# My favorite horror story **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829 "2000-11-12T00:07:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/41 "2000-11-13T16:14:53Z")
Oh yeah…another vote here for Hartwell’s THE DARK DESCENT as best all-around horror anthology. Cerf Wagner and Wise’s GREAT TALES OF TERROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL (Modern Library) is another really good one, if you don’t mind the fact that it stops abruptly at about 1930. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/42 "2000-11-13T16:39:12Z")
Uke: The Boucher two-volume set is the first sf anthology I ever read. It used to be easy to get hold of, because you got it as a premium when you joined the Science Fiction Book Club. It’s a good anthology (my first exposure to Heinlein was “Waldo” in the Boucher anthology), but I think I’d still give better marks to “Adventures in Time and Space”. It seems more representative of the range (at least for the time it was assembled), and, as I noted, three of the stories went on to be movies (I might almost stretch it to four – Raymond F. Jones’ contribution is AWFULLY similar to the short story of his that became “This Island Earth”. Jones’ book is infinitely superior to the movie. Maybe someone someday will film it.)You look at AITAS and most of the writers and stories are acknowledged classics. There’s a lot of classic stuff in the Boucher volume, but proportionately, not as much. (Now watch, someone will go out and figure the proportions. That’s OK, I stand by my judgment. But, heck, they’re both excellent. No need to hand-count the ballots.) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/43 "2000-11-13T22:05:41Z")
**Ike** , I also have the Boucher two-volume set, and it runs a very close second in my opinion. I thought Wyndham’s _Re-Birth_ (also published as _The Chrysalids_ elsewhere) was excellent, and, of course, Bester’s _The Stars My Destination_. With contributions by Sturgeon, Kuttner, Heinlein, Bradbury, et al., it stands up very well. Interestingly, van Vogt’s _The Weapon Shops of Isher_ is in both the Boucher and AITAS. However, a shortened version is what appears in AITAS as “The Weapons Shop.” I’m not sure if the story was shorted for AITAS, or if van Vogt decided to flesh it out a bit after it was first published. Somehow, I suspect the latter, but I’m not sure. Put me on the list for **Dark Carnival** as well. **Nacho4Sara** says: > [@](#): > > Sorry if I am hijacking a little, but I adore Faulkner! I hope it is okay to hijack, also, seeing that I helped veer this thread into Sci-Fi. So, if **AuntiPam** decides to give out lumps, I’m ahead of you in line. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/44 "2000-11-13T22:34:06Z")
Well, I just bought a copy of _Adventures in Time and Space_ (NF/VG+) for twenty bucks from a dealer up in Toronto. The 1946 Random House hardcover. It’s not a first, but it’s not book club either. (If I’m gonna beat **AuntiePam** to the good stuff, I can’t wait until this thread dies.) > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*“The Cicerones” by Robert Aickman > > (What Ramsey Campbell was TRYING to do in “The Hands,” Aickman pulled off brilliantly in that one)\*\* Okay, I’ll hijack us back into horror by explaining what I meant in the above. Both stories are in the grand old “Normal guy steps aside from his normal life for a minute, finds things growing progressively weirder, then dies” subgenre. Campbell does it to a guy who gets off a train on a whim between Kent and London. He agrees to take a written test to aid a nun’s survey and finds himself lost in a big spooky school-like building. It gets darker and darker. Then he dies. O-kay. Seemed a little thin to me. Aickman does it to a British tourist who’s touring Belgian cathedrals. He makes a point that the guy heads into the church just before the midday closing, and that he’s worried that someone will throw him out before he gets to see all the art he wants to check out. Those odd persons who flit by, he assumes they’re guides and custodians and things. Some of them even show him paintings and sculptures he wasn’t aware were there. Some of the paintings and sculptures are…um…really disturbing. Martyrs and such. Undergoing…um…torments. Then the guy dies. Or maybe something worse happens to him. Aickman’s story beats Campbell’s for me because of the suspense he throws into it…you see JUST a little bit more with every page. And the big musty cathedral is terrifying in itself. And the vagueness of the horrors (you project your own phobias into it) makes the tale extremely memorable; I read the Campbell last week and I’ve already forgotten it. I last read the Aickman maybe two years ago, and I remember the entire plot progression. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/45 "2000-11-13T23:51:42Z")
