident. Please forgive the incomplete linking, and poor spelling.

The Stress of Her Regard (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441790976/sr=8-1/qid=1144951959/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1250882-3812732?%5Fencoding=UTF8)

Dinner at Deviant's Palace (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1892284847/qid=1144952189/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1250882-3812732?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

[AuntiePam]

Have you read any Tim Powers?

I tried Earthquake Weather. I must have been tired or something, because I lost patience waiting for something to happen. I'll try Anubis Gates -- I've seen recommendations for that one elsewhere, but a Doper rec carries more weight. :)

[OtakuLoki]

Earthquake Weather is the third book in the world created in Last Call, and then Expiration Date. And is the weakest of the three books, I'm afraid. I know I wasn't that thrilled with it, and I knew all the recurring characters. I can undestand why you, as someone who'd not read the earlier books, would feel even less patience.

[silenus]

A scary story thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=233876) from a few years ago.

[Clothahump]

The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James kept my parents awake for a couple of nights; I found it at about age 5 and wouldn't stop reading it, even though I had the screaming heebie-jeebies when the lights went out.

And you just can't go wrong with H. P. Lovecraft, or any of the collections in his genre by other authors.

[Gozu Tashoya]

It's a very different kind of scary/creepy than most books, but Mark Z. Danilewski's House of Leaves (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375703764/sr=8-1/qid=1145078635/) is a fascinating read. Starts off slow, but it's creepy as hell.

[Dijon Warlock]

I see that M.R. James has been mentioned already. Sheridan Le Fanu and E.F. Benson are two of my other favorites, if you haven't run across them (as I'm guessing you have), although they don't qualify as "new," exactly. TGASS by Clive Barker kind of made the same impression on me as it has on others. I liked "Weaveworld" much better.

Try browsing through www.horrormasters.com a bit. They publish new fiction, as well as carrying a database of a few thousand stories and poems (a new one every day). There's a link to their Modern Horror Writers at the bottom of the home page. PDF format, but a treasure trove nonetheless.

[elfkin477]

Qadgop the Mercotan, I liked Carrion Comfort, Summer of Night (reminded me of King's It), and even Song of Kali, which is well-hated. Haven't read A Winter Haunting. I like his SF too, Hyperion and Ilium/Olympos.

It's not a bad read, but I'm a little surprised that he didn't get sued by Peter Straub over A Winter's Haunting. It has about as many plot points in common with If You Could See Me Now(1977) as Dan Brown's Book is supposed to have with that Blood book... If you haven't read Straub's older works, you might like them. Floating Dragon, Mystery, Shadowland etc.

Horror novels not in this thread that I've read in the past three years and liked a lot include:

The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Strangewood by Christopher Golden (really love this one)
The Others by James Herbert (Once... on the other hand, yuck)
The Visitation by Frank Peretti (he's not really a "Christian author", despite the hype.)
The Oath by Frank Peretti
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
The Taking by Dean Koontz
The Face by Dean Koontz (I got re-caught up on Koontz last year!)
The Presence by John Saul

[AuntiePam]

Gozu Tashoya, I'm not much for experimental (if that's the right word) fiction. Or maybe I've heard too many people say House of Leaves was too much work. :) I might be too lazy to tackle that one.

Dijon Warlock, I'll browse that site, thank you.

elfkin477, I loves me my Peter Straub. I haven't read James Herbert for awhile. I liked his early stuff and then tried to read 1948 and thought it was pretty awful. Saul's okay. I don't care for Koontz. I'll check out the Doris Lessing title. Thanks. :)

[moes lotion]

I haven't seen these mentioned yet, so here goes:

Child Across the Sky by Jonathon Carroll - semi surreal & creepy

The Paper Grail or The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock - semi goofy, but I found the main bad guys in each very effectively understatedly creepy

[AuntiePam]

The Paper Grail or The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock - semi goofy, but I found the main bad guys in each very effectively understatedly creepy

