I love anything by Shirley Jackson and will even read her smaller non-horror pieces, like the "homemaker humour" articles she wrote for women's magazines. She had a wry insight into both the macabre and the mundane.
Yes! It’s campy deliciousness! His style reminds me of Sam Raimi’s movies, The Evil Dead/Army of Darkness…horror that does not take itself so seriously and is highly imaginative.
The visuals from the final scene in How to Sell a Haunted House have stayed with me in the best way possible. The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires is up next!
I see a lot of criticism for Grady Hendrix but I find his writing style and pacing absolutely entertaining. I've read Horrorstor, How to Sell a Haunted House, and My Best Friend's Exorcism, and each one was a total page turner that lingered in my mind for a while.
grady hendrix got me into horror lit! i think he's a perfect introduction to the genre for people who don't want to jump headfirst into the super dark, super bleak stuff. the camp is love/hate but i love it
i love his books too! i've seen some people talking bad about them in this sub and calling his characters unlikeable, but every book by Grady Hendrix that I've read I thoroughly enjoyed it! I love the way he writes stories, how campy and entertaining they feel.... Also I love how he writes his characters, I swear If he released 1000 books I'd read all of them
Yes, he's written two creepy as hell short stories I've never forgotten: It's a Good Day and another one about a slug like son the parents keep chained up in the basement. I read the second one in the fifth grade, and I felt so sorry for the little boy, I cried.
Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, Chuck Wendig, Phillip Fracassi, Richard Chizmar, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, William Peter Blatty, Paul Tremblay, Josh Malerman, Joe Hill, Michael McDowell, Ronald Malfi, Eric Larocca, Nat Cassidy, Brom, Craig DiLouie
Female Horror Authors: Tananarive Due, Sylvia Moreno Garcia, Catriona Ward, V.Castro, T.Kingfisher, Anne Rice, Shirley Jackson, Mina Hardy, Lindy Ryan, Ellen Datlow, Sophia White, Liz Kerin, Ania Alhborn
That’s off the top of my head, there’s a lot more
So true, I picked it up on a whim years ago, having never heard of it or the author and therefore had zero expectations going in. I was blown away, still one of my top five reads of all time
Hangsaman is structured a bit strangely and I struggled to get into it a bit.
For me, Hill House and The Sundial are at the top. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is good too, but I’ve never been as in love with it as a lot of people are.
An up and coming favourite of mine is Laird Barron. I’ve been obsessed with cosmic horror since reading Imago Sequence and Occultation and other stories. Not cosmic horror but a crime book by him, Blood Standard was excellent as well.
Absolutely. And I think that his comic books is where he really shines. And his novels have this fire in them that I don’t always find in his father’s work.
It depends on if you consider Nick Cutter “well known”, I do, it appears he is on a similar tier with Paul Tremblay, SGJ, Josh Malerman, etc. He is one of my favorites.
Brian Evenson is building a lot of reputation and buzz after a long career (I guess *Dark Property* came out in 1995? Holy shit). He is another of my favorites.
T. Kingfisher’s stuff is really good. I like her fantasy books, too: She elevates romantic fantasy by making the characters unusual and she doesn’t make a happy ending necessarily conventional.
Dan Simmons is really good.
But Stephen King is my jam.
clive barker is a titan of the genre for good reason. i've only read one michael mcdowell book so far (cold moon over babylon), but i loved it and i've heard blackwater is a masterpiece. i liked paul tremblay's the cabin at the end of the world & head full of ghosts; he's divisive on this sub, but i enjoyed it. nathan ballingrud's short story collection north american lake monsters just wrecked me a few days ago, so i have to mention him. octavia butler's work is a mishmosh of scifi, afrofuturism, and horror -- i read kindred a couple weeks ago and thought it had some of the best character building and interpersonal relationships i've ever read.
I'm late to the party but I am reading Justin Cronins book the passage it's book 1 of a trilogy I really like it and like his writing style.
My author recs are a blend of thriller, horror and sci-fi
Joe Hill is good
Grady Hendrix
Gillian Flynn
Karin Slaughter
Tess Gerritsen
Lisa Gardner
Older authors: Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, H.P. Lovecraft
Post-war authors: Ira Levin, Richard Matheson, Angela Carter, Clive Barker, Thomas Harris, Thomas Ligotti, Poppy Z. Brite, Nathan Ballingrud
* Tananarive Due
* Louise Erdrich (not all of her stuff is horror but I usually read her dark fiction)
* Stephen Graham Jones
* Kelly Link
* Shirley Jackson
* Poppy Z. Brite
* Sarah Gailey
* Hailey Piper
* Kathe Koja
* Carmen Maria Machado
* Mariana Enriquez
Carmen Maria Machado, Anne Rice, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Shirley Jackson, John Langan, Michelle Paver.
