Any humorous horror novels out there?

D. Adams did humorous science fiction. T. Pratchett does humorous fantasy. Has anyone done humorous horror? Surely there are enough horror cliches to poke at.

Titles, authors, cliches, and speculation are all welcome.

Neil Gaiman’s books often contain a mixture of humor and horror–they aren’t really about horror cliches though, except maybe Good Omens, which he wrote with Pratchett. Gaiman’s solo work is often much more grisly than that one, though.

I suppose you could classify some of Christopher Moore’s novels like that The subtitle of The Stupidest Angel is A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror. And it is.

Mark E. Rogers Samurai Cat series contains a good H.P. Lovecraft parody.

Not a novel, but terrifyingly funny.

I stumbled across a book by A. Lee Martinez called Gil’s All Fright Diner which was a really fun, very funny horror tale.

His follow-up book was a send-up of epic fantasy, and unfortunately I did not enjoy it. His third, however, called A Nameless Witch, I’m reading currently and enjoying very much.

Gil’s All Fright Diner

For older examples (in which the horror is pretty tame by modern standards) you could try Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, and some of Thomas Love Peacock’s fiction, such as Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey

Can’t think of any novels – when I think “humorous horror” I think of the cartoons of Charles Addams, or, better still, Gahan Wilson.

A Night In the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny deals with some fairly horrific events. And characters with good, solid horror cv’s. The book even includes a nod to Lovecraft.

But it’s generally light & witty.

My favourite in this genre is Resume with Monsters. Hilariously funny and wierd.

Ever wondered about those “corporate drones” you see at work? What if they really are drones?

Yes! Ah, now I must read them all. Thanks everyone. (And feel free to keep adding to the list - it will not go to waste.)

Interesting question. I can think of maybe half a dozen decent movies right off the bat that successfully blend humor and horror, but novels? Generally, the two genres seem fairly immiscible in print, especially in the “joke-a-page” style of Adams and Pratchett. It’s not that there aren’t horror novels out there which incorporate humorous elements, but they’re still very clearly horror novels first and foremost.

I imagine it’s more difficult in print to build up a reader’s emotional investment to the point necessary for a good scare, while simultaneously keeping up a reasonably steady stream of comedy. Successful horror relies on establishing a visceral link with the reader, to a much greater extent than most science fiction or fantasy.

Then too, a lot of humorous fantasy/SF derives its humor from spoofing its target genre, which is probably not conducive to a good scare either-- a haunted house is much less frightening if the performers are cracking up at each other’s antics.

Gaiman’s Neverwhere is the first thing I thought of. It contains definite elements of both horror and humor, though if I had to stick it in a genre, I’d classify it as fantasy.

Jasper Fforde has some horror elements in his novels, but probably no more so than Terry Pratchett; they’re certainly not primarily horror novels.

As Terrifel noted, there are humorous horror movies: “Shaun of the Dead,” “Gremlins 2,” and “Scary Movie,” for three.

Believe it or not, Edgar Allan Poe actually wrote at least a couple of humorous horror stories:
A Predicament
Never Bet the Devil Your Head

Tick Tock by Dean Koontz. I get the distinct impression from the complaints of some readers that the fact it’s a parody went over their heads, though.

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin might fall under horror-comedy. Think Seven meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

I’m wondering if you just want takeoffs of the horror genre, like Good Omens, or books where the horror is horrific at the same time the humor is humorous.

I’m not sure I can think of any in the latter category, but I’m not well-read in the horror genre.

While not a novelist, Edward Gorey’s stories and illustrations are pretty hilariously horrific. I’m thinking of The Loathsome Couple and his most famous work, the Gashlycrumb Tinies.

Thing is, it’s hard to sustain effective horror writing for the length of a novel, and it’s hard to sustain effective humor writing for the length of a novel, so asking for an effective combination of the two is pretty much an exercise in futility. I think the best humor you can really hope for in terms of novel-length horror is of the “occasional flashes of mordant wit” variety.

Possibly Carpe Demon and it’s sequels by Julie Kerner.
Imagine a Buffy-like character, retired from the trade (as it were) now settled down, married with a couple of kids who ends up being co-opted again in the fight against evil. But she still has to juggle all the ‘soccer mom’ aspects of her life…

Or Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Miller about a misfit in a clan of Scottish werewolves!

I’ve always found H. P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West: Reanimator to be rather humorous.