Cedar Falls Public Library discussion

October is upon us, and with Halloween around the corner it is my favorite excuse to read one of my favorite genres--horror! I especially love haunted house stories, so I'm rereading . What are your favorite spooky reads? Is there a particular genre that really freaks you out?

Probably my all time favorites for creepy factor would be early Stephen King: The Shining, Salem's Lot, and Pet Sematary. More recently, Joe Hill's Heart-shaped Box was a good ghost story. I found it hard to find well-written horror, and prefer subtlety and ghosts and do not like gore and slashers. I also liked Hell House, and would love other suggestions. I stopped reading horror years ago because of the lack of quality.

Shirley Jackson is my favorite horror writer; she is very atmospheric and subtle. The classic The Haunting of Hill House is one I re-read every year.
In the past year I've gotten into reading vintage paperback-type horror from the 1970s and 80s, and have found Michael McDowell to be very good. I would recommend The Elementals by him.
A more literary haunted house tale that came out recently is David Mitchell's Slade House, which is a ghost-ish story that ties into the universe of his previous novels, namely The Bone Clocks. I loved it!
For a quirky, post-modern take on the haunted building, check out Grady Hendrix's Horrorstör, which is visually laid out like an Ikea catalog. I know that sounds weird, but it's a weird book, in a good way.
More of my favorite horror books to come in this thread!

This is my favorite genre, and I agree with Sheryl, that it's hard to find a good quality spooky story these days. Boy's Life by Robert McCammon and The Other by Thomas Tryon are 2 all-time favorites of mine. One I like to re-read this time of the year is The Turn of The Screw by Henry James!

The Other is amazing, it's so creepy and the twist blew my mind the first time around! I wish more people knew about that book.

Some more of my favorite horror novels....

Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury! Rural community! A sinister carnival!

The Little Stranger Sarah Waters is one of my most favorite novelists, and this one is a bit different than her others....The Hundreds is a crumbling estate...is it haunted by the psychological pressures of modern society or something less earthly? I pick up different clues and form a different theory every time I re-read this one!

The Supernatural Enhancements is recommended to fans of modern 'paranormal' horror movies. Told through diary entries, video and audio footage, we only get pieces of the story and are left to form our own conclusions about the events reported in this story.

Thanks, Jessica, for the tip. I just snagged a copy of The Elementals!

Also a fan of The Little Stranger!

I hope you enjoy it Sue!

I myself am re-reading a book that came out in the last year or two, called A Head Full of Ghosts. It's a post-modern tale of possession told by the younger sister of the possession victim and supported by television footage shot for a reality show, blog posts, and other current media methods.

And I can't believe I forgot to mention a fantastic title I read over the summer called Security. A super-modern luxury hotel is about to have it's grand opening, but the staff are being quietly and hideously murdered, in spite of the state-of-the-art security system. It is absolutely a slasher movie brought to life in a book, and I loved it.