**Ike**! You devil! Dueling credit cards! I think you’re faster. Don’t you have to go to work or something? Sheesh. Here’s the Dark Carnival link: [http://www.gauntletpress.com/cgi-bin/gauntletpress/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=ENTER&thispage=newdefault.htm&ORDER\_ID=!ORDERID](http://www.gauntletpress.com/cgi-bin/gauntletpress/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=ENTER&thispage=newdefault.htm&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID)! Yikes! That’s a long one. If it doesn’t work (and it probably won’t), go to [http://www.gauntletpress.com](http://www.gauntletpress.com) and click on the Dark Carnival link. Hoffman’s taking pre-orders (but no need to pay yet – they don’t even mention the cost) and there’s a Dark Carnival mailing list for updates. The reprint is all the stories in the original, and a few more. It sounds positively yummy. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/46 "2000-11-14T00:31:19Z")
In a message dated 11/13/00 7:15:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, [divemaster13@earthlink.net](mailto:divemaster13@earthlink.net) writes: \<\< I just heard about the new DARK CARNIVAL edition coming out. Put me on the list!!! \>\> You got it. I don’t believe your check for A LIFE IN THE CINEMA has arrived yet. I’ll ship as soon as it does. Best, Barry (Gauntlet Press) Heh heh heh; I’m ON THE LIST! (As you can see, I just got through with some other business with Gauntlet). I’m already ahead of the game, as I bought another set of bookshelves this weekend. Now, all my Arkhams are off the floor and I have room for more purchases. ## **Ike** , I found “Housing Problem” in one of my collections. Read it last night. White-trash fairies! Gotta love that. “All Hail the Tripod” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/47 "2000-11-14T02:46:52Z")
Ukulele Ike, the two Hogben stories in The Best of Henry Kuttner are “Exit The Professor” and “Cold War” The whole book is easily obtained at [abebooks.com](http://abebooks.com) I will look for the Oxford book you mentioned, but if I can’t find it will you point me towards it? I’m really intrigued by some of the stories I’ve been hearing about. Got to find some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/48 "2000-11-14T03:08:33Z")
I kinda like all the horror stories on the Milk commercials… ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/49 "2000-11-14T03:47:46Z")
As an SF/Fantasy fan who has read a few Poe and Bradbury short stories, I gotta say this is an excellent thread. **Ike, Pam, divemaster** , and everyone else, hat’s off. I will definitely put some of these on my “to read” list. I’m sure I will enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/50 "2000-11-14T17:26:13Z")
Baker: Here’s the Amazon link for the anthology with “See You Later” in it. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0192823981/qid=974222141/sr=1-1/102-8649702-0350503](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0192823981/qid=974222141/sr=1-1/102-8649702-0350503) I HAVE that Kuttner collection; I remember thinking that “Exit the Professor” was NOT as good as “See You Later,” and I don’t remember “Cold War” at all…hard to believe I haven’t read it. I’ll have another look at it when I get home tonight. Any comment on my Aickman/Campbell exegesis? Anyone else here read “The Cicerones” ? BTW, the Charles Birkin volume arrived from Midnight House Publishers last week. Opinion vouchsafed upon request. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/51 "2000-11-14T21:15:32Z")
Lots of good choices here. I’d certainly put Sturgeon’s “It” at the top – mostly because there is nothing evil in it. Other favorites inclue “The Rats in the Walls” and “The Colour out of Space” by Lovecraft. [“The Yellow Wallpaper”](http://www.digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=1952) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is also a great one. And stretching the genre, you might want to look for “The Hands of Mr. Ottermole” by Thomas Burke. Best horror anthology is David Hartwell’s “The Dark Descent.” I’m morally obligated to say this (though I do agree) since I inadvertantly stole Hartwell’s own copy. :o As far as novels are concerned, Wyndham’s “The Day of the Triffids” and “Out of the Deeps” (aka “The Kraken Wakes”) are good monster horror. I also liked Thomas Disch’s “The Doctor: A Tale of Terror” and “Carrion Comfort” by Dan Simmons. > [@](#): > > “It’s a Good Life”-I forget the original author, but it was adapted for a “Twilight Zone” episode (“It’s a GOOD thing you did that Anthony. And tomorrows gonna be a real good day!”) Jerome Bixby. The rest of his work is forgettable, other than “The Holes Around Mars” (possibly the world’s longest feghoot) and the screenplay of “Fantastic Voyage” (And Isaac Asimov had nothing to do making the movie; his book was actually a novelization of the screenplay. The novelization came out a long time before the movie was released.). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/52 "2000-11-14T22:27:58Z")
