# I'm jaded. Please recommend me some \*good\* horror fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [May 14, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018 "2023-05-14T02:43:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/1 "2023-05-14T02:43:15Z")
If you’ve read much of what I’ve posted on the SDMB, and Cafe Society in particular, you will have surmised that I’m a big fan of the Horror genre in most media–movies, TV,comics, websites, and, the subject of this post, fiction (with a preference for the short story form, but I also love a good scary novel). My problem is that I’m also a _jaded_ horror fan who sometimes thinks he’s read everything that’s any good. I know damned well that I haven’t read all the horror fiction that’s any good, so I’m asking my fellow fans for assistance in finding some good horror to read, preferably on the newer side of the divide. To assist your assisting, here’s a sketchy rundown of what I like and don’t like in the field: both creepy supernatural/psychological and gory splattery “extreme” horror are acceptible _if they’re good_, and a well-done monster tale is always welcome. I’m tired of vampires and zombies (I haven’t read a good vampire story since MC Anderson’s _Thirsty_) but a fresh take on a werewolf story can still grab me. Paricular authors I enjoy include Bentley Little, Michael McDowell, Jack Ketchum, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Slade, John Shirley, both Richard Mathesons, David Schow,Ramsey Campbell, John Farris, Charles Tremblay, Shirley Jackson, and the collaborations of Skipp and Spector. Also Joyce Carol Oates when she makes a foray into horror (I like her crime stories too, and even her literary fiction, but I digress…). King and Straub I have mixed feelings about, and I have a love-hate thing going with Mr. Lovecraft. Don’t much care for the rest of the old Weird Tales crew, or anything pre-20th century–cannot abide _The Turn Of The Screw_ . I don’t like Dean R. Koontz or Anne Rice or VC Andrews at all, not even a little bit. 1980s style paperback pop-pulp-horror like John Saul’s, and mainstream fiction with a slight horrific glaze, both leave me cold. And I’m a bit ambivalent about much of the new-generation stuff that I’ve read–there are individual pieces that work for me but a lot of it just doesn’t. What haven’t I read, what should I read, and what can I read next? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/2 "2023-05-14T02:48:14Z")
_666_, by Jay Anson? I finished reading it about 2300, went to bed, turned off the light, lay there for about five minutes, and then turned the light back on… ---
**Author:** ![Blindmellowjelly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindmellowjelly/32/13920_2.png) [@Blindmellowjelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blindmellowjelly)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/3 "2023-05-14T04:29:36Z")
I don’t remember any certain collections or publications specifically…But some of my favorite and slightly guilty pleasures were getting some of these clearence and “value table” books- meaty compendiums of the Best Horror or Science Fiction Short Stories from years past in the eighties and nineties. They were always a couple years old, but I owned a shelf clearing, dated, best stories, 1/4 price, 600 page book. Short Horror story compendium is what you want by your OP. Or you coukd go back to rhe Source like the Gebrueder Grimm. Coming from Someone who walked and biked the Hansel and Gretl Woods on the Maerchenstrasse in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/4 "2023-05-14T08:14:20Z")
What about Clive Barker’s Books Of Blood? I like them, but I guess you never can tell if someone else will. Here’s the wiki on Books Of Blood: > **[Books of Blood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Blood)** > > Books of Blood is a series of six horror fiction anthologies collecting original stories written by British author, playwright, and filmmaker Clive Barker in 1984 and 1985. Known primarily for writing stage plays beforehand, Barker gained a wider audience and fanbase through this anthology series, leading to a successful career as a novelist. Originally presented as six volumes, the anthologies were subsequently re-published in two omnibus editions containing three volumes each. Each volume co... ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/5 "2023-05-14T08:26:04Z")
I like those too, very much so. Especially “Rawhead”, “In The Hills The Cities”, and “The Body Politic”.Mr. Barker’s wild imagination, poetic sensibility, and surrealistic violence have given me some uneasy hours of reading enjoyment. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/6 "2023-05-14T11:58:26Z")
