Scary, scary horror novel

[Billzabub]

Okay, I really need a recommendation for a scary horror novel . . . and I mean scary. I read a lot of horror, and it's been a very long time since something really sent chills down my spine. No King or Lovecraft, please. I've already read just about everything they've written. Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Bentley Little - eh. Shirley Jackson's Hill House, Dan Simmon's Song of Kali, F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Guy De Maupaussant's The Horla - all great.

C'mon, folks. Give me something good.

[Billzabub]

Okay, I need a recommendation for a scary horror novel . . . and I mean scary. I read a lot of horror, and it's been a very long time since something really sent chills down my spine. No King or Lovecraft, please. I've already read just about everything they've written. Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Bentley Little - eh. Shirley Jackson's Hill House, Dan Simmon's Song of Kali, F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Guy De Maupaussant's The Horla - all great.

C'mon, folks. Give me something good.

[James Jacobs]

Billzabub wrote:

Okay, I really need a recommendation for a scary horror novel . . . and I mean scary. I read a lot of horror, and it's been a very long time since something really sent chills down my spine. No King or Lovecraft, please. I've already read just about everything they've written. Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Bentley Little - eh. Shirley Jackson's Hill House, Dan Simmon's Song of Kali, F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Guy De Maupaussant's The Horla - all great.

C'mon, folks. Give me something good.

The Descent, by Jeff Long. It's different than the movie of the same name (although the movie's also great). The first chapter of The Descent is among the most frightening things I've read. After that, the book's still great, but that first chapter is a punch to the gut.

The Terror, by Dan Simmons. Pretty harrowing stuff in there too.

Anything else by F. Paul Wilson is good too, particularly The Tomb or Nightworld (although that last one's best read at the end of his entire Adversary Cycle, of which "The Keep" is Book One).

If you're looking for older stuff—Algernon Blackwood is a powerhouse. So is M. R. James (the Ash Tree in particular's pretty moody, as is Casting the Runes). And Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" is great too.

My current favorite horror author is Ramsey Campbell; some of his better horror novels include Midnight Sun, Nazereth Hill, The Face that must Die, The Hungry Moon, and most of his short stories.

Michael Shea's "Autopsy" is super grisly and super creepy.

Tim Lebbon's a gifted writer as well; "The Nature of Balance" is the way "The Happening" should have gone. He's got a lot of good, creepy short stories as well.

Thomas Ligotti is another author you might want to check out; I've read several of his short stories and they're all good so far!

Koji Suzuki's "The Ring" is actually quite scary too. And quite a bit more hard-core in some ways than the movie.

Early Clive Barker stuff's pretty good too; he's moved into more the fantasy genre, but the Books of Blood short stories are pretty crazy and extreme and frightening. "Midnight Meat Train" is probably the scariest one there, although "Rawhead Rex" and "How Spoilers Bleed" are great too.

That's pretty much what comes off the top of my head, once I apply the "NO LOVECRAFT" and "NO KING" and "NO KOONTZ" filters, of course.

[Cole Long 936]

Billzabub wrote:

Okay, I really need a recommendation for a scary horror novel . . . and I mean scary. I read a lot of horror, and it's been a very long time since something really sent chills down my spine. No King or Lovecraft, please. I've already read just about everything they've written. Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Bentley Little - eh. Shirley Jackson's Hill House, Dan Simmon's Song of Kali, F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Guy De Maupaussant's The Horla - all great.

C'mon, folks. Give me something good.

Wm. Hope Hodgson's "House on the Borderland" comes to mind immediately. Are you looking for novels only and no short stories? I've always felt that better horror material is usually found in short-form.

[Pete Apple]

Suggestions based upon your list above (i.e. not mentioned):
Clive Barker: Books of Blood 1-3, The Hellbound Heart, Weaveworld

(Really, you don't list Barker above, and if you haven't read Book of Blood 1... that's where you should start, right away. "The Midnight Meat Train". Classic stuff.)

William Peter Blatty: The Exorcist
Dan Simmons: Summer of Night ("IT", but better)

[Billzabub]

Pete Apple wrote:

Suggestions based upon your list above (i.e. not mentioned):

Clive Barker: Books of Blood 1-3, The Hellbound Heart, Weaveworld

(Really, you don't list Barker above, and if you haven't read Book of Blood 1... that's where you should start, right away. "The Midnight Meat Train". Classic stuff.)

