Scary Story Writers Group Forum What have you been reading?

What horror literature have you read that really floats your boat? My tops are The Books of Blood , by Clive Barker , and a compilation of short stories by different authors called, The Dark Descent. The Autopsy, by Michael Shea; The Call of Cthulhu, by H.P. Lovecraft; The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe; The Rats in the Walls, by H.P. Lovecraft;The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. All of those short stories are my favorites from The Dark Descent.
What do you think everyone should read? What inspires you?

Great question! Um, right now Im reading a book by Kimberly Raye titled "Dead End Dating". Next on my list is Charlaine Harris, then Laurell K Hamiltons latest installment of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series...also I bought 2 books by Karen Chance that look great...also next on my list....and.....(Can you tell Im a book worm? lol)...has anyone read Julie Kenner's Demon Hunter series? Her next one in the series is due out in June...waiting for that. Im SUCH a GEEK that I have a typed list of all my favorite authors books, titles and release dates. Hey, i cant help it. Reading is the ONLY thing that helps me sleep...besides Ambien....lol....and also, its my escape. And my inspiration. Anytime I read a good book, it inspires me.
I just finished a book a few weeks ago....I cant remember the name or the author....it was Sign of the Zodiac..Im going to have to look...but anyways, this book was GREAT and the writer was in her early 20's and it totally inspired me. I thought, wow, what an accomplishment! And the book was awesome too. Ill make sure I get the authors name and book title and post it on here in case you want to check it out. ;)

VICKI PETTERSSON: "SCENT OF SHADOWS" FIRST SIGN OF THE ZODIAC"

The kind of horror books i like to read, are those by john Saul. he may not be the most popular author in our community, but he's tops with me. some of the titles he had written are, "Nightshade", "Nathanial', and " The Unwanted'
Then of course i have read Stephen King and have read most of his books.

I really don't get scaared that easily by reading a book but the first book ever to give me nioghtmares was was written by Dean Koonts, 'The House Of Thunder." just the idea of dead teenage boys coning back from the dead was just too much for me, so naturally i continued reading. I love to be scared, that is why i read horror.

Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books, although the last few have been a ittle disappointing - turned from horror to erotic fiction. Dean Koontz is always a good read too.

My all time favourite book has to be The Shrine by James Herbert. It was the first horror i ever read and I was hooked from that moment on, also enjoy Dean Knootz, and of course, Stephen King (Have my own personal library of his books too hehe)

Umm, not quite horror, but I'm loving Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and New Moon. *sighs* Now those are good books. ^^

Right now Im in the middle of Charlaine Harris's book "All Together Dead". It's part of a series about a telepath who aids a vampire queen at a summit....uh, long story...but its a great series. I recommend starting at the beginning with the first book or you'll be a bit lost.
I totally agree with you J.E...Laurell's books started out awesome didnt they? Did you read from the beginning? I loved the whole animator of the dead, the zombies and the scary Vampires she used to create...now its all sex, sex, sex, and more sex, with a little more sex thrown in...a storyline....sex, more sex...sex.....anyone getting the picture here? WHat happened to that series?

At this very moment I am reading a book called repeat. It's about a man of fourty-three who dies of a heart attack while talking to his wife on the phone, but he does not die. The man instead reteuns to the time when he is eighteen years old, and is now living in his teenage body, with his forty -three year old mind.

This is actually a theme I have read several places before. For instance: one bookk, intitles "Ripple"- forgot eho the auhtor was- involves an elderly woman who is so greived that she did not marry the man she loves, so god sends her back to when she is fifteen years old.

Another book, by Dean Koonks, intitled "Strange highways" Is about a middle aged man who reterns to the time when he is twenty years old.

I guess this theme is one that all of us think about and wish could happen to us. Wouln't it nice to be able to go back in time and change our mistakes?

My all-time favorite was Stephen Kings The Talisman. It was the very first horror book I ever read and I still love it. I also read Patricia Cornwells, but I don't consider hers horror.

