Horror

I haven't gone back to check, but has anyone mentioned/read Jack Ketchum (?)? I haven't read him, but he comes recommended. Thoughts?

babs - Where the Heart Is, with Natalie Portman?

babs and dlowan: Stand by Me was the name of the film based on a novella written by Stephen King. The novella was in the book Four Seasons and was called The Body, I think.

The Stand is my favorite of King's, and I've read them all.

William Hope Hodgson: "A Voice in the Night", "The Derelict", House on the Borderland, and The Boats of the Glen Carrig. I have read all of these and recommend them all. However, I suggest trying the short stories first. They're in the public domain and are available on the internet.

Oliver Onions: "Rooum" and "The Cigarette Case"

E.F. Benson: "Negotium Perambulans" and "The Horror-Horn"

In SF, I recently read John Campbell's "Who Goes There?". I wouldn't rate it among great horror stories, but it is an entertaining tale, has some horrific parts as well as amusing ones. It formed the basis for the John Carpenter movie The Thing.

For those who haven't read Poe lately, I recommend rereading "Masque of the Red Death", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". For those who remember those well, I also suggest reading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. As Edmund Wilson pointed out, many people make the mistake of reading Poe only in their youth. As an unfortunate result, they associate Poe with juvenilia, when it was in fact only the reader who was juvenile. It is also an unfortunate critical mannerism handed down from the early 20th century to disdain Poe's work. However, readers seem to be tired of pretending to like the writings of Woolfe, H. James and Joyce. Perhaps it is time that Poe's work be given a fresh appraisal by readers.

On a related note, I have enjoyed "The Garden of Forking Paths" by Jorge Borges, a writer who seems to have carried away everything from Poe that Lovecraft left behind.

(All of the above are available on the web, except for "Who Goes There?" and "The Garden Forking Paths".)

Horror? Steven King is probably the expert in this kind....

Except he starts to get predictable and repetitive in his characters Thok.... I just set him aside for awhile when that happens.

I love King. especially the Dark Tower series. I don't think that he is getting predictable. The Wolves of the Calla was awesome!

For those of you who like Ann Rice, but think she's getting a little boring and wordy, I would DEFINITELY recommend the Anita Blake Vampire hunter series by Laurell K Hamilton...and please don't think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because it is nothing like that and very sophisticated. That is by far my favorite series. You should really give Bently Little another chance. Some of his books are over the top and you may not like as much, but I would recommend "The Walking" and DEFINITELY "The Policy." I would also reccommend "The Ignored" by Bently Little. However, I would AVOID "Dominion" at all costs. If you like horror, I would also recommend Dan Simmons and Douglas Clegg, Specifically "Summer of Night" by Dan Simmons.

For Hathor
Hathor, when is stargate season seven coming out on video? I'm dying here, and what's with Stargate Atlantis, is that going to be horrible or what?

Sadie,

I hated "The Walking". I bought it at the airport because I like to read on the plane. It was semi-interesting for about fifty pages or so. At that point I started getting the idea that the dialogue sucked. Then a little later I realized that the characters were wooden and generic.

The only thing that made "The Walking" worth it for me was that there were some parts that made me think, "hey, I can write better than this!", thus keeping my dream of being a horror novelist alive.

If that's one of Bentley Little's best books, then he is a horrible writer.

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

I agree with you about Dan Simmons though. I read Carrion Comfort and A Winter Haunting. They were both good, especially Carrion Comfort. I haven't read any of his sci-fi stuff though. I'm not much of a sci-fi reader.

I wasn't talking about the Dark Tower series, I think it is because he has written it over so many years. We'll see if it predicability and character sameness is apparent over the next 2 books as the last 3 books have been written back to back to back. Though, I'm sure the storyline has been in the creation stage for many, many years.....

sadie, regarding Ann Rice - I find that she has gotta too, too much into the gay side of her characterization for me. I have dropped her for the time being. The gayness has always been there, but it has gone from a knowledge in the background to the forefront and in some cases, major theme....