William Peter Blatty: The Exorcist
Dan Simmons: Summer of Night ("IT", but better)

I'm familiar with Books of Blood, but may need to pick it up. I do like a lot of his other stuff, including "The Thief of Always.

The Exorcist is a classic, but I always think of the movie before the book.

Summer of Night rocks. There is also a sequel of sorts, which I have avoided because it can't possibly hold a candle to the original. Oh, and I agree - it's IT, only better.

[niel]

My wife (she's the horror fan) reccomends:

Phil Rickman ( the three book series containing 'Candlenight')

Sara Pinborough (any) ("She's fantastic.")

Brian Keene (any)

Gryan Smith (any)

Richard Laymon (good but graphic, try the beast house trilogy)

James A Moore (Serenity Falls trilogy)

plus others if you like these.

[Krypter]

Cole Long 936 wrote:

Wm. Hope Hodgson's "House on the Borderland" comes to mind immediately.

Oh yeah, definitely. The Night Land is also quite good, but it's combined with a sickly-sweet romance that takes some of the edge off.

MR James I was completely disappointed with. I can see how Victorian ladies might get the vapours and faint at the very mention of a ghostly silhouette, but modern readers will laugh.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, maybe?

I'm not much into horror, but I found Hellstrom's Hive (Frank Herbert) to be really frickin' scary (and sickening).

[Billzabub]

niel wrote:

My wife (she's the horror fan) reccomends:

Phil Rickman ( the three book series containing 'Candlenight')

Sara Pinborough (any) ("She's fantastic.")

Brian Keene (any)

Gryan Smith (any)

Richard Laymon (good but graphic, try the beast house trilogy)

James A Moore (Serenity Falls trilogy)

plus others if you like these.

I can't say that I'm familiar with any of them, and found something interesting while doing a little research. Instead of 'Gryan Smith' I googled 'Bryan Smith.' Turns out, that was the name of the guy who was driving the van that hit Stephen King back in 1999. Turns out, he also died at 43 years old of a suspected drug overdose. On Stephen King's birthday. Seriously.

[Billzabub]

Cole Long 936 wrote:

Wm. Hope Hodgson's "House on the Borderland" comes to mind immediately. Are you looking for novels only and no short stories? I've always felt that better horror material is usually found in short-form.

I agree that the horror form lends its self particularly well to the short form, but I've got the aching to read a good, scary novel. I've got a week long vacation coming up next week, and really would like to bury myself in a book. I'm adding Hodgson to the list.

[Billzabub]

James Jacobs wrote:

The Descent, by Jeff Long. It's different than the movie of the same name (although the movie's also great). The first chapter of The Descent is among the most frightening things I've read. After that, the book's still great, but that first chapter is a punch to the gut.

The Terror, by Dan Simmons. Pretty harrowing stuff in there too.

Anything else by F. Paul Wilson is good too, particularly The Tomb or Nightworld (although that last one's best read at the end of his entire Adversary Cycle, of which "The Keep" is Book One).

If you're looking for older stuff—Algernon Blackwood is a powerhouse. So is M. R. James (the Ash Tree in particular's pretty moody, as is Casting the Runes). And Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" is great too.

My current favorite horror author is Ramsey Campbell; some of his better horror novels include Midnight Sun, Nazereth Hill, The Face that must Die, The Hungry Moon, and most of his short stories.

Michael Shea's "Autopsy" is super grisly and super creepy.

Tim Lebbon's a gifted writer as well; "The Nature of Balance" is the way "The Happening" should have gone. He's got a lot of good, creepy short stories as well.

Thomas Ligotti is another author you might want to check out; I've read several of his short stories and they're all good so far!

Koji Suzuki's "The Ring" is actually quite scary too. And quite a bit more hard-core in some ways than the movie.

Early Clive Barker stuff's pretty good too;...

We both talked about the Descent in another thread, and I picked up the sequel at your behedst, which I have to thank you for. It wasn't as good as the original, but no where near as bad as I expected it to be. All in all, a good read.

