So, i just finished reading It and it was... ok-ish. Since i got nothing to do, can you guys recommend me some horror books?
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
Horror book recommendations, help me i'm bored
- Thread starter Deleted member 56065
- Start date
Try one of these?
bookriot.com
9 of the Best Crime Novels for Horror Fans | Book Riot
Whether you're a horror fan or a crime fiction reader who wants to try something different, you'll want to check out these crime novels for horror fans.
bookriot.com
Read this:
Then go and find some of them used online. They are also reprinting several of them since this book came out.
Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction: Hendrix, Grady: 9781594749810: Books - Amazon
Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction: Hendrix, Grady: 9781594749810: Books - Amazon
www.amazon.com
Then go and find some of them used online. They are also reprinting several of them since this book came out.
A good cosmic horror story.
I really enjoyed The Fisherman. The third act was a little... I dunno, predictable? But it was really cool nonetheless. A very nice take on Lovecraft.
As far as recommendations go: I'm a huge fan of Joe Hill. N0S4A2 is one of my favorite novels, so I'd highly recommend it. Heart Shaped Box is also good, but (also) has a less-than-stellar third act. Horns is excellent, but I don't know if I would consider it "horror" in the normal sense.
I also like Mister B. Gone by Cliver Barker.
OP
OP
Cosmic horror is always welcome.
Is Manga okay? Its not a book i know but you cant mention without Junji Ito.
Start with Uzumaki and then work your way through his astounding libary of cosmic horror.
Highly recommended!
Thanks for the suggestions guys, will take a look if i can find any those online to buy.
Some more fun book reviews from Grady Hendrix: https://www.tor.com/tag/freaky-fridays/
My Amazon wishlists are full of expensive hot garbage now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
OP
OP
OP
OP
Joe Hill's work is pretty great. I can't recommend N0S4A2 and Locke and Key (Graphic Novel Series) enough. His other books are also solid (as are his short stories).
You will never forget this short story:
You can read it for free here:
You can read it for free here:
I disagree. It had a ton of build up to one scary moment. It should have been a short story not a whole novel.
The problem with Lovecraft is how overtly racist he is. Dude is a xenophobic piece of garbage. His influences are obvious, but overall, man, the dude was a horrible guy.
Hostage to the Devil, by Malachai Martin
Absolutely terrified me when I read it ... ~15 years ago. It's ~5 or 6 stories of "real life exorcisms" from a former priest who is batshit crazy Vatican I old school conservative Catholic priest. He's a "Former" priest because he excommunicated himself IIRC, because the Catholic Church became "too liberal" for him or something along those lines. One of them, I believe, is the detailing of the case that inspired the novel The Exorcist (and movie). For that matter, the Exorcist is also scary.
Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans: Martin, Malachi: 9780060653378: Books: Amazon.com
Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans [Martin, Malachi] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans
www.amazon.com
Absolutely terrified me when I read it ... ~15 years ago. It's ~5 or 6 stories of "real life exorcisms" from a former priest who is batshit crazy Vatican I old school conservative Catholic priest. He's a "Former" priest because he excommunicated himself IIRC, because the Catholic Church became "too liberal" for him or something along those lines. One of them, I believe, is the detailing of the case that inspired the novel The Exorcist (and movie). For that matter, the Exorcist is also scary.
I tried reading House of Leaves but I couldn't get into it. I felt the way it was written, while creative, undermined actually being able to follow what was going on which made it hard to feel scared or feel anything. I only got maybe halfway or slightly earlier before stopping.
OP
OP
Came to recommend this. It's not horror like slasher horror movies, but it's closer to cosmic horror (fear of the unknown) and is incredibly unsettling.
was just going to sugggest the rats trilogy and slugs is a great read to.
Id recommend pretty much all of james herberts books.
OP
OP
Just started The Fisherman and will track I have no mouth and i must scream and House of leaves next, them start working my way down the other recommendations.
I'm also recommending The Fisherman, just read it and really liked it.
You could always go for a classic like The Woman in Black?
If you don't mind manga, you can't go wrong with Junji Ito, some of the most disturbing visuals I've ever seen.
I also like Joe Hill, he has some fantastic horror novels and his short story collections are also great. His latest short story collection is called Full Throttle and includes the recently adapted In The Tall Grass.
You could always go for a classic like The Woman in Black?
If you don't mind manga, you can't go wrong with Junji Ito, some of the most disturbing visuals I've ever seen.
