Best Horror Novel??

[xubrew]

I'm not a huge horror fan, but I do read it every now and then...particularly in the fall.

It has been forever since I read a horror novel that really blew me away, though. I loved IT. That probably tops my list. I just loved how it spanned over thirty years, and how the characters developed, and...well...how creepy it was.

I'm looking for suggestions. I know sometimes the best books are not on the bestseller's list, and if you're not a big fan of the genre, you'll miss some of hte best ones. Like I said, I'm not a huge horror fan. Just a bandwagon fan of sorts.

Stephen King is good, but if you've read a few of his novels, which I have, you tend to figure them out a quarter of the way through, and that takes away from the shock value. Unless he's written something that is very unique even to him, I think I'm looking for something else.

[Frambo]

years ago, I read King's "Salem's Lot"...most of it while working in a convenience store alone during a dark stormy week with very few customers. Never been as spooked from a novel before. The film wasn't as good.

[Porkopolis]

If you are into the classics you can't go wrong with Dracula. I recently reread it and was blown away by how well the novel has stood the test of time. There is an annotated version that has a lot of fascinating tidbits in the notes.

[xubrew]

If you are into the classics you can't go wrong with Dracula. I recently reread it and was blown away by how well the novel has stood the test of time. There is an annotated version that has a lot of fascinating tidbits in the notes.

I read Dracula and liked it, but it back in highschool.

Shit, I was only half as old then. That makes me feel old now.

[xnatic03]

I recently read "Snipe: The Unabridged Internet Ramblings of a Drunken Madman". It had some good humor to it, but by God, it was chilling! I couldn't sleep for days afterwards!

[Kahns Krazy]

Stephen King is good, but if you've read a few of his novels, which I have, you tend to figure them out a quarter of the way through, and that takes away from the shock value. Unless he's written something that is very unique even to him, I think I'm looking for something else.

For whatever reason, Dreamcatcher gave me more nightmares than any other book I have ever read. Then they made it into the worse movie I've ever seen.

[blobfan]

I think Cujo was King's best horror novel with Gerald's Game a close second. Both had protagonists that were trapped in situations that might actually happen. Gerald's Game had the single creepiest visual of any novel I've read: shadowy figure standing in the corner while protragonist is restrained. Salem's Lot and Tommyknockers were creepy but easier to write off as fantasy. I admit I haven't read many of his newer ones.

Sometimes his short stories are the best, though. In fact, I'm going to put my vote in for short stories as the best horror stories. I think the short form allows the author to keep up the intensity. King had a couple of early short story anthologies that were consistently good. You can't go wrong with Poe, either.

[danaandvictory]

Stephen King is good, but if you've read a few of his novels, which I have, you tend to figure them out a quarter of the way through, and that takes away from the shock value. Unless he's written something that is very unique even to him, I think I'm looking for something else.

"The Long Walk" from the Bachman Books is fabulous and is something completely different from King's typical stuff.

Dan Simmons wrote a historical novel about Charles Dickens called "Drood" last year that was just awesomely creepy and gross and scary. I recommend it highly.

[SixFig]

http://images.angusrobertson.com.au/images/ar/97815826/9781582617459/180/270/plain/tales-from-the-cincinnati-bearcats-basketball.jpg

[spazzrico]

"The Long Walk" from the Bachman Books is fabulous and is something completely different from King's typical stuff.



This was what I immediately thought of.....seconded.

[paulxu]

The short stories of Muddy Waters and Swampy Meadows are really creepy.

[American X]

Perhaps of greater interest, what is the Best Whore Novel?

[xubrew]

Perhaps of greater interest, what is the Best Whore Novel?

"I'm With the Band." Not a novel, but it's right up that whore alley.

[Smooth]

The aforementioned Dan Simmons and Robert McCammon are my two favorites behind King.

Brian Lumley's Necroscope trilogy was an enjoyable read, except that the trilogy was 5 or 6 books long, plus a spin-off series after that. It is about vampires, which is so annoyingly over-popular now that I can't believe I mentioned it, but not the type of vampires teenage girls love. Probably means you wouldn't like the series either. I haven't read any of Lumley's other stuff.

[xubrew]

"The Long Walk" from the Bachman Books is fabulous and is something completely different from King's typical stuff.

Dan Simmons wrote a historical novel about Charles Dickens called "Drood" last year that was just awesomely creepy and gross and scary. I recommend it highly.

I ended up picking up both of these. Thanks for the recommendations. Already intrigued by Drood, and I haven't even opened it yet.

[smileyy]

The Ruins was a rather good book. Never saw the movie - don't know how they compare.

I can't read King. Something about his prose and fairly shallow characters grates on me. To be fair, I don't think its exclusive to King, there's lots of pulp out there with the same characteristics.

Edit: I'll take that back. I can't read his novels. The short stories and novellas are great.

[GuyFawkes38]

If you like "Dracula" and you want to read something like it, "Frankenstein" and "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" would be great picks. I like both a little better.

I've never read King. maybe I should give it a try.