Dan Simmon's The Terror as at the top of my list, on my brother's recommendation.

F. Paul Wilson's The Tomb has been on my list for a long time. It might just be time to pick it up.

[Billzabub]

Krypter wrote:

Something Wicked This Way Comes, maybe?

An absolute classic that I should have included in my original post.

[dmchucky69]

Billzabub wrote:

Okay, I really need a recommendation for a scary horror novel . . . and I mean scary. I read a lot of horror, and it's been a very long time since something really sent chills down my spine. No King or Lovecraft, please. I've already read just about everything they've written. Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Bentley Little - eh. Shirley Jackson's Hill House, Dan Simmon's Song of Kali, F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Guy De Maupaussant's The Horla - all great.

C'mon, folks. Give me something good.

Anything by James Herbert (The Dark, The Fog, Moon) or Robert McCammon (They Thirst, Blue World). Ramsey Campbell is considered the modern day Lovecraft. The Ceremonies by TED Klein (I think that's it). I am also a huge fan of William Johnstone (The Devils Kiss series) and there is a great book called Satan's Chance by Alan Ross Schrader. Darkfall and Midnight by Koontz, Books of Blood by Barker, Necroscope by Lumley, Ghost Story and Shadowland by Straub. Of course, you could read my book, but I haven't submitted it to a publisher yet (I've been sitting on it for 4 years; need to get a literary agent).

It's really hard to find a SCARY book anymore, though I suppose I'm jaded. I haven't been scared by a book since I turned 19 (a long time ago). But all of the above are what I consider good books (even mine, but I'm biased!)

[Billzabub]

dmchucky69 wrote:

Anything by James Herbert (The Dark, The Fog, Moon) or Robert McCammon (They Thirst, Blue World). Ramsey Campbell is considered the modern day Lovecraft. The Ceremonies by TED Klein (I think that's it). I am also a huge fan of William Johnstone (The Devils Kiss series) and there is a great book called Satan's Chance by Alan Ross Schrader. Darkfall and Midnight by Koontz, Books of Blood by Barker, Necroscope by Lumley, Ghost Story and Shadowland by Straub. Of course, you could read my book, but I haven't submitted it to a publisher yet (I've been sitting on it for 4 years; need to get a literary agent).

It's really hard to find a SCARY book anymore, though I suppose I'm jaded. I haven't been scared by a book since I turned 19 (a long time ago). But all of the above are what I consider good books (even mine, but I'm biased!)

I haven't read Herbert, but am familiar with McCammon, Campbell, Lumley, Barker & Straub. I'll check out some of the others, but like you, it's been a long time since something really scared me.

[Charles Evans 25]

Billzabub:
Something which I wondered if you might find a brief diversion, at least until the weekend and you can go novel shopping....

Spoiler:

It hunts in the darkness, but at least then it often wears a beast’s shape; when it hunts beneath the sun it walks in the form of a man. –insane scribbles found in the journal of a monk

The constable of Aguileron surveyed the room. Behind him several of his men, less used to violence, were sick. The room’s occupant had been torn to shreds.

Beneath the moon it chases me, driving me ever onwards across the moors towards some goal it can see but I do not. I have tried to turn and fight it thrice, and each time I could not even scratch its scales. Those awful eyes mock me. It did not even lift a claw to strike back at me. It has some purpose for me, and each time, I have tried to turn on my pursuer, my nerve has ended up failing a little sooner and I have fled. –writings in the diary of a lycanthrope

“The latest patrol to return from the mountain, my Lord, report discovering the tracks of some completely unknown creature- indeed possibly of several such unknown creatures. They took sketches, and the royal loremasters are attempting an identification from the bestiaries now.”

Something is following us, picking us off, one by one. It comes in the night, with flickering green lights, and carries whoever is on watch away to some unholy dimension, and we never see them again. We camped last night in the ruins of an old fort on the plain, surrounded by the crumbling earthworks and ditches of the ancient Tugari- and for once the creature did not attack. Does it fear the open? When we have camped amidst the fallen boulders, at the foot of the Thor Wall Crags it has never once failed to strike. –Commander Alison Nhile, Paladin, Journal.

The necromancer surveyed the carnage and- despite himself- muttered an oath. The bodies had been torn limb from limb and yet not so much as a single drop of blood had been spilled. He was used to seeing undead creatures, shrivelled and dried of fluids, rent thus- but not so living creatures, with the vital fluids still running through their diverse organs, arteries, and veins.

The signs left at the scene seem to indicate that some sort of blasphemous ritual was underway, which the watchmen disturbed, causing the celebrant to flee. There were symbols which could not be identified, until a priestess of the elven deity Alathrien Druanna was summoned. She blanched, and muttered a prayer asking for her goddess’ protection when she saw what had been going on.
“It is evil, pure and simple, and ancient even in the reckoning of my race.”, was all that she would say. No more than that she would say, beyond to enjoin us not to seek for answers, and that presently her colleagues would be dealing with the problem. Oddly, no other clerics or wizards in the town seemed to know or even be able to recognise those particular markings, as if there is some closely guarded tradition within the lore of Alathrien’s church which will not be shared with any, no matter what the circumstances. –Report by Watchlord Rasmos Overseer, on a strange ‘religious incident’ disturbed by a watch patrol in the Graveyard District.

“I don’t understand.”, the swordsman said, swinging his silver blade to dispatch yet another half-fiend. “The house has been under watch, night and day for the past six months, every last person coming in and going out. Here in the Dawvon District of the city, all magic fails. How, in the named of accursed Aphrael, have the conspirators then come to furnish themselves with so many sweepings of the lower planes to cover their escape?”

He looked at him, and smiled- no more than that, I swear- and Jason flew apart in an instant. It was horrible. Just as if poor Jason had been a paper doll. And the worst part of it was that he did so without shedding a single drop of Jason’s blood. Then he turned back to me and smiled. “Now do we understand one another?”, he asked.
I won’t name him. I simply won’t. You can make whatever promises you like, but nowhere’s safe from him if I break my word. No dungeon deep enough, nor tower too high. He can find me, if I turn on him, anywhere, and what he can do to me is much worse than anything that can be achieved by mortal men. –Excerpt from confession of the axe murderer of South Woldwood.

“Our foes are nothing of this world.”, the cleric of Dumathoin said gravely, his fellow dwarves impressed by his sombre mood. “Once, according to the lore, our race could have defeated their masters and put an end to such miseries for all time, but in our pride we thought to fight other enemies instead, and so loosed great evils upon the worlds and planes. These creatures are amongst the more powerful servants, according to the lore-books, but ¬can be confronted and defeated by those who know how, though at likely high cost. Dumathoin is Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain for good cause, however, and anything I disclose to you must be kept closely guarded lest those of other, more foolish, races hear half-twisted words and imagine that such secrets could be harnessed to give them power.”

She gestured and chanted, naming ancient and terrible things, which I am unwilling to commit to paper, and drawing a nimbus of horrible power down about herself, exalting in the awful might that it seemed to lend to her. At one point she turned and looked straight at me, and smiled, as if it did not concern her that I was watching, and after that I found that I could not leave, with the weakness which had suddenly assailed and overcome me. She left me there, having taken her time to complete her observations, stepping disdainfully over my prone form as she departed. She did not care that I had seen- for she seemed to know that I could not stop her, and a look which she gave me as she left made clear that it was because it supplied her with cruel amusement that she spared me, and not for any other cause. –Account of the former royal magician, Tosartost at the inquiry into the massacre of the Cujlivon royal family.

