Horrifying Thrillers discussion

May I ask what everyone is reading for the Halloween/First days of the Fall season?

Bradbury's "Halloween Tree" and "Something Wicked.." come to mind, of course.
What I had in mind falls in the realm of new and upcoming authors who really have a flare for the season of "things that go bump in the night".

I always crave Stephen King around this time of year, but if you're looking for someone new and upcoming, I would suggest his son, Joe Hill. I haven't read anything of his, but from what I hear, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Jess wrote: "I always crave Stephen King around this time of year, but if you're looking for someone new and upcoming, I would suggest his son, Joe Hill. I haven't read anything of his, but from what I hear, th..."

I have read Heart-Shaped Box, Horns and 20th Century Ghosts, all by Hill, and would highly recommend each of them. Very well written and intense.

This is definitely not a new or upcoming author, but I am currently reading "Tick Tock" by Dean Koontz.

Try the Memory Tree by John R. Little. You will need to find the book first, though. It's sold for at least $110 on Amazon. I borrowed it from the local library a while ago when no one had noticed it yet.
Sheep by Simon Maginn is also an awesome one. Again it's a rare find as well. I'm lucky to have a used one.

I am currently reading IT by stephen king-love it so far!

Also I agree and highly recommend Joe Hill--I LOVED horns and heart-shaped box (haven't ready anything else by him yet)

Reading Vampire Stories From the American South, which isn't the best anthology I've read. Thinking about rereading Hell House by Richard Matheson, just for Halloween. Of course, I'd have to find it on my shelves first...

Joe Hill has certainly (and deservedly) earned respect and admiration from readers. He's amazing. HSB was an excellent debut novel.

I'm reading 'Salem's Lot for a Halloween Horror Book Club I'll be hosting this month at my Barnes & Noble (that I work at, as well). Been wanting to do something like this for years. This will be my third reading of the King vampire-horror classic.

I just finished the second novel in The Strain Trilogy: The Fall. If you haven't read the first one absolutely read it first, but these books are AWESOME. Perfect for the upcoming Halloween season. Del Toro and Hogan definitely are a great pair.

I am reading The Gates which takes place around Halloween and includes Satan and several demons as characters. What could be better?

Agreed, Monica. I loved the first one, have the second to read soon. Also, if you haven't yet, check out Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE (first in another trilogy, too). Excellent book!

Can't find Hell House, I think my closet gremlin took it. Or my cat. Decided to read Poe, and select stories from By Blood We Live. Also, watching whatever sounds interesting on Chiller, and SyFy.

Darkfall by Dean Koontz

R. LANSDALE. The Nightrunners: really god for Halloween!
@ Gatorman: i really liked the gates!! John Connolly is the best!!

Thanks for recommending Heart-Shaped Box. It was a great Halloween read, not as scary as I'd hoped though.

Node wrote: "R. LANSDALE. The Nightrunners: really god for Halloween!
@ Gatorman: i really liked the gates!! John Connolly is the best!!"

Yeah, Connolly is, next to King, my favorite author. The Gates was a lot of fun and shows just how versatile Connolly really is.

Anna wrote: "I am currently reading IT by stephen king-love it so far!

Also I agree and highly recommend Joe Hill--I LOVED horns and heart-shaped box (haven't ready anything else by him yet)"

Hey me too! Except I'm reading IT for the zillionth time lol. What part are you at?

And I also agree with you about Joe Hill. Awesome author.

Pennywise is just plain awesome. One of King's best characters.

I actually just bought a Koontz novel I wasn't familiar with for 10 cents - The Husband. Anyone know if it's worth my time?

Yep, Jason, fantastic book...great read!

Dunno about The Husband, but Koontz's Odd Thomas series is--so far--excellent. Another scary (and underrated) novel is Stephen King's The Tommyknockers. Very creepy

Yeah, the Odd Thomas books were what got me to give his work a second chance after my first reading of an early novel of his didn't win me over. But Odd Thomas is great and I'm looking forward to the movie.

Thanks, Chris - I'll give The Husband a shot... seems a little too ordinary for my tastes, but for ten cents, I guess I can't go wrong.

I agree! The Tommyknockers is one of my favorite Stephen King novels.

Jason wrote: "Pennywise is just plain awesome. One of King's best characters.

I actually just bought a Koontz novel I wasn't familiar with for 10 cents - The Husband. Anyone know if it's worth my time?"

Not really. Just an ok read.

Right now im reading The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker...Its good so far

Bob wrote: "May I ask what everyone is reading for the Halloween/First days of the Fall season?

Bradbury's "Halloween Tree" and "Something Wicked.." come to mind, of course.
What I had in mind falls in the ..."

well currently I'm reading Stephen king's IT, after reading "in the woods", as well as a few zombie books. Nothing seemed to be doing it for me so I went with king as a default. Hopefully it will scare the wits out of me, if not it'll be onto the next one for me. If anyone has any really scary books they've read, I'd love some recommendations!!!

Well, I'd recommend mine, but that would be shameless self-promotion wouldn't it? So, I'd say if It doesn't do it for you (and it's probably one of King's scariest), I'd say The Exorcist and Hell House are good. If you like short stories, Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite is great. And of course, King is always a good default - love his short story collections.

I'd recommend the following: