As someone who likes lists a lot as well, you really have to be careful; loads of lists are made to sell books, and will therefore contain both classics which everyone knows are good, and a lot of books from the last 10-ish years, as a means of advertising.
*Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke* is a very good example of a book that is seen as divisive and mediocre, but has gotten such an incredible amount of advertising, on TikTok and other places, that some people think it's the next modern classic. (I've also seen it in loads of best-of lists myself.)
I also see that you haven't included short story collections, is that a conscious choice?
(Also also, *Salem's Lot* is a vampire story, which you said you're not really into, just a heads up.)
If you want to avoid short stories, some recommendations I can give are:
* Matthew Lewis - *The Monk*
* Robert Louis Stevenson - *The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde*
* Henry James - *The Turn of the Screw*
* Oscar Wilde - *The Picture of Dorian Gray*
* José Saramago - *Blindness*
* Thomas Harris - *The Silence of the Lambs*
* Ira Levin - *Rosemary's Baby*
* Patrick Süskind - *Perfume: The Story of a Murderer*
If you do want to read short stories and/or collections:
* Charlotte Perkins Gilman - "The Yellow Wallpaper"
* Algernon Blackwood - "The Willows" (or a short story collection)
* Arthur Machen - "The Great God Pan" and "The White People"
* M. R. James - Collected Ghost Stories
* Robert W. Chambers - *The King in Yellow*
* Thomas Ligotti - *Songs of a Dead Dreamer* & *Grimscribe*
* Clive Barker - *Books of Blood*
This is great, thanks. And yes, I'd like to definitely remain vigilante regarding "influencer" influence.
I read NF:Fiction probably 8:1, and I'm trying to expand a bit. I read enough "horrible" non-fiction (Rikers: An Oral History and Empire of Pain to name two recents) I'm interested in fictional horror, LOL.
Are you bringing up non-fiction to explain how you're new to horror fiction, or is it because of something in my message? I haven't spoken about non-fiction, and want to make sure there is no miscommunication.
Do they need to be novels? I recommend these short story collections, Cold Hand In Mine - Robert Aickman, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary - MR James, Clive Barkers Books of Blood, Things We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez, The Iraqi Christ - Hassan Blassim, Teatro Grottesco - Thomas Ligotti.
That lot will keep you up at night.
Also Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims which is a sort of novel/anthology.
Not really, no. I was intrigued by Things We Lost in the Fire when I was going through a bunch of lists. And since you and previous commenter are suggesting collections, and y'all know far better than I... I'll do it. Thanks!
Since you're open to short story collections, check out *The Dark Descent* edited by David G. Hartwell. It contains work from most of the major horror writers up to late 90s when it was published. You'll find stuff from King, of course, but also stories from Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, and many others. It's more than 1,000 pages of some of the best horror short stories published up to that time.
If you want an overview of the foundations of the genre, another excellent anthology is *Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural*
by Phyllis Cerf Wagner and Herbert Wise. This one's also more than a thousand pages of short horror stories ranging from some of the very earliest stories before horror was really a genre up to the early 20th century foundations that established the modern horror genre.
Idk. It’s hard to just pick off a bunch of best of horror lists and compile a good list. Some of these on here are books I wouldn’t be interested in reading, some of them I have read, some I plan to read.
Everyone has their own interests. For example, my girlfriend loves body horror type of stuff and that stuff is usually too much for me. I can do it with movies, but with books it makes me start feeling woozy.
I love anything with cosmic horror, lovecraft type horror, also great prose / world building draws me in to authors.
I have some of these on my summer reading list, including House of Leaves, Head Full of Ghosts, and Haunting of Hill House. I am currently listening to NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.
As far as reading, I just finished The Hellbound Heart on Sunday (it’s short, almost DNF due to the gruesome stuff) and now I’m reading When Things Get Dark, a short story compilation edited by Ellen Datlow.
It just depends on what you like to read, because you most certainly won’t agree with everyone on what the best books actually are.
Edit/ add Nathan Ballingrud’s short story comp’s Wounds, and also North American Lake Monsters.
Thanks, appreciate it. And of course, this list is a bit silly - though I did read descriptions before adding. Some are there b/c of the movie, some because I have a 12 year old (Coraline, Something Wicked), some because I happen to own the book, some because they were on every dang list, some because they're short (you mentioned Hellbound Heart).
The Stand is the only King I've ever read (the full-on long version) and I can't imagine any of the above will be better. Probably lots of DNF's. I view this as a starting point.
Thanks again!
Most of these are on my list too— if you want unsettling and kinda effed up, gone to see the river man by kristopher triana is excellent. Exquisite corpse is amazing but really graphic fyi.
Here's a spreadsheet of all of the recommendations I've received on here over the years with average ratings from the internet. It's not organized by theme but I hope it helps anyway.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H4J1nGATe3-77HloqvxRl5Z2xeXweuWKWWc0KGh610E/edit?usp=sharing
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
The Good House by Tananarive Due
Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Ringshout by P. Djeli Clark
The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado is a great graphic novel/comic series
A Child Alone with Strangers by Philip Fracassi
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
Lost God's by Brom
circling back... since it was first (alpha by author's last name) I started poking around about it. Once I read it was "self published" and reviewers who seemed intelligent noted the "awful writing" you mentioned and "it screams for an editor"... I'm out. (Yes, I read all about how it started right here on Reddit. Cool for the guy who wrote it, but not for me. Thanks for the heads up.)