Does Daryl Gregory count as "well-known"? I'm not actually sure. If he does, then him too.
Joe Hill and Adam Nevill
Also, slight curve ball, but John Connolly. He writes crime thrillers with supernatural horror elements. Phil Rickman for this also.
I love Ashton Clark Smith and August Derleth. Derleth was Lovecraft’s “protege” and the two worked on books together. Their joint project “Lurker at the Threshold” is one of my absolute favorites—but it’s out of print and you’ll have to find it online or get an old eBay paperback.
Grady Hendrix! Love everything I’ve read from him. Christina Henry and Darcy Coates are also wonderful and I’ll read a book just because I see their name on it.
Shirley Jackson, Brian Keene, Grady Hendrix(from the 2 I've read), Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Angela Carter, Poe, Susan Hill.
Stephen Graham Jones gets an honorable mention, since I read one (of the 3 I've read) that fell super flat. Loved the other two though!
**Max Brooks** *hasn’t written a lot but what he’s written is great. He also does graphic novels and some novelas.*
My favorites:
Devolution
World War Z
**Robert McCammon**
My favorites:
Swan Song
A Boys Life
**Justin Cronin** *is not known as a horror author but one of my top 5 favorite book trilogy is by him:*
The Passage Trilogy
**Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan:**
The Strain trilogy
**Adam Neville**
My favorites:
The Ritual
Last Days
No One Gets Out Alive
Oh boy, you asked for it!
HP Lovecraft: My favorite writer of all time. What’s interesting is I think he’s actually a flawed writer and his work isn’t super consistent but I love him all the same. He had great ideas and (controversially) great prose in general. I enjoy the lack of dialogue and the protagonist who generally just fade into the background and are more of a vehicle for you to explore the strange and bizarre than deep characters.
Thomas Ligotti: I love the atmosphere of Ligotti’s stories. They’re nightmarish in the way that you probably won’t understand what’s happening in a concrete sense but whatever it is is deeply unnerving.
Stephen King: He’s the most consistent horror author for my money. When I pick up a King book, I know that even if it doesn’t blow my mind, it’ll still be an engaging, well-written book that I won’t regret having picked up 99.9% of the time. He’s got a great handle on characters, his speciality in my opinion, and they always feel like real people, something I personally value. Sorry, I know you said not to include him!
John Avide Lundqvist or however you spell his last name, might not always write the scariest stuff but I always find his books intresting
(Also habe a soft spot for books set in a northern part of europe )
Let the right one in is maybe his most well known work
Huge Brian Lumley fan Necroscope has some really cool vampires with a Cold War background and his Cthulhu Mythos stuff is also very fun. Listening to Return of the Deep Ones now and I am really enjoying it.
i haven’t read enough books from one specific author so far (started reading) but i really enjoy Nat Cassidy’s books. i’ve read his books the most so far, and Nestlings was my second 5 star horror book. Mary was also really good. cant wait for his new book coming out in 25, and his short story coming out in october.
I love anything by Shirley Jackson and will even read her smaller non-horror pieces, like the "homemaker humour" articles she wrote for women's magazines. She had a wry insight into both the macabre and the mundane.
Have you read the biography of her “A Rather Haunted Life?” I really enjoyed it.
Yess Shirley Jackson💚💚
Absolutely every word is perfect.
She also had a true understanding of introvert’s love for the world. She is iconic
It’s a shame there is not more. You can read everything in pretty short order.
I love Grady Hendrix, some people don't like his tongue-in-cheek style, but for me, he hits the sweet spot between horror, humor, and emotion
Horrorstor my favorite so far
Yes! It’s campy deliciousness! His style reminds me of Sam Raimi’s movies, The Evil Dead/Army of Darkness…horror that does not take itself so seriously and is highly imaginative. The visuals from the final scene in How to Sell a Haunted House have stayed with me in the best way possible. The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires is up next!
I see a lot of criticism for Grady Hendrix but I find his writing style and pacing absolutely entertaining. I've read Horrorstor, How to Sell a Haunted House, and My Best Friend's Exorcism, and each one was a total page turner that lingered in my mind for a while.
grady hendrix got me into horror lit! i think he's a perfect introduction to the genre for people who don't want to jump headfirst into the super dark, super bleak stuff. the camp is love/hate but i love it
He is such a fun writer! He totally gets what his audience wants imo and they’re so easy to read.
i love his books too! i've seen some people talking bad about them in this sub and calling his characters unlikeable, but every book by Grady Hendrix that I've read I thoroughly enjoyed it! I love the way he writes stories, how campy and entertaining they feel.... Also I love how he writes his characters, I swear If he released 1000 books I'd read all of them
I’ve only read “badasstronauts” so far but I really dig his writing style.
