Any decent horror recommendations?

[holyzombiejesus]

I asked this in the old thread and got some great recommendations but feel free to repeat yourselves.

Rather than just list Lovecraft etc , maybe just tell me about the one book you'd recommend...

[Jerzy Bondov]

Hello, I would like to recommend The Fisherman by John Langan. It is a very dense and creepy book with a nested structure, and a great mix of folklore and cosmic horror. It's sad, and it's scary. It's about a couple of friends who have taken up fishing having lost their families. They head out to a creek which doesn't appear on any maps, and on the way they stop at a diner where they are told the various legends about the place. Somebody has opened a door to somewhere else, and on the other side something terrible is waiting. Woooo! Scary.

[NoSleep]

Rather than just list Lovecraft etc , maybe just tell me about the one book you'd recommend...

Have you read any Lovecraft? Maybe the reason many might just tell you "read some Lovecraft" is because all his (mostly short) stories can be seen as parts of a whole; small peeks into a world that together make the bigger (and horrifying) picture. If I were to pick a single story to begin with, I'd guess it would be "The Call Of Cthulhu", then follow that with his mini-novel "At the Mountains Of Madness".

[holyzombiejesus]

Yeah, I've read lots thanks! I just didn't want the thread becoming a list of well known horror writers, which often happens with genre queries. Lovecraft was just used as an example of someone who crops up on those lists. It'd be nice if people talked about a specific book (or writer) rather than trotting out a list of names.

[NoSleep]

Peter Straub's "Ghost Story" is good as far as I can remember (read in the early 80's). If you think you know what it's about because you've seen the film then you're in for a big surprise.

[BlodwynPig]

House of Leaves is as close to terror in print that I've ever experienced. The introduction is stunningly eerie (and that is before things descend into madness). A found footage style in writing.

[Hangthebuggers]

House of Leaves is as close to terror in print that I've ever experienced. The introduction is stunningly eerie (and that is before things descend into madness). A found footage style in writing.

Seconded.

[Ignatius_S]

This is from a recent thread:

EF Benson, best known for the sublime Lucia novels these days, wrote a number of ghost/ horror short stories. One of his stories was adapted for the classic Ealing horror anthology, Dead of Night. HP Lovecraft was an admirer and praised Benson in his noted Supernatural Horror in Literature essay.

Mark Gattis is a more modern fan (and I'll pass over the Mapp and Lucia adaptation he was involved in) and recently edited a collection of Benson's horror stories. Good Lord must know how many short story collections of Benson's have been published now – in addition to that he wrote, Benson wrote over 60 novels, half as much non-fiction books and several plays. You may have guessed that I'm a fan...

As his work in the public domain, it's freely available at Project Guttenberg etc. As par for the course, there are many Kindle compilations – although it goes against the grain to pay for something available, these can be a very convenient way of getting a lot of stories/books and I'm willing to pay 50p or a quid for the convenience....

Benson's ghost stories are rather overshadowed by MR James – rather unfairly, in my opinion. I'll admit that I may be biased as since reading his work at about 10 years old, he's remained one of my favourite authors – but I fervently believe Benson to be an extraordinary writer... one of *the* best. I recently got a friend to read one of the Lucia books and afterwards, commented that he was expecting it to be well-written and a rather gentle comedy, but was "blown away" by how modern it felt and how vicious the humour could be.

One aspect I like about Benson's works is that there's often autobiographic elements, particularly locations. For example, the town of Tilling and the impressive house of Mallards in Mapp & Lucia as Rye and Lamb House, where he lived. In his horror stories, places that he's familiar with crop up, including Egypt – Benson's sister was a brilliant archaeologist and he accompanied her there when she was the first female granted permission to excavate.

Roald Dahl was also as admirer of Benson's ghost stories and adapted one for a new American television series, which alas proved too controversial for broadcast.

[holyzombiejesus]

Roald Dahl was also as admirer of Benson's ghost stories and adapted one for a new American television series, which alas proved too controversial for broadcast.

Why?

Is there a particular book/ collection/ short story you'd recommend?