Tanis

R.L. Stein got me hooked on horror literature when I was a preteen reading my sisters old Fear Streets. I'm a huge fan of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles(well the first three atleast as those are the only ones I've read). Of course Stephen King, especially the short stories. Clive Barkers "Hell Bound Heart"

I started reading R. L. Stein as a kid, too. I love to read Stephen King, Dean Koontz occasionally, I haven't been able to get my hands on any Lovecraft at the library although I'm trying ::tongue::, Anne Rice was my favorite author until a couple years ago ::cry::, and Brian Lumley's Necroscope series is one of my favorite series. I've got all the ones with Harry Keogh, and haven't forgotten a single lick of plot line or description either, and one of the Blood Wars series. I got my sister one of the Books of Blood (is that right?) and she won't let me have it. I bought it for her years ago! Anyway, I've never forgotten the story in it about the guy who got oral sex from this sexy actress and it took him a minute to realize she wasn't breathing! *hahaha* I love it. ::cool::

Well, right know I'm re-reading "The Shining" by Stephen King and also flipping through H.P Lovecraft's "Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre". I got my start reading horror in second grade, when I read "Pet Sematary".

I'm more of an anthology reader. I love collections of short stories. Currenly reading Into the Dreamland and it's pretty good so far.

As far as influences go, well King is the most obvious but I'm about to throw some names out that you may or may not have heard of. A lot of my inspiration comes from a lot of obscure writers that are on the cusps, so to speak, of doing some damage in our genre.

Mark Deloy writes some of the best stories I've ever read. His story Momma's Shadow really turned my head and I haven't stopped reading him since.

Fran Friel, the Bram Stoker nominee for her novella, Mama's Boy, is one of my biggest inspirations, simply because she writes a wicked tale and she's really devoted to weaving the story, not just slopping something on the paper and calling it good.

David Moody wrote the Autumn series and you can actually get the first book completely online. Look it up if you like Zombie stories.

But, by far, the best unknown writer that I've ever read is a guy by the name of Dameion Becknell. His stories have never disappointed me and his vivid details and crisp dialogue blows me away. He can write anything.

Now, I've been fortunate enough to have made friends with all of these folks except for Moody. They are as cool outside of writing as they are penning a story.

Here's another thing, as far as influences go, my mind never stops moving and thinking. Watching grass grow could give me ideas. I keep a notebook of ideas simply because I can't write everything I think of. Most of those stories I will never write, but it's nice knowing they are there when I need an idea (which is rare).

Music and life in general keeps my mind going as well.

Okay, I've rambled. I'm out.

AJ

The Dark Tower, all seven of them by Stephen King

Almost all Clive Barker (particularly The Damnation Game, The Hellbound Heart, Books of Blood, The Great and Secret Show, Cabal, and Imajica), all H.P. Lovecraft (my favorite stories are either "The Thing on the Doorstep" or "The Colour Out of Space"), Brian Keene's "The Conqueror Worms" ... Neil Gaiman is brilliant, but he's basically dark fantasy.

Oddly, there's not a lot of long-form horror fiction that I like. There are writers I've read whose select stories are fantastic, such as Brian Hodge, Thomas Ligotti, Douglas Clegg, etc.

Quote:

AJ, I like anthologies, too. I saw Into the Dreamlands mentioned somewhere (that's the one by Simian Publishing, right? edited by Jason Andrew and Michael Dyer?), and I intended to check it out. It's good to hear another recommendation for it.

I've been reading Gathering the Bones by Tor Books, edited by Jack Dann, Ramsey Campbell, and Dennis Etchison. I'm only part way through it -- and I skip around a lot *g* -- but I've liked what I've read.

I also recently ventured in the Lulu world of anthologies and tried Quakes and Storms. I can't recommend this one, however. I thought that three or four of the 20 stories were okay, but the rest of them needed work. The editing was also really bad -- rampant typos and grammatical problems on the back cover, the intro, and several of the stories. I don't think this book was worth the $5.00 I paid for it (electronic version).

I would say the book I enjoyed the most is "The Great and Secret Show" by Clive Barker. I've read a lot of Stephen King, "The Stand" is an another favorite. Also I loved "Swan Song" by Robert R. McCammon. I also enjoy any Dean Koontz ( I own nearly 85% of his books), and any John Saul. My book mark is currently in "Life Expectancy" by Dean Koontz and I'm backed up: "The Husband" is waiting, and I just got "The Good guy". I also heard that his "Frankenstien Book III" is coming out.