Short stories: “The Frontier Guards” by H. Russell Wakefield “The Black Cat” by E. Allen Poe “They Bite” by Anthony Boucher NOVELS: Hannibal by Thomas Harris Ripper by Michael Slade The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft Comic books: Sandman #6 by Neil Gaiman just about any issue of the Alan Moore Swamp Things ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/53 "2000-11-14T23:52:00Z")
I posted this thread on the HorrorNet message board and invited some folks over to visit. Ya’ll be nice now, okay? The moderator there suggested that I extend an invitation to any Dopers who’d like to come visit. Here’s the link: [http://www.horror.net/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Books&number=3&DaysPrune=](http://www.horror.net/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Books&number=3&DaysPrune=) If it doesn’t work, start at [http://www.horrornet.com](http://www.horrornet.com) and find the Books forum. Campbell’s “Alone With the Horrors” arrived today. Arkham House first, mint, for $16. I’m falling in love with mylar covers. Anyone know a good place to buy them? ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/54 "2000-11-15T04:45:11Z")
HA! I have saved you all! “Examination Day” was written by Henry Slesar. Thank you, thank you, leave money…😃 ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/55 "2000-11-15T13:12:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dijon Warlock \* > \*\*HA! I have saved you all! “Examination Day” was written by Henry Slesar. Thank you, thank you, leave money…😃 \*\* Ahhhh, now I can sleep nights. I’m at work right now, but when I get home I’ll check to see if I have this one somewhere. I know I’ve got some Slesar in some of the anthologies. I’m interested to see how well I remembered the story. Thanks! (But no money :p) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2000, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/56 "2000-11-15T14:53:39Z")
Mmmmmm…another round of fine choices, particularly (IMHO) “The Hands of Mr. Ottermole” and “They Bite.” **Baker:** Just read Kuttner’s “Absalom” last night. Good story, and very disquieting to say the least. Which part bugged you the most…the son’s cheerful willingness to turn in his father, or the father’s coldness toward (changing to “loathing of” by the last paragraph) of the son? Henry Slesar. I LIKE Henry Slesar. He was probably responsible for a good twenty percent of all the scripts/teleplays for ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. I know a lot of his crime/suspense stories, but this title is a new one on me. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/57 "2000-11-16T02:54:05Z")
Ike, for me it was the last thought of the father in the story, that someday Absalom would have a son as well. The patience some folks have in waiting for revenge/satisfaction can be chilling. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/58 "2000-11-16T03:26:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*The patience some folks have in waiting for revenge/satisfaction can be chilling. \*\* Yeah…coupled with the fact that he desired revenge against his own EIGHT-YEAR-OLD SON. Brrrr. Takes the whole “I only wish someday you have kids just as ROTTEN AS YOU!” thing to a new level. Speaking of loving family relationships, and since we all revere Hartwell’s THE DARK DESCENT, are there any other fans of “The New Mother” out there? I actually read this to my daughter when she was about five (you can phone the child-abuse hotline now). It’s come in very handy for scaring the bejeezus out of her over the past several years. “Oh yeah? If you don’t behave, you’ll get a NEW MOTHER, with GLASS EYES AND A WOODEN TAIL!” ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829/59 "2000-11-26T02:40:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by divemaster \* > \*\*No thread that contains Theodore Sturgeon can be complete without the mention of “Killdozer!” I bet I am the only person on the SDMB who referenced Killdozer! in an AP English essay on Dickens’ **Hard Times**. \*\* Yeah, well I referenced Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” in _my_ AP English essay. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-horror-story/40829.md?page=2)