We never really celebrated Halloween when I was a child, at least not the way it is done here. My love of the the frightening and the macabre came not from trick or treating and scary Halloween stories, but from literature. If you’ve been here awhile you know of my love of Poe. I’ve written about my collection at least once here.
What are some of your favorite literary pieces of suspense, mystery or the macabre? I’m speaking fiction here, not the likes of Capote’s In Cold Blood.
If you haven’t caught these I suggest them.
The Turn Of The Screw, Henry James.
The Circular Ruins Jorge Luis Borges.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen.
Infected be the air whereon they ride, And damned all those that trust them!
Peace
Tags: Halloween, Literature
Pet Cemetary… Stephen King… and, yes, I’ve driven that stretch of road.
Yes, that is a very scary book to be sure. The movie was nowhere near as frightening.
Ah, a girl after my own heart! I have a great fondness for H. P. Lovecraft, having discovered his work back in high school many moons ago. You can find pretty much all of it online now, and if you’re not familiar with his work, here’s a lovely little sample that is my favorite for reading out loud: The Cats of Ulthar.
I used to read him in high school too, it has been awhile since I’ve sunk my teeth into horror, sci-fi or otherwise frightening things.
Pale Fire, psychologically terrifying.
The Exorcist, was a scary book. The old movie is laughable, the book is frightening.
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Exorcist was scary. I had an old copy I found at a yard sale a long time ago, the book scared me too death. Never read Pale Fire.
The Outsider, Lovecraft
The Small Assassin, Bradbury,
It, Stephen King.
There are more but I forget. I haven’t read horror books or stories in awhile.
I read the small assassin when I was very young and vising my grandparents here for vacation. They had tons of old paperbacks, old Bradbury short stories etc. I recall it scared me in it’s weirdness, but I was only like 8 when I read it, which is why I remember the story differently than it reads now.
I am gong to have to reread IT i read it so long ago.
The Haunting of Hill House/ Shirley Jackson is the best novel of that kind ever written.
The Shining ant Pet Cemetary are two damn scary novels.
Real life is so frightening I sometimes forget there is such good stuff out there in fiction.
I never read the novel though I saw the original movie.
I read the lottery, and yes the shining was a scary book too.
I tend to read up on real-life ghost stories rather than fictional ones, I’m afraid. Something about the knowledge that those stories are purported to have happened repeatedly lends them an air of actual terror. I guess it’s the knowledge that if I were to ever visit any one of them that I could be beset by all manner of supernatural beasties that’s my weakness.
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I love a good suspense or psychological horror story, and all things weird. At least I can pretend reality is better.
I think horror is much better in a short story than a novel. If a horror story gets too long it becomes a love story and the two phobias eventually tangle and choke.
So, I think Ex Officio, I should bring up Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.
The Dream Woman, by Wilkie Collins.
Cabal, by Clive Barker
and Shadowlands, by Peter Straub.
Also, I think The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright is a great short story which could be considered horror and would be considered horror if there had been an alligator in that sewer.
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I always though of Wuthering Heights and House of the Seven Gables as horror stories. So you may be right.
You are right about Bierce’s Piece, I’ve not read it but have seen it referenced.
I am admittedly weak on Clive Barker, he seems a popular choice. I may have to pay more attention.
I’ve not read Shadowlands either. I’m glad to have something to add to my list.
The Call Of Cthulhu, Lovecraft, and
Salem’s Lot, Stephen King are two that I recommend, I don’t read much horror these days.
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I forgot about Salem’s Lot.
My newest favorite mysteries are stieg larsson “the girl.…” series. Unfortunately he met an untimely death after completing the third in the series. Fortunately it won’t be out until next summer
In modern horror yes there is nobody like Stephen King – had to grow to like him
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I haven’t read him in some time but I do like his older stuff. Would love to see an autopsy of his brain.
Peter Straub’s Ghost Story — Long but good, and most Clive Barker Compilations.
I’m not as familiar with classic horror literature, never having read Dracula or Frankenstein.
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I have read Ghost Story. and again we are with the Clive Barker. I am buying myself a book of his stories for Halloween.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114176451
from npr today 3 haunting literary houses.
Nice kait, thanks.
Lines from Macbeth scare me.
ha ha
Somehow I never caught your interest in Poe — but we share it just the same.
Some of my scary favorites:
“The Masque of the Red Death” (Poe)
“Der Engel zum westlichen Fenster” (Gustav Meyrink) — (You can google it under the translation: “The Angel of the West Window” — it looks like the used paperback sells for over $100!)
Actually, anything by Poe or Meyrink is good enough for me.
I’ll have to look into Meyrink . Yes Poe is a favorite of mine. Good to see you indie.