A must-read horror list

CounterGem

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RE: Ketchum + other suggestions

Glad Jack Ketchum was added to the list. He's one of the best horror writers. And yes, very violent.

A couple of other popular ones I didn't see on the list:
- "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis--GRAPHIC (child-murder, rape, torture)---A mixture of categories, but probably most tolerated by horror readers.
- "Yeval" by C. W. Schultz--GRAPHIC (child-murder, torture)---Has some comedy in the mix which relieves some tention, and no rape. But still one of the most violent books ever. Utica Public Library put it on their list of twisted and violent books.
- "Marabou Stork Nightmare" by Irvine Welsh--GRAPHIC (animal-murder, rape, torture)---about someone in a coma. Strange story, probably most appealing to horror readers.
 

soapdish

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Ditto to American Psycho.

And--I am terrible with genre classifications...but...I am submitting "Perfume: The story of a Murder" Patrick Suskind. It's a little on the literary side, but I still think it's horror.
 

brainstorm77

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Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite if you can stomach reading it. This is the only book that made me want to barf at times.
 

hester

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Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons is one of my faves-

Oh, and I can't forget Whispers by Dean Koontz. Don't read it if you don't like cockroaches :).
 

Fiona

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I've read Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door which I thought was excellent (and disturbing).
Can anybody here recommend any other book of his?
 

hester

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Hi Fiona,

Try "Flame Finders." The copy that I purchased came with a novella of his, "Right to Life," which was one of the scariest books I've ever read. Warning-it's graphic, but if you've read "Girl Next Door" you'll know what to expect.
 

Haggis

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I've read Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door which I thought was excellent (and disturbing).
Can anybody here recommend any other book of his?
You might also want to read a couple of his earlier books--Off Season and Offspring. They deal with a topic near and dear to me--cannibalism. :D Peaceable Kingdom is a great collection of some of his short stories.
 

Haggis

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I was reading yesterday that Koontz hates being called a horror writer. He insists that he's a suspense writer. Imnsho, however, he's written some if the finest horror fiction in recent history.
One thing I love about Bentley Little is that he calls himself a horror writer. Not a suspense writer. Not a writer of paranormal literature. But a horror writer. He doesn't play games with who he is.

I guess Koontz doesn't want to be pigeonholed. That's okay. He can call himself whatever he wants. He has written some hellishly good horror (and some that IMVHO bites) and he has also written some fine suspense. And sometimes he goes on and on and on and on about architecture.

But I still buy his books. :D
 

EFCollins

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One thing I love about Bentley Little is that he calls himself a horror writer. Not a suspense writer. Not a writer of paranormal literature. But a horror writer. He doesn't play games with who he is.

I guess Koontz doesn't want to be pigeonholed. That's okay. He can call himself whatever he wants. He has written some hellishly good horror (and some that IMVHO bites) and he has also written some fine suspense. And sometimes he goes on and on and on and on about architecture.

But I still buy his books. :D

The only thing I dislike about Koontz is that sometimes he gets stuck on his thesaurus-style words. I don't mind it if it fits the characters, but usually what he pulls out is a bit much for his homespun MCs. Otherwise the man is a spectacular writer. I'd agree that not all of his work is horror - actually, the majority of it isn't - but he has some stellar horror works.
 

EFCollins

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I'll have to go through these and lump same author titles together under just one listing. That list is pretty long.

I'm looking through short stories now. Instead of just doing King's, I figured we'd put up some other author's short works too. There are tons of excellent horror short stories out there.
 

elindsen

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Don't laugh, but I have never read a horror novel. My novel I write has strong STRONG horror elements, but I'm influenced more by history and living things. Maybe I should pick up something. But as a catholic, the Exocrist would scare the shit outta me.
 

Haggis

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There are some of AWers short stories I'd recommend as well... does anyone have a problem with this? I have to admit, there are some damn fine horror writers here. I'd keep it to published works... no directing to SYW.
Maybe we could make that a separate thread, Effie. We could include novels too. What do you think?
 

brainstorm77

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Or maybe another thread for books by Awer's who write horror with buy links? I'm getting a KIndle for Christmas and will be looking for new stuff to read.

ETA: Like Haggis said. I just noticed his post.:tongue
 

brainstorm77

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I think my coffee is bad today. It's just not working.
 

EFCollins

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Maybe we could make that a separate thread, Effie. We could include novels too. What do you think?

Sounds good to me. I know of a few AWers short stories I'd recommend to be read... Damien comes to mind, and you Puppy. Luekman too... I'll keep this list as non-aw writers and we can work on another list for AW members. It's a plan!
 

EFCollins

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Don't laugh, but I have never read a horror novel. My novel I write has strong STRONG horror elements, but I'm influenced more by history and living things. Maybe I should pick up something. But as a catholic, the Exocrist would scare the shit outta me.

That's the point of horror isn't it? ;) I love to be scared... it jacks me up something fierce.

I'd say start reading some horror. You can't effectively write something new and horrific if you have no idea what's already been done... and done... and done again. It's really important to know the genre you're writing in, imo.