What horror novel/short story are you reading?

Just started Jean Paul Sartre: No Exit

Recently read Piles of Bone by Chad P. Brown on kindle - a good collection with stories that move you and also pack a punch. Currently reading Once it's Over by M.E. Hauser, also on kindle - it's more about how the protagonists wrestle with the horror that's going on - good so far!

I don't read horror often, but Amazon had THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey on sale and the reviews looked interesting, so I took a chance. I thought it was first-rate--really well written and manipulative in all the good ways. The book sucks you into caring deeply about the MC, who presents as a bright young child but is eventually revealed to be something very different. Apparently it's a film now, too. I'd love to see it!

Cabal, by Clive Barker.

I recently finished The Jersey Devil by Hunter Shea. Now that's some great old school icky bug! Highly recommended.

Rose Madder, by Stephen King.

Just read one by John Saul, can't remember the title right now but it was okay (The Dark Of The Night - I looked it up). The problem was he head-hopped a lot and that is a big pet peeve of mine. That's probably why I never got into many of his books. Also the ending was a bit ambiguous. It was about some cursed objects in a summer home on a lake. It was okay but the writing just bugged the hell out of me. Almost didn't finish it.

Even though I was a bit guilty of it myself with that John Saul book, I've noticed about half or more of the books I see in this thread are old stories, not new. I just think it's weird that readers aren't seeking out new horror but are going for the old classics...or old whatevers (if not classics). There's nothing wrong with that, but there IS new horror being written, though it's a lot harder to find than other genres. An example is a relatively new one I'm reading right now. It came out in 2015. It's called The Deep. I actually rejected it back then because Stephen King endorsed it. It seems that anything King has endorsed that I've read totally sucked, so I didn't want to get burned again. This time, when I saw this book on the shelf again as a paperback, I saw another one by the same author that at least partially mitigated King's endorsement. I won't say how as to give away any plot details. I guess I'll find out now! Anyway, I'm always seeking out NEW icky bug, even if it means trolling Amazon since Barnes & Noble rarely seems to stock much anymore.

I'm currently reading The Bone Collector. I've always loved the film yet never read the book.

I just today finished reading the horror anthology Purgatorium, of which I am a part of. Enjoyed it. (-: Well, I enjoyed the ten stories that weren't mine, at any rate. (-;

Well, I was fooled again. Another Stephen King endorsed novel and it totally sucked. I mean totally. The Deep was wretched. A literary character study with a horror element that crawled and had no payoff. Sorry I let that other book on the shelf by this author fool me. Never again. I ever see a book by Nick Cutter again, I'll give it a wide margin.

Currently reading Stephen King's Bag of Bones and Cujo. I love King!

Ramsey Campbell's Midnight Sun. Not one of his greatest, but fun and readable.

Currently reading Helltown by Jeremy Bates.

I visited my parents at the weekend and picked up King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes, which is a book from my childhood. I reread Suffer the Little Children... haven't read King in years but thoroughly enjoyed it.

Kea Wilson's We Eat Our Own (Scribner). Unusual.

Damn. Sorry to hear that. I actually really like Nick Cutter/Craig Davidson's work (though I've only read two books under the Cutter name). The Troop is the one I liked the most. He just released a new one a couple months ago called Little Heaven. If you feel like giving him one more shot, I strongly suggest them both. I have The Deep in paperback, but I haven't read it yet, and I've moved recently, so it's packed away somewhere.

Anyway, I'm reading Coldheart Canyon, by Clive Barker right now.

EDIT: Damnit. That was supposed to be a reply to Feidb's post, but something goofed up there.

HarvesterOfSorrow said:

Cabal, by Clive Barker.

Click to expand...

I'm re-reading that classic myself right now. He is a genius.

And why oh why are they remaking films that were perfectly fine to begin with? Instead of messing with "Robocop" or "Ghostbusters" they should make a big-budget remake of "Nightbreed", a film that had so much potential but didn't live up to it.

I'm reading "Cabal" by Clive Barker again and I'm finally reading "Survivor" by J.F. Gonzalez.

I'm a fan of indie or "extreme", horror, and "Survivor" is almost too much for me even.

The Mist - Stephen King. I may read the whole Skeleton Crew anthology. It's been a while. The best parts of the book are the forward and notes. Matte fact I might go though all my SK books, reading his before and after stuff.

Re-reading William Wilson by Poe and starting Interview With The Vampire by Rice

I started reading I Can Taste The Blood, a horror anthology by Grey Matter Press. It has Josh Malerman and John F D Taft in it. So far it's really good. Pretty dark with some great writing.

I'm just about to finish Stephen King's Needful Things. Not really scary but certainly brilliant. The Lovecraft references are particularly fun.

First issue of DeadLights, a new horror mag that came out in Feb.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0998603201/?tag=absowrit-20

Pretty good. I need more reading time, and this has kept me going because I don't feel bad if I abandon it for 3 weeks.

Reading through the first third of the invincible pillar of the genre that is Stoker's Dracula, I am perpetually ravished by poor Harker's journey and imprisonment in that impassive bundle of soured stones! I'll never get tired of walking those terrible passages in my mind and within the tale.