Horror Stories

[biondetta]

I agree about James Herbert. I read a few of his and really enjoyed one, then read another and got to the end and was completely pissed off with the deus ex machina ending that just didn't work after all the buildup of the story. (Sorry, it's been quite a few years and I can't remember the titles or the plot, just being really really pissed off.)

[forever1267]

BUMP

It's that time of year again, when the harvest has arrived, the moon is full, and things go BUMP in the night. We've probably exhausted ourselves in scary stories, but what about scary websites? There's plenty on the Web about the paranormal. One I found BUMP

It's that time of year again, when the harvest has arrived, the moon is full, and things go BUMP in the night. We've probably exhausted ourselves in scary stories, but what about scary websites? There's plenty on the Web about the paranormal. One I found here(scroll to the bottom) has "true" ghost stories sent in by people. Many are terribly written, but there are a few that will genuinely send chills down your spine.

Any other scary places/books/media we can find to scare each other silly?

[tipsygrrl]

I have to resurrect this thread as therapy. I am a freak for ghost/horror stories, but I mostly only like things written before about 1940 (an idiosyncrasy I have in pretty much all fiction). I'm obsessed with horror and ghost story anthologies, but I almost always just read the "old" stories. I took one along while I went to the hospital with a friend who had to have a long, boring medical procedure done. So anyway, I ran out of the old and decided to move on to the new. It just reinforced that I'm a big baby and prefer my horror to be filled with the spectres of wronged women and lots of quiet drawing rooms. I read "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" by Harlan Ellison and I don't ever think I'll sleep again. Horrifying. I can't stop thinking about it. It was a wonderfully written and awfully disturbing story.

[marywebgirl]

tipsygrrl, then I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you enjoy Saki/H.H. Munro? I had to read his stuff for a project in high school and I was hooked! Every once in a while I'll see a reference to Srendi Vashtar and get all tingly.

[tipsygrrl]

MaryWebGirl, yes! Saki's much more my speed. Reading that disturbing Ellison story made me not able to sleep alone in the dark for three nights, not quite beating the five night record set by my first viewing of The Ring, but pretty damn good for a book. I get freaked out like that and then I get this strange attraction/revulsion thing going with the source. Can anyone recommend any really boring, badly written Ellison so that I can conquer my fear in much the same way that viewing The Ring Two bored me out of my fear of Samara?

[Deleted]

I assume many who know Lovecraft also know Clark Ashton Smith, a comtemporary. I had never really paid much attention to him, until I discovered this website. There are some truly disturbing stories there, such as The Seed from the Sepulchre or The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis. Smith is a lot more physical in his horror. The invasion or corruption fo the body are a major theme. All in all I consider him unjustly overlooked.

Another favourite of mine is M. R. James, one of the best ghost story writers ever. Many of his ghosts are attached to antique objects such as books and wait, like a spring-loaded trap, for the unsuspecting to pick them up.

[emersende]

Every time I start reading the book threads here, I go out to the library immediately afterward and get a horror book . . .

I'd wanted to read The Haunting of Hill House for a while anyway. I got it and then read it in one sitting. I was a little creeped out later when I went to bed, but other than that, no real scares. I might have been creeped out a bit more if I hadn't read any spoilers or descriptions of it, but that's my own fault.

I think I just don't get scared very often by books. And I enjoyed reading this one. I especially loved the ending. I just wasn't frightened.

[hamhock]

Bumping to ask if anyone can recommend any good horror authors?

Does anyone read F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series?

[trifle]

Ok folks...Halloween's a comin', and it's the time of year to break out your best ghost stories (or whatever horror strikes your fancy). What are you reading?

I've just cracked open The Ghost Writer, by John Harwood. Has anybody else read it? I'd describe the plot, but I'm not entirely sure what's what yet, though things promise to take a creepy turn, if the blurbs are to be believed.

[hamhock]

Aw, doesn't anybody have any recommendations for anything that'll scare the poop outta me? I read like a fiend, I like medical thrillers, suspense and horror.

I read "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by Peter Straub. Creepy but not shockingly scary.
"30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead" by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte. This is apparently based on some graphic novels. I enjoyed this, fairly creepy and gory.
"The Husband" by Dean Koontz....quite a page-turner, I really liked it. Thriller, not horror.
"Honeymoon" by James Patterson, thriller rather than horror. This was good, female serial killer.
I pretty much like all the books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child....they're kind of horror and suspense and usually have historical and archaeological elements that I greatly enjoy.
Love John Sandford's "Prey" series and have read them all.
Won't touch Laurel K. Hamilton with a 10-foot throbbing werewolf penis.....
I really like Tess Gerritsen, Robin Cook, Michael Crichton. I'll come back and fill in more.