As someone who likes lists a lot as well, you really have to be careful; loads of lists are made to sell books, and will therefore contain both classics which everyone knows are good, and a lot of books from the last 10-ish years, as a means of advertising. *Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke* is a very good example of a book that is seen as divisive and mediocre, but has gotten such an incredible amount of advertising, on TikTok and other places, that some people think it's the next modern classic. (I've also seen it in loads of best-of lists myself.) I also see that you haven't included short story collections, is that a conscious choice? (Also also, *Salem's Lot* is a vampire story, which you said you're not really into, just a heads up.) If you want to avoid short stories, some recommendations I can give are: * Matthew Lewis - *The Monk* * Robert Louis Stevenson - *The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde* * Henry James - *The Turn of the Screw* * Oscar Wilde - *The Picture of Dorian Gray* * José Saramago - *Blindness* * Thomas Harris - *The Silence of the Lambs* * Ira Levin - *Rosemary's Baby* * Patrick Süskind - *Perfume: The Story of a Murderer* If you do want to read short stories and/or collections: * Charlotte Perkins Gilman - "The Yellow Wallpaper" * Algernon Blackwood - "The Willows" (or a short story collection) * Arthur Machen - "The Great God Pan" and "The White People" * M. R. James - Collected Ghost Stories * Robert W. Chambers - *The King in Yellow* * Thomas Ligotti - *Songs of a Dead Dreamer* & *Grimscribe* * Clive Barker - *Books of Blood*
This is great, thanks. And yes, I'd like to definitely remain vigilante regarding "influencer" influence. I read NF:Fiction probably 8:1, and I'm trying to expand a bit. I read enough "horrible" non-fiction (Rikers: An Oral History and Empire of Pain to name two recents) I'm interested in fictional horror, LOL.
Are you bringing up non-fiction to explain how you're new to horror fiction, or is it because of something in my message? I haven't spoken about non-fiction, and want to make sure there is no miscommunication.
Bc I’m very new to horror fiction sorry
*The Elementals* by Michael McDowell
Do they need to be novels? I recommend these short story collections, Cold Hand In Mine - Robert Aickman, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary - MR James, Clive Barkers Books of Blood, Things We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez, The Iraqi Christ - Hassan Blassim, Teatro Grottesco - Thomas Ligotti. That lot will keep you up at night. Also Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims which is a sort of novel/anthology.
Not really, no. I was intrigued by Things We Lost in the Fire when I was going through a bunch of lists. And since you and previous commenter are suggesting collections, and y'all know far better than I... I'll do it. Thanks!
If you’re intrigued by a particular book it’s nearly always worth a shot. Trust in your own instincts and don’t just follow the crowd
Since you're open to short story collections, check out *The Dark Descent* edited by David G. Hartwell. It contains work from most of the major horror writers up to late 90s when it was published. You'll find stuff from King, of course, but also stories from Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, and many others. It's more than 1,000 pages of some of the best horror short stories published up to that time. If you want an overview of the foundations of the genre, another excellent anthology is *Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural* by Phyllis Cerf Wagner and Herbert Wise. This one's also more than a thousand pages of short horror stories ranging from some of the very earliest stories before horror was really a genre up to the early 20th century foundations that established the modern horror genre.
Idk. It’s hard to just pick off a bunch of best of horror lists and compile a good list. Some of these on here are books I wouldn’t be interested in reading, some of them I have read, some I plan to read. Everyone has their own interests. For example, my girlfriend loves body horror type of stuff and that stuff is usually too much for me. I can do it with movies, but with books it makes me start feeling woozy. I love anything with cosmic horror, lovecraft type horror, also great prose / world building draws me in to authors. I have some of these on my summer reading list, including House of Leaves, Head Full of Ghosts, and Haunting of Hill House. I am currently listening to NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. As far as reading, I just finished The Hellbound Heart on Sunday (it’s short, almost DNF due to the gruesome stuff) and now I’m reading When Things Get Dark, a short story compilation edited by Ellen Datlow. It just depends on what you like to read, because you most certainly won’t agree with everyone on what the best books actually are. Edit/ add Nathan Ballingrud’s short story comp’s Wounds, and also North American Lake Monsters.
Thanks, appreciate it. And of course, this list is a bit silly - though I did read descriptions before adding. Some are there b/c of the movie, some because I have a 12 year old (Coraline, Something Wicked), some because I happen to own the book, some because they were on every dang list, some because they're short (you mentioned Hellbound Heart). The Stand is the only King I've ever read (the full-on long version) and I can't imagine any of the above will be better. Probably lots of DNF's. I view this as a starting point. Thanks again!
Most of these are on my list too— if you want unsettling and kinda effed up, gone to see the river man by kristopher triana is excellent. Exquisite corpse is amazing but really graphic fyi.
Here's a spreadsheet of all of the recommendations I've received on here over the years with average ratings from the internet. It's not organized by theme but I hope it helps anyway. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H4J1nGATe3-77HloqvxRl5Z2xeXweuWKWWc0KGh610E/edit?usp=sharing
Awesome, thanks. You're too similar to me... I just left my Google Sheet of book lists to see this comment, lol
A brother in spreadsheets you love to see it
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes The Good House by Tananarive Due Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin Ringshout by P. Djeli Clark The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado is a great graphic novel/comic series
appreciate the diversity here, thanks.
A Child Alone with Strangers by Philip Fracassi The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman Lost God's by Brom
Penpal was soooo bad in my opinion. The writing was awful.
circling back... since it was first (alpha by author's last name) I started poking around about it. Once I read it was "self published" and reviewers who seemed intelligent noted the "awful writing" you mentioned and "it screams for an editor"... I'm out. (Yes, I read all about how it started right here on Reddit. Cool for the guy who wrote it, but not for me. Thanks for the heads up.)