The silver dragon, Phemaedis, woke to find herself in her human form, but relocated to the caverns beneath deep beneath the castle. Drakos sat in a folding chair, regarding her, one leg crossed over the other, and his fingers steepled, a pensive look on his face beneath that dark mop of hair. Like her, he apparently found the absence of regular illumination in the cavern little problem.
“I’m afraid that I have a confession to make.”, he said, sardonically. “I think that the most important thing that you know is that Drakos is not, in fact, my real name, although I find it a useful affectation to have when travelling a world of the prime-material plane such as this.”
Phemaedis winced, at the ache of her head, and in other, unfamiliar places. Had she really had so much to drink last night?
“I’m afraid so.”, he said, as if guessing her thoughts. “At least on the three most likely counts that I can think of which might be crossing your mind right now. Yes you did have a lot to drink last night, no I did not attempt to resist your earlier advances, and yes I am an utterly ruthless…. ‘fiend’…” he curled his lip at the word, as if it amused him, “who’s taking advantage of you to furnish himself with tools to get the job done which I was sent here for. Actually I am a ‘fiend’ able to engage in very important calculations, at that: the precise hour yesterday afternoon to most optimally advantage myself of your charms, how much concentrated alcohol your assumed shape could metabolise before rendering you convincingly incapable, how to space your consumption out at the feast so that you would require escorting out at the right moment, before you began to become too noticeable. I have to optimise the time, you see, before people will come looking for you. Well I don’t, actually, but I regarded it as a challenge to do so. You are a beachhead, which I have established, for the invasion of this world. Half a dozen of my colleagues are active in other realms and kingdoms, making preparations of their own as well, and the little nation of Ruehavia will likely go unwatched in the chaos which is likely to follow, until it is far too late.”
Phemaedis longed to flee, to warn the Lord President and Council, but strangely, she felt also a much more overpowering urge to remain here, a craving for Drakos’ company, and even for this human shape. She was the realm’s protector…. this was ridiculous…. and yet.
She finally looked down and saw.
“Ah yes; you aren’t likely to be around when this world falls. Well not in person you understand, but in a manner of speaking, perhaps.”, Drakos chuckled.

Sometimes a world or crystal sphere drops into inextinguishable darkness, simply like that, overwhelmed by tides of primordial evil and chaos more terrible than any orc horde, flight of dragons, or undead armies of an insane lich. One month all seems to be progressing as normal, and the next, civilisation, if formerly extant, has been snuffed utterly out and a night in which horrible and nameless things- or perhaps worse, things which must not be named- lurk holds sway. No-one will admit to knowing how such terrible happenings come to pass- generally survivors who have fled from such events are few, and their tales confused, with no clues seemingly discernable as to the origins of events. Wild theories and speculations abound throughout the planes as to the circumstances and causes of such events- fortunately, these events are ridiculously rare, and so this opus will not concern itself with them, beyond noting, for the completeness of the record, that such things sometimes occur. –Merrick Grasswater, ‘An essay on the fall of civilisations’.

Kurdar had seldom seen Lady Speladrin Kaltharûnír so watchfully wroth. The speed and precise anger with which she had dispatched their attacker, wiping it into a smear with a volley of spells he had never even seen before- and for that matter, archmage and loremaster though she was, he rarely saw Lady Kaltharûnír use so much as a cantrip to light a fire- spoke of an intense dislike for that which she had just obliterated.
Kurdar inspected the vaguely humanoid creature, trying to make out what it had been although- to his relief- it was Astophia, shivering slightly in the snow who asked the question he was afraid to ask.
“What exactly was that, Lady Kaltharûnír?”
“That, Astophia,” Lady Kaltharûnír replied, her expression grim, “was a Hound of Fenric. And that means that if I did not exist as a resident of this world, then likely the world would right now be under the threat of a great and imminent peril. Since practically the dawn of time, these spies and agents of malevolent powers have been selecting sleepy worlds, little prepared for attack by certain things that lurk beyond the planes, and laying the way open for their capture and fall into the darkness. Once they mark a world, certain doom almost always follows. We must return to Citadel Adbar at once, Kurdar, to do something about this.”

Through the darkness beyond the worlds, they stalk, seeking fresh strands that might lead them back to conquests ripe for their masters. I was sorry ever to meet them, to serve them- however unwillingly- and to see some of the things which they planned and did. My final escape, aided by fortune and one of The Great Ladies, was nothing but pure relief.
But it was a cruel escape; for I cannot leave the safety of my lady’s castle. The only thing which they commonly fear is the light which was ancient, and which is no longer, or perhaps its echoes if such a one as is gifted as a daughter of them trains herself in defiance. I, alas, was not, and so they took me, and made use of me as countless millennia passed. Until and unless I have trained myself in some of the ways of war, I dare not leave this place of safety from them- for they are waiting out there for me, in the company of my children. They know me, how I can easily be bent to their will, they have my scent, and will have it until I have slain every last one of my tormentors. But it will take time to rebuild the courage I will need to face them, and to gain the skills to put their existences to an end. I do not care what worlds they may rape and pillage, but I do for the freedom which my fear of them has taken from me. Had it not been for the Most Gracious Lady, I would be a hapless pawn in their schemes, still. –Diary entry of Chassanthra Xivranivi, a penitent Succubus.