Have you read The Hollow Places, by T. Kingfisher? I also read a lot of horror, and get bored at times, but this one got under my skin a bit. > **[The Hollow Places](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Hollow-Places/T-Kingfisher/9781534451124)** > > A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel from the author of the “inn... ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/7 "2023-05-14T13:13:09Z")
Peter Clines’ novel [“14”](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/15062217), is pretty good. It’s horror, sci-fi, and some dimensional scariness mixed together. It’s part of a series called “Threshold”. Just finished the 2nd book and they’re very different but are related. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/8 "2023-05-14T14:37:00Z")
@Dung_Beetle and @pullin mentioned what are probably my two favorite recent horror novels, though I have no idea whether they’re the kind of thing the OP is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/9 "2023-05-14T17:25:13Z")
Yeah, another thumbs up for _The Hollow Places_ – nothing I’ve read recently has made me as wrung out as that one. Really creepy. I just finished a book called _Duet of Death_ by Hilda Lawrence written in 1939 and containing two separate short novels. They’re more suspense than horror, but I was definitely drawn in by the tension and suspense. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/10 "2023-05-14T17:58:23Z")
I suggest Graham Masterton. He’s British and not that famous in the US, but I love his stuff. He’s very gory–makes Stephen King look tame by comparison–and can be a bit hit-or-miss, but books like _Ritual_, _Burial_, _Mirror_, _The Devil in Gray_, _The Doorkeepers_, and the _Manitou_ series are really entertaining as long as you don’t mind that some of them are a bit dated. He’s got newer stuff too, though I prefer the older. He has a lot of books out. Stay away from _Unspeakable_, though. The ending of that one made me want to chuck the book across the room. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/11 "2023-05-14T18:06:47Z")
> [@El\_DeLuxo](#): > > Paricular authors I enjoy include Bentley Little, Michael McDowell, Jack Ketchum, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Slade, John Shirley, both Richard Mathesons, David Schow,Ramsey Campbell, John Farris, Charles Tremblay, Shirley Jackson, and the collaborations of Skipp and Spector. Also Joyce Carol Oates when she makes a foray into horror (I like her crime stories too, and even her literary fiction, but I digress…). Hello, Me from 1993! Welcome to the future! Another author I liked from that period is Brian Hodge, particularly “Night Life” and “Dark Advent” (sequel to Night Life). Norman Partridge’s “Dark Harvest” is also excellent. I moved away from horror over time, but of the newer authors I’ve read, I would recommend Jeff Strand, although a little can go far. He is very much into the “late-night/drive-in” type of horror, and the humor can wear a little thin at times. Having said that… I recommend “Clown vs. Spiders”. It is literally about a group of clowns fighting against an invasion of spiders. The clowns stay in character the entire time. It’s very strange. Also, “Ferocious”, by the same author. A man and his niece must escape from their cabin in the woods when the wildlife starts attacking. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/12 "2023-05-14T18:22:32Z")
Add my voice to the T. Kingfisher fans: she does for rural Piedmont NC what King does for rural Maine. I think Kingfisher writes by getting a single super-creepy image stuck in her head and writing a story around it, and for the most part her books are snarky gen-Xers dealing with family stuff, but then they get to the creepy stuff and good lord is it creepy. I really like her. Werewolves? Check out Glen Duncan’s [The Last Werewolf](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/40651862) trilogy. His werewolves don’t fuck around, they’re human predators once a month, and the rest of the time they’re humans who have to reconcile the slaughter and cannibalism they’ve committed with who they are as people. It’s bloody and disgusting and wry and gory fun. There’s also [Sharp Teeth](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1724365) by Toby Barlow, a prose poem about urban werewolves. I didn’t expect to like it, I though the prose poem would be a dealbreaker, but it’s really good. Not especially scary, if I remember correctly, but a great werewolf book. Finally, I enjoy some Christopher Buehlman. [The Necromancer’s House](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17674968-the-necromancer-s-house) is a story about a recovering alcoholic/practicing necromancer, and debts from his past coming due. Definitely has some horror elements, and is probably my favorite interpretation of an often-visited mythological character. He’s written a few others, but I’d recommend starting with this one to see if you like his approach. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/13 "2023-05-14T18:28:55Z")