I'm okay with semi-goofy, I think. Does that mean the plot is unbelievable, but the writing and/or the characters are interesting enough to make up for it? Randall Boyll's books are like that. You're going "Nuh UH" but you keep reading anyway, and you don't feel like you're wasting your time. :)

[AuntiePam]

Have you read any Tim Powers? I really like him and think that he's best described to newcomers to his work as horror. It's there, but it's not all that's in the books. For a good introduction to why I think he writes excellent horror, see if you can pick up On Stranger Tides (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930235321/sr=8-12/qid=1144951896/ref=pd_bbs_12/104-1250882-3812732?%5Fencoding=UTF8), or The Anubis Gates (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441004016/sr=8-4/qid=1144951896/ref=pd_bbs_4/104-1250882-3812732?%5Fencoding=UTF8), or The Stress of Her Regard.

Of course, if you like Lovecraft - try Dinner at Deviant's Palace. It's one of his earlier works, but I find that it reads like a spiritual descentand of "The Colour Out of Space."

Bumping this thread -- I don't have much book buying money, but these recommendations prompted me to ask about trading on another board.

So far I've scored Personal Demons by Christopher Fowler, Earthquake Weather by Powers, and the grand prize -- Anubis Gates and Dinner at Deviant's Palace (hardcover limited editions even) -- which are coming to me from Romania. !!

My trades were books by Jack Ketchum, Kathe Koja, Davis Grubb, John Farris, R. Scott Bakker, and Sean Stewart.

I love the internets! :)

[Rubystreak]

Have you read In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien? He's the guy who wrote The Things They Carried. He's not known as a horror writer and this is not a straight-up horror book either, but it's mysterious and creepy and very good. If you read it, let me know. I've been looking for someone to discuss it with for years now.

[AuntiePam]

I'll try it. One of the people I'm trading with mentioned this book. Now two? That means something. Thanks. :)

[vivalostwages]

Try this one: Under the Skin, by Michel Faber.
I read it five years ago and it is still vivid to me. It is unconventional horror, with some science fiction added. Thoughtful and beautifully written, too. Sometimes I laughed, sometimes I felt immensely sad, other times I felt a bit sick.

[AuntiePam]

I knew I should have kept that book. It sat on the shelf for years, and I ended up trading it for something. :(

[jsgoddess]

I don't read horror, but a very creepy fantasy book is Garth Nix's awesome Sabriel. You said you liked Coraline, so I knew you wouldn't be insulted by a book that is sometimes considered YA.

This book is probably my most recommended book in history by now. It's simply spectacular and very creepy.

[OtakuLoki]

So far I've scored Personal Demons by Christopher Fowler, Earthquake Weather by Powers, and the grand prize -- Anubis Gates and Dinner at Deviant's Palace (hardcover limited editions even) -- which are coming to me from Romania. !!

Congrats! I'm glad you're so eager to try Powers. I hope you like him as much as I do. And that limited edition of Anubis Gates is a lovely book. (I've got a copy, myself. And no, it's not for sale or trade. In fact, I think I know what I'll read on my way to sleep tonight...)

[Accidental Yuppie]

I used to read a lot of horror, almost exclusively, in fact. But I've hit a dry spell over the last few years. I don't know if I'm jaded or what.

I'm not real crazy about the newer stuff. The writing is either long on style and short on story (or vice versa), and it's not very original. Seems like everything is vampires (detectives and waitresses), or haunted towns with secrets unleashed by newcomers with troubled marriages.

I want something new, original, well-written, and scary.

Most recently I've enjoyed The Good House by Tananarive Due, Night Country by Stewart O'Nan, lost boy lost girl and in the night room by Peter Straub, and Feesters in the Lake by Bob Leman.



If you liked Due's "The Good House," try her novels "My Soul to Keep" and "The Living Blood". As much as I liked The Good House, I thought these were better.

And I highly recommend pretty much anything by F. Paul Wilson.............he's mostly horror with a smattering of Sci-Fi. The later "Repairman Jack" novels are serialized so for prime enjoyment start with the earlier titles and work forward, The Keep and The Tomb are both excellent.