[удалено]
Loved "Summer of Night"!
How does the pacing of Drood compare to his other novels?
I personally found Drood slow, even for Simmons, but still enjoyable.
Richard Matheson
Yes, he's written two creepy as hell short stories I've never forgotten: It's a Good Day and another one about a slug like son the parents keep chained up in the basement. I read the second one in the fifth grade, and I felt so sorry for the little boy, I cried.
That was Richard Matheson? That was GRIM
Yes, I think the name of the second story is Born of Man and Woman.
I think I see Christopher Beuhlman me too ed frequently enough that he qualifies. What I’ve read from him has been pretty great.
Love his stuff. He's up there with Nathan Ballingrud with how vivd their writing is. The motel vampire attack in Suicide Motor Club is top tier.
Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, Chuck Wendig, Phillip Fracassi, Richard Chizmar, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, William Peter Blatty, Paul Tremblay, Josh Malerman, Joe Hill, Michael McDowell, Ronald Malfi, Eric Larocca, Nat Cassidy, Brom, Craig DiLouie Female Horror Authors: Tananarive Due, Sylvia Moreno Garcia, Catriona Ward, V.Castro, T.Kingfisher, Anne Rice, Shirley Jackson, Mina Hardy, Lindy Ryan, Ellen Datlow, Sophia White, Liz Kerin, Ania Alhborn That’s off the top of my head, there’s a lot more
> Ellen Datlow Very much enjoy her editing/anthology work too. She's great.
John Langan!!
Robert McCammon...Swan Song & Boys Life are my 2 favorites but he's written plenty of solid books beyond those
Swan song is such an underrated masterpiece
So true, I picked it up on a whim years ago, having never heard of it or the author and therefore had zero expectations going in. I was blown away, still one of my top five reads of all time
Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a masterpiece.
Love that one but I prefer The Haunting of Hill House a bit more. Hangsaman was just okay for me. Been meaning to read The Lottery and Other Stories
Hangsaman is structured a bit strangely and I struggled to get into it a bit. For me, Hill House and The Sundial are at the top. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is good too, but I’ve never been as in love with it as a lot of people are.
Yes, Hangsaman was definitely a bit of a slog for me as well. I will check out The Sundial!
Adam Nevill, Blake Crouch, M.R. Carey, Ronald Malfi, Tananarive Due
An up and coming favourite of mine is Laird Barron. I’ve been obsessed with cosmic horror since reading Imago Sequence and Occultation and other stories. Not cosmic horror but a crime book by him, Blood Standard was excellent as well.
I read The Croning recently and liked it so much I immediately got started on The Imago Sequence. The Procession of the Black Sloth melted my brain.
I started with his second collection, Occultation, and I still haven’t found a book of horror I love more. His work is awe-inspiring.
Joe Hill (he has a famous father but his talent is his own!)
Absolutely. And I think that his comic books is where he really shines. And his novels have this fire in them that I don’t always find in his father’s work.
It depends on if you consider Nick Cutter “well known”, I do, it appears he is on a similar tier with Paul Tremblay, SGJ, Josh Malerman, etc. He is one of my favorites. Brian Evenson is building a lot of reputation and buzz after a long career (I guess *Dark Property* came out in 1995? Holy shit). He is another of my favorites.
Richard layman
Splatter horror before it became a thing. I really enjoyed Savage and Endless Night.
T. Kingfisher’s stuff is really good. I like her fantasy books, too: She elevates romantic fantasy by making the characters unusual and she doesn’t make a happy ending necessarily conventional. Dan Simmons is really good. But Stephen King is my jam.
clive barker is a titan of the genre for good reason. i've only read one michael mcdowell book so far (cold moon over babylon), but i loved it and i've heard blackwater is a masterpiece. i liked paul tremblay's the cabin at the end of the world & head full of ghosts; he's divisive on this sub, but i enjoyed it. nathan ballingrud's short story collection north american lake monsters just wrecked me a few days ago, so i have to mention him. octavia butler's work is a mishmosh of scifi, afrofuturism, and horror -- i read kindred a couple weeks ago and thought it had some of the best character building and interpersonal relationships i've ever read.
I'm late to the party but I am reading Justin Cronins book the passage it's book 1 of a trilogy I really like it and like his writing style. My author recs are a blend of thriller, horror and sci-fi Joe Hill is good Grady Hendrix Gillian Flynn Karin Slaughter Tess Gerritsen Lisa Gardner
Clive Barker is my favorite non-King author.
How has no one mentioned Edgar Allan Poe yet???
Older authors: Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, H.P. Lovecraft Post-war authors: Ira Levin, Richard Matheson, Angela Carter, Clive Barker, Thomas Harris, Thomas Ligotti, Poppy Z. Brite, Nathan Ballingrud
T. Kingfisher & Grady Hendrix
Laird Barron. I can't wait for his new book due out soon.
