Horror Aficionados discussion

I've always been a horror movie fan, and am starting to really delve into horror literature. As I do that, I was wondering what are some of the most influential horror books that have shaped the genre that are enjoyable and must reads. I want to weave those into my more modern horror books as well.

Great question and thanks for asking this. Can’t wait to see the answers. I don’t think I’m qualified to weigh in but hope others do.

Horror wasn't really a category back in the day, so that might be difficult-but here are some thoughts on the matter.

Ghost stories for instance-I always see M.R. James listed as influential and I've read at least 2 volumes of his work so far, and they were both good.

Of course, you have Dracula and Frankenstein-and considering what has spun off from those two books over the years, they are certainly influential.

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been mentioned in many books I've read as an influence. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is another one of hers I hear mentioned a lot.

I read from a lot of authors that H. Rider Haggard was popular, but I don't know for sure if his works are "horror." She is the book of his I hear about most often. (I haven't read it yet.)

Karl Edward Wagner is also mentioned a lot. I often hear the story STICKS quoted as being influential and admired, most recently in Brian Keene's newsletter of last Sunday.

For more modern or contemporary horror, I cite Michael McDowell. (And when I say modern, I'm talking 70s-80s.) His books The Elementals, Blackwater, Katie, Golden Needles and Cold Moon Over Babylon are among my favorite horror books of all time. I've heard him revered by Stephen King and other authors as one of the best EVER in the horror genre.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is often cited as influential. Though I'm not sure if that's because of the odd nature of the story, and to be honest I'm not sure it's even considered horror, but it sure was a horrific novella.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde has to be influential, I think.

Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby has to be influential on the genre, considering all the copy cat books since that time.


Stephen King's Danse Macabre by Stephen King is a book that might be helpful to you as in it, he examines his influences and speaks of other influences on the genre of horror as a whole.

According to Stephen King in Danse Macabre, the two most important supernatural horror stories are Haunting of Hill House and Turn of the Screw. For what it's worth, both of those stories have inspired Mike Flanagan for two series on Netflix.

Char makes a good list, and I'd second Danse Macabre, and add Horror: The 100 Best Books and Stephen JonesHorror: Another 100 Best Books -- I don't agree with all of the titles chosen, but that's probably to be expected.

Horror as we know it now, like mysteries and s.f., spring from Gothic literature. Frankenstein, Dracula, Jekyll/Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Turn of the Screw and many others all owe a debt to the earliest Gothic novels like The Castle of Otranto, Vathek, The Old English Baron, The Mysteries of Udolpho, and Wieland, almost all of which are almost painful reading for contemporary readers; that said, I enjoyed Vathek and The Old English Baron wasn't too bad.

Most forms of genre fiction as we know them developed as short stories. One early Gothic writer I'd definitely recommend would be Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. I haven't read his novels, but his short stories (particularly "Schalken the Painter"; "Squire Toby's Will"; "Madam Crowl's Ghost"; "Mr. Justice Harbottle") and novellas (especially "Carmilla") were instrumental in the development of the ghost/horror story. And they remain surprisingly readable now.

Other, books/stories that might be of interest include,

Any comprehensive collection of Edgar Allan Poe's stories. I don't know that you'd need to read all, but "The Tell-Tale Heart," "William Wilson," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Masque of Red Death," and a handful of others would be good to have under your belt.

A comprehensive collection of H. P. Lovecraft stories. Again, don't know that you have to read all of them, but "The Rats in the Walls," "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Colour Out of Space," "The Whisperer in Darkness," "At the Mountains of Madness" and a handful of others are well worth reading because a good deal of contemporary horror refers to his work, sometimes directly, sometimes more subtly.

If you can find a copy of Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, go for it. Published in the 1940s, it includes stories by both writers known for Gothic/horror, and by literary writers who occasionally dipped their toes in the Gothic. My particular favorites include Conrad Aiken's "Silent Snow, Secret Snow"; Walter de la Mare's "Seaton's Aunt"; Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls"; M. R. James' "Casting the Runes" and "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad". But there are several others of equal stature. (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?... -- contents list)

Also, if you can get your hands on The Dark Descent (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?... -- contents list) and Foundations of Fear (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?... -- contents list).

Novels of interest would include,
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson (a major influence on Stephen King)
The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Progeny of the Adder by Leslie Whitten
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Harvest House and The Other by Thomas Tryon
Carrie and ’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
Ghost Story by Peter Straub

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix is a good overview of the genre from the mid-1970s until the horror bust in the 1990s.

And at that point, you're approaching contemporary horror.

Everyone's list is going to be subjective to their tastes. Here are a few of mine:

Dracula by Bram Stoker - A great example of a spooky novel written in epistolary format.

The Shining by Stephen King - In my opinion, the best ghost story I've ever read.

Off Season by Jack Ketchum - This book certainly influenced me. I started writing after reading this.