[BlodwynPig]

The House on the Borderland
by William Hope Hodgson (1906)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_on_the_Borderland

Comparable to The Willows by Algernon Blackwood - except more hallucinatory. The early to mid-sections of the book are devastating with the denouement probably the most mind-bending piece of literature in the last century or so. It's only weakness is the "reveal" of the horror(s) - but even that is a top-class bogeyman writing. It's the 2001 of the horror literature world.

[BlodwynPig]

E.F. Benson is great and I can see why Roald Dahl was a fan. I have (had...it was ripped to shreds by forces unknown one night!) the Night Terrors collection and loved every story.

[Ignatius_S]

Why?

Is there a particular book/ collection/ short story you'd recommend?

In a nutshell, someone is awaiting execution for murder but someone else admits their guilt to a Catholic priest, who has to decide whether break the seal of confession or let an innocent person be killed. The network got very worried about how the public would react/ offending public sensibilities (and to be fair, it realistically had good cause) so that was that.

Re: recommendations – the whole lot! There have been so many collections, but as mentioned Gattis edited one recently – the Guardian review is here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/18/ghost-stories-benson-review

All should be available online freely, but often formatting isn't ideal. Decently produced editions are quite cheap, so what I would probably recommend is to read a few first and if they appeal, get one of those.

That Guardian review mentioned Caterpillars and that's one story that I think would usually get recommended. I remember when I first read it that it was one that stayed for me for quite a while in an unsettling way.

[Ignatius_S]

The House on the Borderland
by William Hope Hodgson (1906)

Comparable to The Willows by Algernon Blackwood - except more hallucinatory. The early to mid-sections of the book are devastating with the denouement probably the most mind-bending piece of literature in the last century or so. It's only weakness is the "reveal" of the horror(s) - but even that is a top-class bogeyman writing. It's the 2001 of the horror literature world.

That's one I've really been meaning to read... thanks!

E.F. Benson is great and I can see why Roald Dahl was a fan. I have (had...it was ripped to shreds by forces unknown one night!) the Night Terrors collection and loved every story.

Nicely put!

[Operty1]

Short story collections I would recommend Night Shift by Stephen King and Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti. Two great collections that could probably be bought for pennies from Amazon. Has anyone read this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Funny-Robin-Ince-ebook/dp/B00MLDU9UU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508264729&sr=8-1&keywords=Dead+funny

Or it's follow up? Was wondering on the Stewart Lee stories.

If looking for a longer form story Kim Newman's Quorum is good, a modern day Faustian tale

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quorum-Kim-Newman/dp/1781165548/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508264912&sr=1-1&keywords=Quorum+Kim+Newman

And I also found Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park to be really creepy. It helps if you've read American Psycho, with Ellis here being haunted by his creations.

[garbed_attic]

More in the psychological vein I'd recommend Hermann Ungar's The Maimed, which is a fantastically queasy novella about a fastidious bank clerk who is being sexually abused by his landlady and manipulated by his utterly embittered only friend who is slowly dying of a consumptive disease. In terms of the plot it's nothing spectacular (a stranger turns up and things go even more awry) but as a portrait of neuroses it will aggressively contaminate your brain.

[Dex Sawash]

I liked Bubba Hotep from Joe Lansdale. Have read a few of his horror-ish books.

[bushwick]

Some of the most horrific stuff that's stayed with me has been from the Pan Books of Horror, mainly the mid-to-late period ones where it got very gruesome and nihilistic

Maybe some Ramsey Campbell for creepier stuff. Also Charles Birkin was a shamefully unheralded writer - an aristocratic English gentleman of leisure who wrote very unsentimental, shocking contes cruels that are still strong when read today. Seems to be some stuff for kindle but all the actual books are long OOP and expensive as fuck - I have a knackered old copy of this I got for about a 5er 10 yrs ago:
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/charles-birkin/dark-menace.htm

This is also excellent (JESUS FUCKING CHRIST I HAVE THIS AND NOW SEE IT'S GOING FOR AT LEAST £90!!!!!!)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Go-Play-at-Adams/dp/0586042334

[Velvetfinger]

Stephen Graham Jones' werewolf yarn, Mongrels. Terrific stuff! Full of inspired ideas and tweaks on the werewolf legend.

