Horror/thriller books. Anyone fans?

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The horror genre is one of my favourite but I haven't read any in a little while partly because my local library has a very poor selection. (Barely 2 shelves worth which is pitiful! Even though the Gay books have like 2 bookcases worth and encroach on the horror section's space. I've complained several times for some more horror books but nothing so far has happened...I shall keep trying).

Anyone who else like's this genre of books? Any particular favourites? Any suggestions for decent ones would also be appreciated.

I'd recommend anything by M.R. James or Lovecraft for starters. Though both can seem a bit formulaic and same-y when you read too many of their short stories in one sitting.

There's a horror short story that I really want to read ("The Tower of Moab") 'cause it's the inspiration for this song, but the only copies of the compilation I can find are ludicrously expensive. Presumably because other people want it for the same reason.

To me the 3 kings of horror are Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King. I have loved all of their stories and books. My favorite female horror writers have been Anne Rice and Poppy Britz. I also love the classic one volume gothic horror novels; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King (especially not the Gunslinger series, which I think is atrocious, but lots of people seem to be fans of it for some reason ) but Carrie, Misery, and The Shining are all very good. I vaguely remember being terrified by reading Cujo, but I was little at the time.

I don't really consider a lot of King's work to be specifically 'horror', but I love his characters, he's so good at making them live, breathe, get up off the page and walk around...he's the only writer I've ever read who can actually give a character bad breath and BO, they're THAT real.

The Stand never gets old...Firestarter is a great book (don't waste your time with the movie), but the ending may puzzle you unless you're of a certain generation....The Dead Zone is also much better than the movie, or the series...The Shining is a classic...IT could have been one of his best if he hadn't dropped that hit of acid right before he wrote the last hundred pages...Thinner I seem to remember fondly...Lots of good short stories and novellas...

William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist and Legion are both good creepout reads...the kind that make you leave the lights on all night and jump at every little noise...

I caught Peter Straub's Ghost Story on cable as a movie and watched it because Fred Astaire was in it. As usual, the book was way better.

Clive Barker is also quite good, though he sometimes seems to revel in shock and gore at the expense of plausible story...well, in horror 'plausible' is kind of a relative term...he easily jars me out of my 'willful suspension of disbelief'...

Lovecraft was a god. He was the Beatles of horror fiction - not the first to do it, but nobody will ever do it any better.





If I ever get finished with my first novel, I'll let you know when it drops and you can tell me if it's creepy.

I read quite a few classics a couple of years ago. I loved how the atmosphere was built up in Dracula. At one point the book actually gave me a fright!
I really liked Frankenstein up to a point. I hated the ending though...
Funnily enough I've never read Stephen King. His books never really appealed to me although recently I have been tempted to get The Shining from the library (if they have it ) and try his books.