A must-read horror list

CalRazor

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I've been searching for a short story for ages. I remember reading about it on Amazon awhile back, and it's about a man that becomes increasingly deranged and you see this progression unfolding on Halloween over the course of several years. That's how I'm remembering it anyway, and no matter how hard I look, I can't find the story...
 
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RookieWriter

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I was flipping back through the horror forum and noticed just how often we get "looking for something to read" type threads come up. And you know... it gave me an idea.

From classics to pulpy horror to modern. And all things in between. If you're going to write horror, you need to read horror; to know what's come before you and just to get to know your genre to begin with.

Compiled list:

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

The Dark Sacrament by David Kiely

The Absence by Bill Hussey

Pet Semetary, by Stephen King

The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

Apartment 14F - An Oriental Ghost Story by C.M Saunders.

The Store by Bentley Little

Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth

The Shining By Stephen King

Darkness on the Edge of Town By Brian Keene

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

The Mist by Stephen King

The Rising by Brian Keene

Misery by Stephen King

Carrie by Stephen King

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

The Stand by Stephen King

Ghost Story, Shadowland by Peter Straub

We Have Always Lived In the Castle -- Shirley Jackson

At the Mountains of Madness, "The Shadow Out of Innsmouth," "The Colour Out of Space" -- HP Lovecraft

The King in Yellow -- Robert W. Chambers

On the Beach -- Nevil Shute

The House on the Borderland -- William Hope Hodgson

"The Beckoning Fair One" -- Oliver Onions

"Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" - M.R. James

Macbeth and The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Watchers by Dean Koontz

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Wolfen by Whitley Streiber

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

Interview with a vampire, the vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

I am Legend by Richard Mathieson

The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

Urban Gothic, Castaways by Brian Keene

Faery Tale by Raymond E. Feist

The longest single note by Peter Crowther

The Walking by Bentley Little

"The Dreams in the Witch House" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by H.P. Lovecraft

The Black Cat" by Poe

The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Swan Song and Boy's Life by Robert McCammon

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King.

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

It by Stephen King

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

Perfume: The story of a Murder Patrick Suskind

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Yeval by C. W. Schultz

Marabou Stork Nightmare by Irvine Welsh

Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier

The Bad Place Dean Koontz

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft

Out Of The Deeps and The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham

The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane

Winter Moon, Darkfall, Strangers, Midnight, Demon Seed, and Phantoms by Dean Koontz.

Thanks for the great list. I have only read a few of these.
 

thomasdown92

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Lovecraft and King are my favorite horror writers. Haven't read any other authors in this genre.
 

MindfulInquirer

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I thought Clive Barker's "The Hellbound Heart" was a very powerful experience. I was a big fan of the movie Hellraiser in my early 20's and then I decided to pick up the short novel, and it's this amazing mix of crass, philosophy and bizarre fantasy, but it never goes full on disturbing. Very good balance, and a story to tell, with meaning.
 

MoonTheLune

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Great list! I am pleased to see Dracula and Frankenstein, both genre-defining works. As a Poe fangirl I must implore a complete reading of as much as one can stand of his entire body of work. Honestly, I love Poe so much that I couldn't tell you my favourite. Just read all of it.

Vis a vis Stephen King, I agree that his short stories are where he excels. I much prefer his novels as movies, myself.

I'd also like to offer to the list:
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, which doubles as horror and (technically?) children's lit, though I think it's more than compelling for anyone who has had a mother at all, regardless of age.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay, especially for those looking to write murdering protagonists.
The Hound Of The Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes story with incredible atmosphere by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of course.
The Phantom Of The Opera, by Gaston Leroux. Don't fall victim to the (admittedly lovely) musical, Leroux's Eric is a much more cold blooded monster than Webber makes him out to be. Another must for those writing murdering protagonists.
 

