The Horror (Books)

I kinda liked the 4-hour mini-series for Koontz’s Intensity simply because thst “Scrub’s” guy with the funky teeth plays a pretty convincing nutcase. He has always been a good “bad-guy” character actor, but he is superb in Scrubs IMO.

OK, things that haven’t already been listed:

Talisman, by Straub & King

Beastnights, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

(Let me note before anyone jumps in that I am certainly not recommending Yarbro wholesale - she’s written a lot of crap. But this one is a horror gem.)

If we’re willing to expand this to twisted dark fantasy, etc, then I’d recommend Laurell K. Hamilton and Anne Bishop.

And if his pulp style works for you, R.E. Howard’s old horror short stories are definitely worth a read - they’ve held up better than his fantasy.

Nick

I like that actor, but I can’t watch Scrubs given that I have pleged feminist allegiance to the sentiments of a certain TLC song.

I’ve liked some of Koontz’ stuff, but I’ll agree that his prose is completely out of control these days.

Hey. For all of you that just finished ‘Coraline’ by Neil Gaiman, and enjoyed it even a little bit, do yourself a favor and go read ‘The Thief of Always’ by Clive Barker. I just finished it, and it was really pretty good. It shares the same ‘kid’s book that wasn’t really intended for kids’ vibe that ‘Coraline’ had, but IMO, it was much, much better.

In my small experience, he’s virtually unreadable. I’m reminded of a scene from the FOX’s canceled “The Family Guy” in which Brian, the family dog, hits a man with his car.

He gets out and says something like, “Oh my god, are you Stephen King?”

“No,” says the injured man, “I’m Dean Koontz.”

Brian proceeds to get back in his car and back over his victim. I thought it was a stitch.

In my small experience, he’s virtually unreadable. I’m reminded of a scene from the FOX’s canceled “The Family Guy” in which Brian, the family dog, hits a man with his car.

He gets out and says something like, “Oh my god, are you Stephen King?”

“No,” says the injured man, “I’m Dean Koontz.”

Brian proceeds to get back in his car and back over his victim. I thought it was a stitch.[/quote]

I remember that, too. I still love that show. Wherever it is.

Dan Simmons’ “Summer of Night” is excellent. Very similar to a lot of King’s work. The sequel “A Winter Haunting” is also good.

I thought Henry James ‘Turn of the Screw’ was pretty freaky, almost like The Others movie but in ‘literary’ mode. And William Blatty’s Exorcist was pretty scary. And Matheson’s I Am Legend I thought was VERY cool, a really great fast read!

etc

Makes me think of the writing class from “Throw Momma from the Train.”

“His guts oozed nice, like a melted malted.”

Peter

Blatty’s prose is too clunky. The Exorcist is a freaky book, but his writing got in the way for me.

My age spans many generations. The loud incredulity of my beholders can not shout down that calm truth. Of my birth I shall say nothing. Does a man reminisce fondly of the dung-smeared apes that were his forebears?

Introductory paragraph of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s recently discovered memoirs? Derek Smart’s most recent riposte to his Usenet detractors? The story of Tarzan as told by Alistaire Crowley? Nope, just an absolutely mind-boggling passage from Ramsey Campbell’s “The Doll Who Ate His Mother”.

I used to love horror novels… I lived and breathed them through basically my entire teens and probably read hundreds of them during that time. Then I got on a literature kick and basically haven’t read any fiction except that since. Still, I got sort of nostalgic from this thread. I remembered Ramsey Campbell as actually a really good horror writer, so I picked up a couple of his books (THE DOLL WHO ATE HIS MOTHER! THE FACE THAT MUST DIE! THE BUTT THAT WON’T QUIT! &c.), a nice bottle of Glenrothes scotch and some old jazz records and whiled away the weekend with them.

I just can’t even get past the writing. I know from personal experience that Ramsey Campbell is actually one of the better writers among the horror flock, yet I found the entire book painful to read - there are a few competent passages, but for the most part, it is cliched slop. I’m going to move on to the Face That Must Die, which I think is a later novel and might be better written, but I’m not hoping for much beyond a mediocrely-written creepshow.

I don’t mean for all this to be insult after insult against horror novels. I guess I’m just wondering if any of you could recommend some horror novels that might be of a higher literary caliber than the norm.

I don’t know that I can. I’m in essentially the same boat–I used to love horror novels in high school, but after a prolonged break from them I’ve come back to discover that most of them simply aren’t very good. I still enjoy the staples (Lovecraft, Poe, Jackson, et al), but I’ve not been able to find a consistently readable modern writer. Ah, well…

And unfortunately, the bad books sell. Take Bentley Little’s novel The Walking. The premise is brilliant: The dead rise up and start walking around. They don’t eat people or do anything, just walk around. Damn creepy.

And then the whole thing devolves into a convoluted tale about witches (who get granted a town in the 1800’s by the US Government) and a bunch of other crap. By the end of it I wanted to shoot myself in the teeth.

That said, there is some good stuff out there. You just have to dig for it.

Is Lovecraft good, or just a seminal figure? I find his prose difficult to wade through.

I don’t really know how to define “good” in this case. On the one hand, it is very difficult to take his adjective-laden stories, but on the other hand, every time I actually read something of his at night a feeling of dread creeps up on me. His style is a bit silly at times but it does convey the feel of world that is our own, yet so much more than that.

Yes on all counts.
He’s overly verbose, a bit racist, stodgey, but he’s probably the most effective horror writer I’ve ever read. Start with something short or more accessible. Like The Outsider. Or start with one of his more conventional, like The Shadow of Innsmouth.

His prose is something that you’ll either love or hate. I love it, but I understand when other people don’t share my opinion. It has a tangible style, however–you can’t read a sentence by Lovecraft without knowing that he wrote it. I find it to be somewhat lyrical, which plays into his subject matter nicely. It never feels entirely natural, and I think that’s intentional.

I read all of his stuff when I was in high school and thought it was wonderful; I tried re-reading it last week and it put me asleep. (Worse yet is when someone else tries to ape his style.) I just don’t have the patience to read through it anymore.

[quote=“Bub, Andrew”]He’s overly verbose, a bit racist, stodgey, but he’s probably the most effective horror writer I’ve ever read.[quote]

As popular as it is to kick him around, in my mind no one can match King. 'Salem’s Lot, The Shining, and Pet Semetary, in particular, are three of the most terrifying stories ever put to paper.

Not coincidentally, I think, all three of those are among his earliest and most heavily edited books. Today editors can’t touch him and that isn’t ideal for a word-spewer like King. Today he completely lacks restraint and, I’d say, creative energy. Those three you mention are his best books though, I wish he could rekindle that because for all his faults King is excellent at characterization. I admire how he has terrified characters react in odd or weird ways. Like when you fall and instead of your life flashing before your eyes, you think about whether you left the iron on. That rings true to me somehow and I think I stole that from him…

…but there’s something about Lovecraft’s worldview, that being killed isn’t the worst fate - going mad is, that really scares the crap out of me. I like how Lovecraft never over describes* and how his stuff is just plain weird. Restraint is probably what I think makes Lovecraft a classic and King (mostly) a hack. King just never knows when to stop and let me complete the picture for myself.

  • EDIT
    I mean in describing concrete details. He very much over describes using weird evocative words. Cyclopean, for example.