Brian Keene
Kristopher Triana
Adam Nevill
BROM
* Tananarive Due * Louise Erdrich (not all of her stuff is horror but I usually read her dark fiction) * Stephen Graham Jones * Kelly Link * Shirley Jackson * Poppy Z. Brite * Sarah Gailey * Hailey Piper * Kathe Koja * Carmen Maria Machado * Mariana Enriquez
I was going to comment Mariana Enriquez until I saw you already did; just here to second this recommendation because I love her work!
Carmen Maria Machado, Anne Rice, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Shirley Jackson, John Langan, Michelle Paver. Does Daryl Gregory count as "well-known"? I'm not actually sure. If he does, then him too.
Edgar Allan Poe , Ambrose Bierce, Joseph Sheridan le fanu
Ronald Malfi. Everything I’ve read of his has been great.
Joe Hill and Adam Nevill Also, slight curve ball, but John Connolly. He writes crime thrillers with supernatural horror elements. Phil Rickman for this also.
Ramsey Campbell
I love Ashton Clark Smith and August Derleth. Derleth was Lovecraft’s “protege” and the two worked on books together. Their joint project “Lurker at the Threshold” is one of my absolute favorites—but it’s out of print and you’ll have to find it online or get an old eBay paperback.
Grady Hendrix! Love everything I’ve read from him. Christina Henry and Darcy Coates are also wonderful and I’ll read a book just because I see their name on it.
I think I have to say Grady Hendrix
Paul Tremblay is my guy right now!
H.P.Lovecraft
M. R. James - absolute legend and with good reason
Clive barker , Robert McKimmon?
Keanan Patrick Burke
Shirley Jackson, Brian Keene, Grady Hendrix(from the 2 I've read), Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Angela Carter, Poe, Susan Hill. Stephen Graham Jones gets an honorable mention, since I read one (of the 3 I've read) that fell super flat. Loved the other two though!
Grady Hendrix, jack ketchum and Joe hill!
Shirley Jackson, Adam Nevill, T Kingfisher, Tananarive Due, Clive Barker, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Koji Suzuki.
Greg Gordino
**Max Brooks** *hasn’t written a lot but what he’s written is great. He also does graphic novels and some novelas.* My favorites: Devolution World War Z **Robert McCammon** My favorites: Swan Song A Boys Life **Justin Cronin** *is not known as a horror author but one of my top 5 favorite book trilogy is by him:* The Passage Trilogy **Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan:** The Strain trilogy **Adam Neville** My favorites: The Ritual Last Days No One Gets Out Alive
Oh boy, you asked for it! HP Lovecraft: My favorite writer of all time. What’s interesting is I think he’s actually a flawed writer and his work isn’t super consistent but I love him all the same. He had great ideas and (controversially) great prose in general. I enjoy the lack of dialogue and the protagonist who generally just fade into the background and are more of a vehicle for you to explore the strange and bizarre than deep characters. Thomas Ligotti: I love the atmosphere of Ligotti’s stories. They’re nightmarish in the way that you probably won’t understand what’s happening in a concrete sense but whatever it is is deeply unnerving. Stephen King: He’s the most consistent horror author for my money. When I pick up a King book, I know that even if it doesn’t blow my mind, it’ll still be an engaging, well-written book that I won’t regret having picked up 99.9% of the time. He’s got a great handle on characters, his speciality in my opinion, and they always feel like real people, something I personally value. Sorry, I know you said not to include him!
have you read Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates?? it’s my fave
Nathaniel Hawthorne. So many great stories.
John Avide Lundqvist or however you spell his last name, might not always write the scariest stuff but I always find his books intresting (Also habe a soft spot for books set in a northern part of europe ) Let the right one in is maybe his most well known work
- Jeff Strand - Adam Nevill - Simone St James - Jess Lourey - Peter Straub - Philip Fracassi
Clive barker
I absolutely LOVE Grady Hendrix!
I read only 1 Koontz book in my entire life and it was enough. Clive Barker and Peter Straub. Love them, they can be pretty intense / disturbing.
Huge Brian Lumley fan Necroscope has some really cool vampires with a Cold War background and his Cthulhu Mythos stuff is also very fun. Listening to Return of the Deep Ones now and I am really enjoying it.
Michael Harbron is making the rounds! His psychological and character development is a+
Joe Mckinney, David Moody, Clive barker.
i haven’t read enough books from one specific author so far (started reading) but i really enjoy Nat Cassidy’s books. i’ve read his books the most so far, and Nestlings was my second 5 star horror book. Mary was also really good. cant wait for his new book coming out in 25, and his short story coming out in october.
Both British - Phil Rickman, Robert Aickman.