AllyBlue

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Bumping this thread again b/c I just found it :)

Some of my favorite horror:
The Cipher by Kathe Koja. #1 favorite always and forever. I will preach the Gospel of Kathe everywhere I go. This book messed me up so hard and I loved it. Have never read anything like it, before or since.
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. I mean, I loved Heart Shaped Box too, but to me NOS4A2 was better. Vic McQueen is an amazing character.
Experimental Film by Gemma Files. Unusual premise and very cool use of an obscure legend. I'm a sucker for stories based on folklore and old legends :)
Agreeing with previous recs for Books of Blood by Clive Barker. Those are some of the most unique stories I've ever read. I especially like "Jaqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament" and "In the Hills, The Cities."
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. It has a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humor, but it's freaky scary too.
Anything by Caitlin R. Kiernan. The Red Tree is subtle but unnerving.
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. Great novella for anyone who's interested in reimagined Lovecraftian worlds and themes.

I could probably go on all day. LOL. Thanks to everyone for posting all these great horror recs!
 

CJEvermore

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A Night in Lonesome October - Richard Laymon (An interesting read with a fun plot)
Dark Runner - Rosalind Ashe (A sublime piece of writing. Haunting and unpredictable, with an interesting cast of characters)

Just a couple that I would heartily recommend that I don't think are on this list yet!
 

Horrorschach

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The House of Lost Souls - Francis Cottam
The House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
 

MR. MACABRE

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The first 5 books of Brian Lumley's NECROSCOPE series, anything by H.P. LOVECRAFT or POE, or Charles L. Grant.
 

druid12000

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Wow. Just Wow. Clive Barker gets one mention? That's a horrible oversight. I'm quoting Stephen King here: "I have seen the future of horror and it's name is Clive Barker".

My personal favorite is The Great and Secret Show. That book got inside my soul and took up residence.

The Damnation Game is gritty and visceral. Not for the squeamish.

Imajica is touted as 'dark fantasy' but damn, there's some shit in there that will make your skin crawl for days. It's a huge undertaking, coming in at around 1500 pages, and his set up takes the first 200 but, oh my fucking God, it is so worth the investment.

Just had to make sure he didn't get overlooked.
 

ReadTread

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I was flipping back through the horror forum and noticed just how often we get "looking for something to read" type threads come up. And you know... it gave me an idea.

From classics to pulpy horror to modern. And all things in between. If you're going to write horror, you need to read horror; to know what's come before you and just to get to know your genre to begin with.

Compiled list:

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

The Dark Sacrament by David Kiely

The Absence by Bill Hussey

Pet Semetary, by Stephen King

The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

Apartment 14F - An Oriental Ghost Story by C.M Saunders.

The Store by Bentley Little

Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth

The Shining By Stephen King

Darkness on the Edge of Town By Brian Keene

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

The Mist by Stephen King

The Rising by Brian Keene

Misery by Stephen King

Carrie by Stephen King

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

The Stand by Stephen King

Ghost Story, Shadowland by Peter Straub

We Have Always Lived In the Castle -- Shirley Jackson

At the Mountains of Madness, "The Shadow Out of Innsmouth," "The Colour Out of Space" -- HP Lovecraft

The King in Yellow -- Robert W. Chambers

On the Beach -- Nevil Shute

The House on the Borderland -- William Hope Hodgson

"The Beckoning Fair One" -- Oliver Onions

"Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" - M.R. James

Macbeth and The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Watchers by Dean Koontz

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Wolfen by Whitley Streiber

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

Interview with a vampire, the vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

I am Legend by Richard Mathieson

The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

Urban Gothic, Castaways by Brian Keene

Faery Tale by Raymond E. Feist

The longest single note by Peter Crowther

The Walking by Bentley Little

"The Dreams in the Witch House" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by H.P. Lovecraft

The Black Cat" by Poe

The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Swan Song and Boy's Life by Robert McCammon

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King.

