Horror Aficionados discussion

I am so bumming out on horror books these day. I am fan, don't me wrong. There's few things I enjoy more than reading a good, scary book when it really works. But damn, they're really getting fewer and farther between. As a matter of fact, I can't find anything. And I spend countless hours and hundreds of dollars every month looking, looking and reading. Sigh. It's gotten to the point where I consider it a good read if I can even bother to finish the thing. Most books I don't even bother adding to GR. I mean, it's bad. I seek out lists, but it's always the same old stuff: Stephen King, Hell House, Hill House, bla bla bla...

Someone through me a bone if you can, please!

Try body rides by Richard laymon

Clickers
The Homecoming
Breed
Ghost Walk
The Mailman

Jonathan wrote: "There's a lot of hackneyed, formulaic stuff out there, no doubt about it--that's always been a problem for the genre. What kind of horror are you into? Who are your favorite writers?"

Well, hmm... I definitely like King, but I've essentially exhausted his books. I like Joe Hill. I loved HEART-SHAPED BOX, HORNS, and NOS4A2. Dan Simmons has a few I enjoyed: THE TERROR, CARRION COMFORT, and SONG OF KALI. I read a good deal of Robert McCammon's stuff and liked that back in the day. I love his Matthew Corbett stuff for the most part, but that's not really horror, though there are some good creepy parts here and there. I've read a lot of Koontz too over the years that I thought was pretty decent. Mostly his 80s and 90s stuff. I liked Anne Rice’s 80s and 90s stuff, too. Once upon a time I even like John Saul. Adam Nevill is an author I've found in recent years that I really like. THE RITUAL I thought was fantastic. Read his new one a few months ago and enjoyed it. He has new one coming out next month, and I'll definitely be all over that. I've read some zombie books that I thought were good, but I am no longer a fan: I'm convinced the over-saturation has just about killed horror. I love post-apocalyptic fiction, THE ROAD, I AM LEGEND, etc.., but it almost all involves zombies now, and I have been zombied out for a long time. Sometimes I find myself reading allegedly true haunting stories and that will sometimes do it for me. Lately I find myself looking for more literary-type horror—I’m a big fan of literary fiction, and I love it when the two cross paths. Justin Cronin is a good example of that, IMO. Hell, I’ll give anything shot pretty much, other than zombies, romance, and YA. I do not do YA.

Give these a try. Penpal, The Girl With All The Gifts, Bird Box.

Here's some books and authors that are in my keeper pile:
H.R. Wakefield
Alexandra Sokoloff
Nightmare House, Mischief, The Infinite, and The Abandoned (the Harrow House quartet by Douglas Clegg)
Coffin County
Dark Delicacies series
Shock Rock, Volume I

Sorry if you have any of them but if you need more I've got more, just didn't want to make this overly long. Do you like anthologies?

I'm kindle reader only now, but I can't seem to want to get rid of my Jeff Gelb pb anthologies - the Hot Blood Series, Shock Rock etc. I think they still hold up.

Have you checked out any Clive Barker?

Almost done with A Canticle for Leibowitz which would fit your non-zombie PA criteria....unless you've read it already.

~Lei ~ Reading Is An Adventure ~ wrote: "I'm kindle reader only now, but I can't seem to want to get rid of my Jeff Gelb pb anthologies - the Hot Blood Series, Shock Rock etc. I think they still hold up."

Wildside Megapacks have done pretty good collections for cheap. They have some stories that are really good but just get lost in the shuffle of time and rarely get anthologized. There are a few that really were very creepy.
If you like Sherlock stories these Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes, Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes and Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes have some very good stories in them.

I think I'm jaded as well. Stories don't really scare me anymore, now i just ask for a riveting, somewhat intelligent story.

Sonya wrote: "Try body rides by Richard laymon"

Will do; thanks! I've read a couple Laymon books. I really enjoyed ISLAND.

llibrro wrote: "Give these a try. Penpal, The Girl With All The Gifts, Bird Box."

I've heard Penpal is good. I've read BIRD BOX. I thought it was good. TGWATG, isn't that a zombie thing?

Mikana wrote: "Have you checked out any Clive Barker?"

Yep; not a fan of Barker. His last book, I thought, started off really good and then it got absolutely cartoonish.

Ctgt wrote: "Almost done with A Canticle for Leibowitz which would fit your non-zombie PA criteria....unless you've read it already."

Jonathan wrote: "Oh, and John Farris's All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By. It's a must-read."

Thanks. I will definitely check both of those out.

Jonathan wrote: "I would recommend Peter Straub and [author: Charles L. Grant..."

I've actually only read one Straub book, A DARK MATTER. It's rated very low here on GR, but I thought it was excellent. Haven't read any of the other author you mention, but I will be looking into his stuff. Thanks!

Grace wrote: "Do you like anthologies?
"

I'll read them, but they're not something I typically seek out. I'm just not a big fan of short stories. I've read a few of those Stephen Jones BEST NEW HORROR anthologies that I thought were good. They're are essentially a tour of the who's who in horror.

Alice wrote: " "

The George RR Martin book looks interesting. I'll check it out. Thanks Alice!

Exorcist Road by Jonathan Janz was in a word, phenomenal.

Please limit the self promotion to the Author Promotions area, Wyatt.
Further posts any and everywhere but there will be deleted.