I guess horror just doesn’t scare me. There were actually three good stories, A Fish Story, Jimmy, and White, though none of them were scary.
I was really hoping for more.
Any books that will give me nightmares?
John Shirley’s collection, Black Butterflies. Very dark and disturbing.
The University by Bentley Little.
AuntiePam’s suggestion is a good one.
I’ve not read Neidhart’s suggestion, but I’ve read some of Bentley Little’s short fiction and found it to be enjoyable. Some of his stories are bound to disturb a reader who is capable of being disturbed at all.
A lot of people like and/or are creeped out by the short (and long) fiction of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Poppy Z. Brite.
Then there’s the old stuff, like the work of H.P. Lovecraft. Most (all?) of his short stories can be found here: That website which should not be accessed by mortal men. And there’s some really really old stuff by Edgar Allan Poe which I think is still worth reading.
What kind of stuff are you interested in being scared by?
I don’t know. I got a huge anthology of Lovecraft out of the library once. I thought it was great. But not scary. It didn’t really creep me out. I’m sure one or two may have had me looking over my shoulder while reading (like a few scary movies have), but once it’s over then it’s over. No lingering fears or anything like that.
The S. King that I read was okay, but definately not scary.
I guess I just want to experience being scared witless by a book. American Psycho was a huge waste of time.
There is a disturbing book thread lingering around here, my entries are non-fiction–such as war stories & the plight of the poor. I’ll check those out, but the list is long. I figure I’ll start here though w/ Shirley.
BTW, in that Mammoth anthology I mentioned in the OP, I do now recall a story called “Entertainment” that by all standards I’m familiar with should be very frightening. Especially for a wary traveller. It could make an excellent movie. I would recommend the book for the stories I mentioned–but from the library instead of buying.
Thanks for the help!!
Right now I’m playing sax for a zombie dixiland band in this thread: Straight Dope Horror Movie Game.