[The Eldritch Mr. Shiny]

Hmmm... I'd have to say "Possessions" by James A. Moore. It reminds me a lot of Lovecraft's stuff (content-wise, at least).

"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville is, in my opinion, pretty scary as well.

[Billzabub]

Charles Evans 25 wrote:

Billzabub:

Something which I wondered if you might find a brief diversion, at least until the weekend and you can go novel shopping....

I'll bite - where's that from?

[Billzabub]

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

Hmmm... I'd have to say "Possessions" by James A. Moore. It reminds me a lot of Lovecraft's stuff (content-wise, at least).

"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville is, in my opinion, pretty scary as well.

I can't find much about 'Possessions' and have a feeling it'd be hard to find. Good call with "Perdido." I don't think of it as horror, but it definitely has it's creepy moments. I picked up 'The Scar" awhile back, but haven't cracked it yet.

[Pookachan]

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

it's a historical novel, but one that's more scary because it really happened.

[Billzabub]

Pookachan wrote:

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

it's a historical novel, but one that's more scary because it really happened.

Also on my 'To Read' list.

[Charles Evans 25]

Billzabub wrote:

Charles Evans 25 wrote:

Billzabub:

Something which I wondered if you might find a brief diversion, at least until the weekend and you can go novel shopping....

I'll bite - where's that from?

Ummm, it was something which I wrote in a particularly dark mood one morning recently, which I thought might help you to keep your horror craving sated until the weekend when you could go out and raid a bookstore for work by genuine horror authors.

It's a sort of kaleidoscope of various perspectives on encounters with some particularly nasty hand-picked minions (or with the after-effects of their work) of my homebrew mythos.

[Steerpike7]

niel wrote:

My wife (she's the horror fan) reccomends:

Phil Rickman ( the three book series containing 'Candlenight')

Sara Pinborough (any) ("She's fantastic.")

Brian Keene (any)

Gryan Smith (any)

Richard Laymon (good but graphic, try the beast house trilogy)

James A Moore (Serenity Falls trilogy)

plus others if you like these.

Brian Keene is good.

For Laymon, I'd recommend The Traveling Vampire Show.

[Sethvir]

Son of the Endless Night - John Farris.

I seem to remember reading it in college that it was pretty scary. Of course college has been more than a few years ago, so my memory could be faulty.

[Mairkurion {tm}]

Krypter wrote:

MR James I was completely disappointed with. I can see how Victorian ladies might get the vapours and faint at the very mention of a ghostly silhouette, but modern readers will laugh.

Heh...heh. That's my cue to say I love M.R. James. Perhaps bookish Anglophiles should be added to Victorian ladies? But James never gave me the vapors or fainting spells. He did create moods, characters, setting, and usually some significant concrete objects that stayed with me.

In a way similar to you, though, I was disappointed by Sheridan le Fanu--except for his vampire story.

[Sharoth]

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer. You would have a hard time getting more horror than this real life account of how Hitler rose to power. And even worse as to how easy it would have been to have stopped him. It is a must read for everyone!

[Mac Boyce]

I might be behind on the curve here, but my sister handed me "World War Z' by Max Brooks . It wasnt overtly scary (like no OH $#!% moments) but the "realistic" portrayal of what might happen in a real world zombie invasion was creepy.

[The Eldritch Mr. Shiny]

Two suggestions:

1. While not technically "horror" in the traditional sense, I would highly recommend Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. There's nothing scarier than true religious zealotry.

2. The Terror by Dan Simmons manages to combine historical fact with bone-chilling fear. Plus, it's about the Franklin expedition of 1845, which is pure awesome in my book.