I also like Joe Hill, he has some fantastic horror novels and his short story collections are also great. His latest short story collection is called Full Throttle and includes the recently adapted In The Tall Grass.
Vastarien is a great magazine (really four books a year) that is beautiful, cheap and contains short stories and essays of lesser known authors. Great way to treat yourself as a horror fan.
Other than that any book by:
Sergei Lukyanenko horror/existentialism
Dmitri Glukhovsky sci-fi/fantasy/horror
John Ajvide horror/existentialism
Thomas Ligotti existentialism/cosmic horror/nihilism
Other than that any book by:
Sergei Lukyanenko horror/existentialism
Dmitri Glukhovsky sci-fi/fantasy/horror
John Ajvide horror/existentialism
Thomas Ligotti existentialism/cosmic horror/nihilism
Thomas Ligotti's Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe. Two short story collection recently released together by Penguin. After Poe and Lovecraft, Ligotti is my highest recommendation. All of his work is absolutely fantastic.
When you get to House of Leaves, I highly recommend the physical book over digital. The book plays a lot with word placement, font, text size, text color etc. that might not translate to digital. I don't know for sure since I've only read the physical, but maybe someone can chime in that's read it digitally.
Vastarien rules.Vastarien is a great magazine (really four books a year) that is beautiful, cheap and contains short stories and essays of lesser known authors. Great way to treat yourself as a horror fan.
Other than that any book by:
Sergei Lukyanenko horror/existentialism
Dmitri Glukhovsky sci-fi/fantasy/horror
John Ajvide horror/existentialism
Thomas Ligotti existentialism/cosmic horror/nihilism
Ugh I can't remember the name of the book or the writer, but there's a very good, Ligottiesque collection of connected stories I read recently.
Has anyone mentioned Laird Barron? His first few collections are tremendous.
Haunted Castles by Ray Russell.
Not really horror per se, but horrifying anyway: Roadside Picnic is amazing and creepy.
Rosemary's Baby
This too.
Is Manga okay? Its not a book i know but you cant mention without Junji Ito.
Start with Uzumaki and then work your way through his astounding libary of cosmic horror.
Highly recommended!
This too.
Check out some Jack Ketchum and Joe R. Lansdale, both highly influential and Ketchum helped birth extreme horror, and Lansdale while he is neither helped speed along/create both Splatterpunk and Bizzaro.
Carrion Comfort as well, also by Dan Simmons.
House of Leaves is very good but also very much an acquired taste.
Some great replies in here! Horror, especially literary horror, is my favorite genre so I've read a bunch.
Seconding recommendations for The Terror, The Fisherman, Head Full of Ghosts (and all of Paul Tremblay's other books while you're at it, he's one of my favorite modern horror authors), House of Leaves, anything by Joe Hill (particularly NOS4A2 and Heart Shaped Box) and most anything by Stephen King. Both The Terror and The Fisherman stayed with me for a while.
I also highly recommend Nick Cutter. He's got 4 books out right now: The Troop, The Deep, The Acolyte, and Little Heaven. I enjoyed all of them. The Troop was a little gross for my liking, but the others weren't nearly as gross.
Other recs:
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
The Ritual by Adam Nevill (started out strong but had a weak second half imo)
American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Some ladies for your reading list:
Come Closer by Sara Gran
Seed by Ania Ahlborn
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton, but I've read most of these in the past few years and really enjoyed them.
Seconding recommendations for The Terror, The Fisherman, Head Full of Ghosts (and all of Paul Tremblay's other books while you're at it, he's one of my favorite modern horror authors), House of Leaves, anything by Joe Hill (particularly NOS4A2 and Heart Shaped Box) and most anything by Stephen King. Both The Terror and The Fisherman stayed with me for a while.
I also highly recommend Nick Cutter. He's got 4 books out right now: The Troop, The Deep, The Acolyte, and Little Heaven. I enjoyed all of them. The Troop was a little gross for my liking, but the others weren't nearly as gross.
Other recs:
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
The Ritual by Adam Nevill (started out strong but had a weak second half imo)
American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Some ladies for your reading list:
Come Closer by Sara Gran
Seed by Ania Ahlborn
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton, but I've read most of these in the past few years and really enjoyed them.
It's just a short story, but I highly recommend The Human Chair by Edogawa Ranpo. It was written in 1925, and it's probably one of the most unusually unsettling stories I can think of that really leaves you wondering at the end.