Of all the novelists I read, I would have to say that he and Jeffrey Deaver are the 2 that never disappoint.

Barbara

[AuntiePam]

jsgoddess, I love YA stuff. I've read Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen -- the trilogy really delivered. I have another Nix book in the TBR, Shade's Children.

Accidental Yuppie, I like Wilson. I really liked The Keep (even the movie), The Tomb, and The Touch but I haven't read any Repairman Jack stuff yet.

When my finances improve, I'm going to read some more Due. I usually don't buy new, and her titles are pricey even on the secondary market.

I just remembered another writer I'd like to recommend -- Midory Snyder. The Innamorati is wonderful historical fantasy, and The Flight of Michael McBride is a nice horrific western, of all things. I think horror and westerns are a nice mix, but nobody's doing that except for maybe Joe Lansdale and Tim Lebbon.

[AuntiePam]

I spelled that wrong -- it's Mydori Snyder. Worth checking out.

[Ukulele Ike]

Have you tried Sir Charles Birkin?

Midnight House put out A Haunting Beauty, a collection of his short stories from the '30s, '40s, '50s, back in 2000. Pretty good stuff.

Sarban is a writer you've probably tried, but if not, look for Ringstones and Other Curious Tales or the superb short novel The Sound of his Horn.

[AuntiePam]

Midnight House -- I think those are the folks who did the Bob Leman collection (which is awesome). Nope, I haven't tried him, or Sarban. Thanks -- I'll check these out.

[Ukulele Ike]

Amazon lists the Birkin publisher as "Darkside Press," but I've got the book in front of me and the colophon reads Midnight House.

They also did a great collection of W.C. Morrow's stuff, which had been out of print for about a hundred damn years. His book was originally called The Ape, the Idiot, and Others, and was considered on of the great lost American classics of horror....Morrow was a disciple of Ambrose Bierce, and was responsible for such short nifties as "Over an Absinthe Bottle," "His Unconquerable Enemy," "The Permanent Stiletto," and "In a Dark Room." (Great titles, huh?)

Midnight put it out as The Monster Maker and Other Stories. Bless 'em.

[AuntiePam]

The Birkin book is out of print at the publisher, but I found a copy at ABE for $35, which is probably a huge bargain. I also found Ringstones for $8, at Amazon.

So now I get to look for W. C. Morrow. Okay! :)

[AuntiePam]

On second thought, I have a bookcase full of horror anthologies, and a quite a few of them are "old". I'll bet there's some Morrow there.

Have you read any Leo Perutz? Are Birkin and Sarban like that -- old world-like, elegant, and mysterious?

[Ukulele Ike]

Sarban is a little H.G. Wellsy. The Soulnd of his Horn is a dystopian novella set one huindred years after WWII, in a world where the Nazis won. It's cool because it only shows us a small part of this world, and implies what's going on on the rest of the planet.

Birkin is....well, I dunno if "elegant" is the word. He's typical of mid-20th-century Brit writers of the macabre. Comparable to Nelson Bond, Cynthia Asquith, Robert Aickman....

[Elendil's Heir]

Another vote for In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien. Very creepy and effective, although more of a thriller than a horror novel, I'd say.

I'd recommend Salem's Lot by Stephen King (a small Maine town in 1975 is slowly, inexorably overtaken by vampires) and Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin (about vampires along the Mississippi River before the Civil War - think "Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain"). Both masterpieces of the genre, and not a detective or waitress to be seen!

[AuntiePam]

Oh, good choices!

Salem's Lot and Fevre Dream are two of the best vampire novels, I think. Salem's Lot put vampires in small towns, which was brilliant. Before that, if you stayed out of Eastern Europe, you thought you were safe. :)

My favorite part of Fevre Dream is when Marsh reveals his origins -- it's two or three pages maybe, in the middle of the book, and it's just heartbreaking.

[Elendil's Heir]

I think you mean Joshua York, not Marsh the steamboat captain?

But you're right, that's a great chapter.

[AuntiePam]

You're right, it was York. Thanks for correcting that.

Maybe it's time for a re-read. :)