What horror novel/short story are you reading?

I just picked up the Green Mile by Stephen King two days ago. I'm about to finish it. I told my bf I've never seen the movie and he's trying to remedy that. I told him I have to finish the book before I see the movie.

I've been reading an anthology of 100 horror stories that I bought years ago, but had barely read. Finished Barry Pain's story "The Four-Fingered Hand" a week ago and it's been on my mind since. An older "ghost" story that swerves around any expectation by simply linking the supernatural to the unknowable.

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson.

Calla Lily said:

Daphne duMaurier's "The Birds" Beautifully atmospheric. Quite different from the movie.

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Never read, but short aside: Bag of Bones was the book that got me thinking of writing. It was based heavily on Rebecca. I read BoB then Rebecca, both are in my very short list of absolute favorites, along with The October Country, Thinner, and The Cormorant. I'm not reading any of those at the time, but fwiw, find the Cormorant. Find it used, find it new, however; I don't give a flying fuck: Find it. Some if it is odd, some doesn't click, but what does is just flat-out creepy. Oppressively creepy. And I hated the fucking book, and loved it even more. Read it.

I'm halfway through Joe Hill's short story collection 20th Century Ghosts.

Emily Deibler said:

I'm halfway through Joe Hill's short story collection 20th Century Ghosts.

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I read this collection last year, I really enjoyed it.

I'm just about to pick up Tim Lebbon's 'White' - I have heard good things and it'll be my first book of his. Have you guys read much of him?

Stinger by Robert McCammon. Wonder if he ever had a word with Stephen King when he read Under the Dome...

Just finished listening to Dan Simmons Carrion Comfort. I had previously read Summer of Night and The Terror. Of those three, I think The Terror is the best, but what I really appreciate in reading him is that he writes complicated action sequences better than anyone I can think of--for example, the New Years Eve Masque sequence in The Terror, among many others.

jlmott said:

Just finished listening to Dan Simmons Carrion Comfort. I had previously read Summer of Night and The Terror. Of those three, I think The Terror is the best, but what I really appreciate in reading him is that he writes complicated action sequences better than anyone I can think of--for example, the New Years Eve Masque sequence in The Terror, among many others.

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Was thinking about the book the other night. Was a documentary on TV about how they recently discovered the wreck of the Erebus. The Terror is one of my all time favourite books, and that New Years Eve scene in particular is just spectacular. You should check out The Abominable as well, dude. Another belter from Mr Simmons.

I just started the regulators by Richard Bachman, anyone ever read this book.

Kevvy711 said:

I just started the regulators by Richard Bachman, anyone ever read this book.

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Too long ago to remember, but Bachman always came across to me as King lite. Readable and good stories, but not great.

Tinman said:

It's been a long time, but from what I remember, it's a decent book. I'll second what Haggis said about Bachman. But then again none of the Bachman stories babbled on for 1300 pages, either, lol. IMO, the two best Bachman books are Blaze and Thinner.

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Heh. Good point, Tinman. Thinner was perhaps my favorite of the bunch.

Bachman was King. It was his foray into writing under a psuedonym. I remember reading Thinner, and thinking, "This sounds just like Stephen King!"

You know who else is like King? If you ever get a chance to read PeeDee's stuff, peter Damien, it is remarkably alike in voice.

D.A Watson said:

Stinger by Robert McCammon. Wonder if he ever had a word with Stephen King when he read Under the Dome...

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Clifford Simak should have had a talk with them both, and the Simpsons, about his novel All Flesh is Grass (1965) BTW I like McCammon a great deal. I think from about 1981 to 1992 he really was "the second Stephen King" except that his social melodrama bits had less cruel "realism", and more pathos. And then he broke down and returned to writing only a decade later, and now is a master of fabulous 18th century detective adventure. Sensitive chaps, talented writers. Can be unpredictable. I'm currently reading Koontz's From the Corner of His Eye, and Steve Yeager's first Raptor Apocalypse volume. The Koontz has an unexpected streak of consistent black humor among the usual ingredients of badass suspense, preaching, and deaf ear. Also less description overload than I'm used to with Koontz. Fine book thus far, I'm 3/4 done. Yeager's Raptor Apocalypse is way better than most of today's new crop. It's like actually tries to fill the shoes of the 100 year old masters like King, Koontz, McCammon and Charles Grant. Although some reviewers compare him to Lee Child, for some reason... I also made a quick detour and read King's Ur. Eh, not bad. Like The Breathing Method: a fine short story idea (a golden age of sci-fi idea in this case, reminiscent of early Heinlein) swathed inside the needless layers of a protracted novelette.

I became a big fan of Hunter Shea after reading his Montauk Monster. I'm now reading Tortures of the Damned and am about 3/4 of the way through. It's pretty decent old school icky bug in an apocalyptic vein. Great stuff! The ending will tell if it carries through.

I just finished a lot of back to back reading of books by the late Alan Ryan:

DEAD WHITE (which I realized I had read years ago; doesn't really work for me but if you like King's STORM OF THE CENTURY, it has that feel to it)

CAST A COLD EYE (a keeper even though it's more mood than resolution)

THE BONES WIZARD (short stories; loved most of them; very Thomas Tessier)
THE BACK OF BEYOND (great novellas that really don't pay off but sure keep you turning the pages!)

I'm reading an anthology of Lovecraft-inspired stories, Shadows Over Innsmouth, plus a collection of actual Lovecraft stories, The Watchers Out Of Time. I've got another four Lovecraft anthologies beside me and am hopping around in what I read next (I want to read more Arkham, I have three anthologies on Innsmouth). Just read At The Mountains Of Madness yesterday (then again as a graphic novel today) and I confess it's the only one that really scared me so far.

In other words, I'm deep in the Lovecraftian subgenre with no intentions of getting out.

Not reading it right now, but one of the creepiest novels I've ever read is the classic House on the Borderland by W. H. Hodgson. It has a Blair Witch quality to it that worked very well for me.

Hodgson was a strange writer who did some interesting weird work, and a couple of things that verge on the unreadable. He was one of England's many unfortunate literary losses at a relatively early age in WWI. His work influenced Lovecraft, in particular.

caw