# Recommend me some good horror **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854 "2007-06-21T14:18:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/21 "2007-06-21T17:43:20Z")
It is an oldie, but nothing has ever equalled Bram Stokers’s **Dracula**. But if you want some whimsey with your horror, I suggest the collected short stories of John Collier. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/22 "2007-06-21T18:35:37Z")
I think that Mark Z. Danielewski’s **House of Leaves** is the scariest book I’ve read, period, and I’m one of those guys that has a complete hardcover Lovecraft library. It’s mainly so effective because of its “documentary” style - it reads like an impartial, third-party report on a Blair Witch-esque film that contains some absolutely terrifying things caught on tape. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/23 "2007-06-21T18:47:20Z")
I really need to read **Dracula** one of these days. That does remind me, though: if you’ve not read **Frankenstein** , you’re missing out on some good stuff! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/24 "2007-06-21T19:23:11Z")
_Off-Season_ by Jack Ketchum. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/25 "2007-06-21T19:25:28Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] There is IMO at least one exception to Peter Straub’s greatness. It’s a novel of his in which an old-school ceremonial magician plays a prominent part. [/QUOTE] I haven’t read that one. Do you remember the title? I haven’t read **Black House** or **Mr. X**. Was it one of those? ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/26 "2007-06-21T19:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I haven’t read that one. Do you remember the title? I haven’t read **Black House** or **Mr. X**. Was it one of those? [/QUOTE] I believe Black House was the sequel of sorts to The Talisman that was written by both Straub and King, so I don’t think that would be the one he was referring to, but I could be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/27 "2007-06-21T19:35:46Z")
My vote would be for reading “The Talisman” and the sequel, “Black House,” which, as you’ve mentioned, were co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Excellent books. I just recently re-read them. (I recently re-read “The Stand,” too - about my fifth time, too. What a fantastic book.) ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/28 "2007-06-21T19:37:59Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] My vote would be for reading “The Talisman” and the sequel, “Black House,” which, as you’ve mentioned, were co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Excellent books. I just recently re-read them. (I recently re-read “The Stand,” too - about my fifth time, too. What a fantastic book.) [/QUOTE] I did in fact finish reading the Talisman not a couple of weeks ago, and I’m planning on picking up Black House as well, although as King books go, I found that The Talisman didn’t grip me as much as some of his other ones. Now the Stand on the other hand was an **awesome** book, and one that I have read many a time. Good way to kill a whole lot of hours, ha ha. ---
**Author:** ![Vimp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vimp/32/4186_2.png) [@Vimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vimp)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/29 "2007-06-21T19:46:15Z")
Kind of Dracula related (well, not really but … ) [The List of Seven](http://www.theedge.abelgratis.co.uk/bookseh/listofseven.htm) by Mark Frost It has one of the single most scary scenes I’ve ever read - and I’ve read a lot of them! ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/30 "2007-06-21T19:49:45Z")
You sound just like me. One of my favorites for a long time was Stephen King. I read everything by him…most of them twice. Save for _The Stand_ and _Needful Things_, which I’ve read (both each) about four or five times. So allow me to suggest to you any book by my new favorite author: Dean Koontz. If you like SK, I’m pretty sure you’ll like DK. He’s not as gory or graphic as SK is, but what he lacks in that department he makes up for with pure suspense and mind-numbing chills and terror. Seriously, I have not yet read a book by him I didn’t love. And he’s got a LOT of books written. I’d start out with one of his older ones but not first ones. Like _Watchers_ or _Darkfall_. Then branch out into ones like _Door to December_ and _Shadowfire_…then, as you pick up speed with him, get into great ones like _The Servants of Twilight_ and _Twilight Eyes_. There are only three books I would NOT start out with concerning him and that would be _Seize the Night_, _Forever Odd_, and _Brother Odd_, but only because they are all books in a series and you should read their first counterparts…well…first. 😛 (_Seize the Night_’s first book is called _Fear Nothing_…and the first one in the Odd Series is called _Odd Thomas_) His Frankenstein series is really good too. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/31 "2007-06-21T19:50:48Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I haven’t read that one. Do you remember the title? [/QUOTE] I believe it was Shadowlands. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/32 "2007-06-21T20:03:19Z")
Another vote for _Fevre Dream_ by George R.R. Martin - vampires along the Mississippi River before and just after the Civil War. I still remember particular scenes and lines of dialogue from that book. Good, good stuff. Martin also wrote the great novella _Sandkings_, in the short-story collection of the same name, about a bored, dissolute rich guy in the distant future who acquires some new pets… and then they acquire _him_. Heheheheheh. Given your enthusiasm for Stephen King, you’ve probably read _'Salem’s Lot_ already. A classic modern vampire story. A recent special edition (with moody B&W photos) includes several outtakes and alternate scenes. For a fan, it’s like discovering a new vein of gold in the mine. _Press Enter_\* by John Varley is a great cyberhorror novella. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/33 "2007-06-21T20:07:09Z")
Subscribing since the thread tools button doesn’t work on Citrix. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/34 "2007-06-21T20:09:50Z")
Just dropped by to suggest what **AuntiePam** already has. Thomas Tryon – _The Other_ and _Harvest Home._ Two great reads, I’ll never forget how much they spooked me! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/35 "2007-06-21T20:41:38Z")
Savor my favorite Bram Stoker short story- [The Dualitists; or, the Death Doom of the Double Born ``` By Bram Stoker](http://www.geocities.com/psmcalduff/1dual.txt) ``` Also, a particularly nasty thriller I skimmed a few years ago still sticks in my mind - GHOUL by Michael Slade. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/36 "2007-06-21T21:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] I believe it was Shadowlands. Daniel [/QUOTE] Ah, okay. I remember liking that one. The magical nonsense must not have registered as nonsense. 🙂 I forgot to mention **Joe Lansdale**. His Drive-In books are bloodbaths, but compelling reading. I like his non-horror best, particularly his Hap and Leonard books. Think Lethal Weapon but without any restraint. Seriously, those guys make Mel Gibson’s character look sane. ---
**Author:** ![toadbriar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@toadbriar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadbriar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/37 "2007-06-21T21:14:06Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Martin also wrote the great novella _Sandkings_, in the short-story collection of the same name, about a bored, dissolute rich guy in the distant future who acquires some new pets… and then they acquire _him_. Heheheheheh. [/QUOTE] Seconding Sandkings, it’s a good’un. Also seconding The List of Seven, mentioned above. There are some neato characters in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/38 "2007-06-21T21:19:30Z")
[QUOTE=KatiRoo] Kind of Dracula related (well, not really but … ) [The List of Seven](http://www.theedge.abelgratis.co.uk/bookseh/listofseven.htm) by Mark Frost It has one of the single most scary scenes I’ve ever read - and I’ve read a lot of them! [/QUOTE] When I finished _The List of Seven_, I turned back to Page 1 & started over. It’s an excellent novel. And terrifying. (Another vote for _Fevre Dream_, listed above. Vampires on the Old Mississippi…) ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/39 "2007-06-21T22:00:38Z")
How about Edgar Allan Poe. I didn’t really get him in high school, but now I get a good chill by the end of “The Raven”. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854/40 "2007-06-21T22:09:24Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Ah, okay. I remember liking that one. The magical nonsense must not have registered as nonsense. 🙂 [/QUOTE] If you’re not a D&D dork, the names of the spells wouldn’t register as dorky, most likely. If you are, it’s completely bizarre to see them in that context, sort of as if the archvillain of 'Salem’s Lot had been named Count Chocula. Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-horror/408854.md?page=3)