Oh–want some fuckin trippy discombulating weirdness with your horror? Get your hands on some Jeff Vandermeer! [Annihilation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilation_(VanderMeer_novel)) is one of his more accessible books, which isn’t to say it’s straightforward, but it’s easier to grasp than some of his other super-experimental stuff. He also edited an anthology called _The New Weird_, which has some kickass horror stories in it from across the world. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/14 "2023-05-14T18:34:08Z")
I’ll be on the lookout for this, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/15 "2023-05-14T18:38:11Z")
I read at least one of the _Manitou_ books a long time ago, I’ll look for some more of his stuff the next time I hit the library. If you don’t mind me asking, what was it about _Unspeakable_ that made you want to hurl the book? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/16 "2023-05-14T18:52:21Z")
Oh, one more, and then I’ll hush for a bit: Stephen Graham Jones’s [The Only Good Indians](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52180399) freaked me the fuck out. It’s bloody horror set in a ghost story in Blackfeet culture. At one point I was reading it before bed, and hit a certain scene, and was like Christ Almighty, I can’t go to sleep with that in my head, so I read another dozen pages and hit a scene that was about ten times scarier and had to go to sleep with _that_ in my head. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/17 "2023-05-14T19:04:54Z")
I just read _The Only Good Indians_ a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was pretty good. I especially liked the gritty, naturalistic, doomed atmosphere it laid out for most of the characters. It seems we have some tastes in common, so I’ll certainly consider your suggestions. Currently the San Francisco Public Library is serving up my recreational fiction needs, and I’ll definitely have a nice list of books to look for the next time I go there. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/18 "2023-05-14T19:10:16Z")
“Late-night/drive-in” sounds right up my alley. I’d never heard of Mr. Strand until your post, so now I have a fresh author to seek out, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/19 "2023-05-14T19:34:05Z")
Your horror requirements are pretty much in alignment with mine. Horror was the genre of reading I cut my teeth on, right after mastering _Dr. Seuss_. I started with short stories and quickly worked my way up to _Ratman’s Notebooks_. I was hooked on horror by then. I love horror, but very little horror horrifies me. For me, Stephan King’s _IT_ is the gold standard of horror—the book, not any of the film adaptations. Film-wise, _The Exorcist_ is my gold standard. It scared the pants off me when I saw the premiere as a teen, and it holds up quite well all these decades later. I also like _The Shining_, thanks to King’s stellar writing and Kubrick’s masterful filmmaking. Had Kubrick directed _IT_, I have no doubt it would be a favorite film of mine. Yes, Kubrick was _that_ good. A handful of other horror films have grabbed me, including the original _Alien_ (none of the sequels), _The Fly_ (1986), _The Thing_ (1982), _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ (1978), and even _The Wicker Man_ (1973), but woefully few other horror flicks have made the grade. Jump scares, slasher, gore, etc. do nothing for me. They make me laugh more than horrify me. They are techniques of weak writing and directing. Zombies and vampires make me yawn. For me, horror is all about creating tension, an eerie ambiance, and a feeling of foreboding. Don’t _show_ me the monster, make me _anticipate_ the monster. Thankfully Bruce the shark in _Jaws_ had mechanical problems, causing Spielberg to show him very little in the film—that snafu is what elevated _Jaws_ into a classic. Unfortunately, I have no other horror books or films to recommend. I’ve pretty much transferred to hard sci-fi for my thrills. But, if another _IT_ is published, or another _The Shining_ is filmed, I could be wooed back. 👻 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018/20 "2023-05-14T20:43:56Z")
Sorrow’s Knot by Erin Bow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-jaded-please-recommend-me-some-good-horror-fiction/984018.md?page=2)