[Bazooka]

Funnybones.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Peter Straub's "Ghost Story" is good as far as I can remember (read in the early 80's). If you think you know what it's about because you've seen the film then you're in for a big surprise.

Just wanted to thank you for this recommendation - I'm just over halfway through Ghost Story right now. I genuinely thought the days of me getting unsettled by a, er, ghost story were long gone...but apparently not. This is stellar stuff.

[ASFTSN]

Just wanted to thank you for this recommendation - I'm just over halfway through Ghost Story right now. I genuinely thought the days of me getting unsettled by a, er, ghost story were long gone...but apparently not. This is stellar stuff.

It is good - I hope you continue to enjoy it, because I did feel it started to drag towards the end.  Overall though, good winter reading.

Does Robert Aickman count as horror?  Robert Aickman.

[ASFTSN]

It's the 2001 of the horror literature world.

Haha, that's a great description!  Have you read The Night Land?

[Neville Chamberlain]

It is good - I hope you continue to enjoy it, because I did feel it started to drag towards the end.

Interesting. I've been burned many times before with great books that start to drag, and I've still got a couple of hundred pages left of this, so, we'll see. I have to say, though, I found the story of Alma Mobley utterly entrancing. I didn't want that section to end. I wish I could have met her...

[Small Man Big Horse]

Has anyone read this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Funny-Robin-Ince-ebook/dp/B00MLDU9UU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508264729&sr=8-1&keywords=Dead+funny

Or it's follow up? Was wondering on the Stewart Lee stories.

I asked about that a while back, and this was the only response:

They're a mixed bag. Mostly enjoyable enough but never really hitting greatness. If you want a taster of the Shearsmith listen to the horror special of the Book Shambles podcast. It was backstage at the launch of the second Dead Funny book at Latitude and he reads a bit of his story.

http://cosmicshambles.com/bookshambles/horrorshambles

[BlodwynPig]

Haha, that's a great description!  Have you read The Night Land?

No, but will do, thanks

[popcorn]

I really enjoyed The Daylight Gate by by Jeanette Winterson. Short, stark, grim.

Guardian review: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/16/daylight-gate-jeanette-winterson-review

[ASFTSN]

No, but will do, thanks

It's a slog - but more than worth it for a truly original and bleak depiction of a journey through humankind's end-state.  Truly bizarre and dark stuff.

[Catalogue Trousers]

The Grin Of The Dark by Ramsey Campbell. An academic gets obsessed with the career of an early British silent film comic, Tubby Thackeray, whose films edge increasingly from wacky slapstick to un-nerving madness as his career goes on. The trail leads him across the UK to California and Amsterdam before heading back to Blighty, but the ominous presence of Thackeray dogs him - as well as a worryingly persistent internet troll...

A masterpiece of ambiguous fright. Read it.

[Phil_A]

The Grin Of The Dark by Ramsey Campbell. An academic gets obsessed with the career of an early British silent film comic, Tubby Thackeray, whose films edge increasingly from wacky slapstick to un-nerving madness as his career goes on. The trail leads him across the UK to California and Amsterdam before heading back to Blighty, but the ominous presence of Thackeray dogs him - as well as a worryingly persistent internet troll...

A masterpiece of ambiguous fright. Read it.

I've always found Campbell's novels a bit frustrating. He's a genius of the short form, but his full-length books invariably seem to fall apart the longer they go on.

Come to think of it, I read one with a very similar premise to this about twenty years ago. Ancient Images I think it was called? About a woman investigating a mysterious lost horror film starring Lugosi and Karloff. Great premise, but it couldn't sustain the tension and by the end I wasn't sure what it was about.

I might check this one out though, if you can promise me it doesn't have a crap ending!

[purlieu]

Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti.

I haven't read this particular one, but I've enjoyed a lot of the Ligotti I've read. Frustratingly, my favourite is In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land, which was released as a limited edition accompanied by a soundtrack CD by Current 93. The four stories themselves are pure atmosphere, more reliant on description than plot, but they got under my skin more than anything else I've read. The whole thing is creeping with a horrible atmosphere of something being inherently wrong with the world.
"Long before I suspected the existence of the town, near the northern border, I believe I was in some way already an inhabitant of that remote and desolate place"