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

It by Stephen King

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

Perfume: The story of a Murder Patrick Suskind

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Yeval by C. W. Schultz

Marabou Stork Nightmare by Irvine Welsh

Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier

The Bad Place Dean Koontz

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft

Out Of The Deeps and The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham

The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane

Winter Moon, Darkfall, Strangers, Midnight, Demon Seed, and Phantoms by Dean Koontz.
"Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad!" Me and my folks took turns reading that one over the fire at Shenandoah National Park this past May! Super fun!
 

ReadTread

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Wow. Just Wow. Clive Barker gets one mention? That's a horrible oversight. I'm quoting Stephen King here: "I have seen the future of horror and it's name is Clive Barker".

My personal favorite is The Great and Secret Show. That book got inside my soul and took up residence.

The Damnation Game is gritty and visceral. Not for the squeamish.

Imajica is touted as 'dark fantasy' but damn, there's some shit in there that will make your skin crawl for days. It's a huge undertaking, coming in at around 1500 pages, and his set up takes the first 200 but, oh my fucking God, it is so worth the investment.

Just had to make sure he didn't get overlooked.
"The Thief of Always" by Clive Barker! It scared the crap out of me and made me ugly-cry, but it also warmed my heart <3.
 

dickson

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I wish to add to the splendid lists supra.

Don’t forget Arthur Machen! He wrote torrents of horror stories and a few horror novels, in addition to being responsible for the Angel of Mons in WW I.

William Hope Hodgson wrote a splendid collection of ghost stories Carnacki the Ghost-Finder. My favorite, The Whistling Room, easily qualifies as horror.

An odd story by Max Beerbohm, Enoch Soames, qualifies as a horror story of a subtler kind, in a darkly humorous vein.

Classics, all. I fear writing horror in the present moment is difficult. Too much competition from reality.
 

capricornair

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Two recent favorites:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
-I absolutely devoured the Netflix series and was curious about the book that inspired it. Very different from the series, but so satisfying. The part about it that stays is the main character, Nell's, all-consuming loneliness. It was almost visceral. Also enjoyed observing how they took the names of characters and objects and reimagined them in the show. If you haven't spent time with either, I highly recommend!

Daphne by Josh Malerman
-Do NOT read this book if you are faint of heart with gore. I can't say without spoilers, but it is a truly terrifying book. I enjoyed the small town, coming-of-age, whodonut atmosphere to it, and the depictions of Daphne are more in our heads than any "in your face" occurrences. It reminded me a lot of my favorite horror film, "It Follows." The scariest parts are forged in the reader/viewer's minds.
 
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Jinks

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The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker. It continues the story of the Hell Priest, while expanding on Barker's universe. I love how much it dives into Pandemonium, magic, and the Cenobites.
 

dickson

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Two recent favorites:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
-I absolutely devoured the Netflix series and was curious about the book that inspired it. Very different from the series, but so satisfying. The part about it that stays is the main character, Nell's, all-consuming loneliness. It was almost visceral. Also enjoyed observing how they took the names of characters and objects and reimagined them in the show. If you haven't spent time with either, I highly recommend!

Daphne by Josh Malerman
-Do NOT read this book if you are faint of heart with gore. I can't say without spoilers, but it is a truly terrifying book. I enjoyed the small town, coming-of-age, whodonut atmosphere to it, and the depictions of Daphne are more in our heads than any "in your face" occurrences. It reminded me a lot of my favorite horror film, "It Follows." The scariest parts are forged in the reader/viewer's minds.
Just revisiting this thread. Have you seen the B&W mid-sixties film version with Julie Harris? A masterpiece. No special effects (apart from an exterior nighttime shot of the house taken with an IR camera); just superb writing and acting.
 
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capricornair

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Just revisiting this thread. Have you seen the B&W mid-sixties film version with Julie Harris? A masterpiece. No special effects (apart from an exterior nighttime shot of the house taken with an IR camera); just superb writing and acting.
I have not! Will check out. TY
 
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