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Old 09-08-12, 08:28 PM
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October horror books recommendations

With October getting closer, I've been looking at getting some scary horror books to read. So far I've got:

House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Books Of Blood Vol. 4-6 by Clive Barker

And that's all really. Don't wanna read King or Koontz. Any other books you guys can recommend?
Old 09-09-12, 09:27 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Great idea, as I usually try to read horror books in October. The last really creepy book I've read is Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box. (You didn't specify a King, but I assume you meant papa bear, not baby bear. )

Earlier this year I read Richard Matheson's Hell House, which I can recommend. Just don't go in believing the hype that it's the scariest thing ever. I did and it was a bit of a let down, but it did have a good atmosphere.

I'm mulling over what I will read next month. Probably Peter Straub's Ghost Story, based on its rep. (Expectations will be kept in check this time. Ha.) A few people I know and trust have said that Dam Simmons' The Terror is great, so maybe that, too.
Old 09-09-12, 09:47 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by mhg83
House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Great book....
Old 09-09-12, 01:08 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Old 09-09-12, 01:33 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Lovecraft? Just get this:

http://cthulhuchick.com/free-complet...k-nook-kindle/
Old 09-09-12, 01:50 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by DJLinus
Great idea, as I usually try to read horror books in October. The last really creepy book I've read is Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box. (You didn't specify a King, but I assume you meant papa bear, not baby bear. )
I read Heart Shaped Box and liked it a lot. Have you read his newest book 'Horns'? I might pick that one up.
Old 09-09-12, 01:55 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by mhg83
I read Heart Shaped Box and liked it a lot. Have you read his newest book 'Horns'? I might pick that one up.
I didn't care much for Heart Shaped Box but really enjoyed Horns. I thought it was a much better story.

And I'm so glad people on this forum reccommended House of Leaves to me a few years back. That book seriously creeped me out, like no other book has since I was a kid.
Old 09-09-12, 02:35 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by mhg83
I read Heart Shaped Box and liked it a lot. Have you read his newest book 'Horns'? I might pick that one up.
Not yet. Most recently I read "Throttle" - the Kindle Single he wrote with his dad - which is a biker gang riff on Matheson's Duel. (It originally appeared in an anthology that paid tribute to Duel, I believe.) I enjoyed that one, too, but not as much as HSB. Around this time last year when the power was out for a week because of a hurricane, I devoured his 21st Century Ghosts. Like most short story collections, some are better than others. But a couple were really great. (And despite the title, overall it's not really a horrorfest.) One of those stories - "The Cape" - was adapted into a comic, which I'd love to read sometime.

Maybe I'll read Horns next month. One of my friends who is a big Hill fan (and recommend Heart Shaped Box to me) said it was good.
Old 09-12-12, 11:19 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Horror short story collections are really where it's at. Haunted, by Joyce Carol Oates, is a particularly good one.
Old 09-13-12, 12:20 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by dugan
The Penguin editions are the cheapest way to get the corrected texts. All the others (especially the free ones) are rife with errors.
Old 09-13-12, 01:56 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Is House of Leaves a really complicated read? My mind tends to waver and I have to be really sucked in to keep my attention.

I really liked the Short Story Guts by Chuck Palahniuk. The reason I bring this story up is that this is the kind of writing style I enjoy. Very descriptive and disturbing.

Any suggestions on something like that?
Old 09-19-12, 05:08 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by Larry C.
Is House of Leaves a really complicated read?
Only when you have to rotate the book to read some of the pages.

Has any one read "The Haunting of Hill House"? I was thinking of picking it up.
Old 09-19-12, 01:30 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations



Some of the best short horror stories I've read.
Old 09-19-12, 01:49 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Great topic. I'm a fan of Simon Clark's earlier titles (Darkness Demands, Stranger...). If you just want something with a Halloween mood, check out Agatha Christie's Halloween Party. Seed is a good one too.

House of Leaves was such a chore to get through but a good story. I'll have to check out Alone with the Horrors.
Old 09-20-12, 10:55 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

I plan on finally reading Salem's Lot this October. Been sitting on my shelf for years and I always pass it up.
Old 09-24-12, 01:12 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by mhg83
House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
I agree with 12thmonkey, this is a great book. It is a challenging read, though, as it challenges the form of the book, not just the story itself, as I recall.
(Just flip though the pages to see how formatting conveys the story, as well as words themselves. Does that make sense?)

Read it 6 or 7 years ago, I think, after getting it as a gift from a friend.
Old 09-24-12, 02:28 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

For me, I think a key to enjoying House of Leaves is to not let yourself get bogged down by the Zampano-written sections. He would just drone on and on in academia-speak. I've heard some interpret these sections as a satire of such writing ... and that seems reasonable to me.

I think the meat of the story - the Navidson Record - is reasonably straight-forward. And I thought the weird formatting enhanced that part.
Old 09-24-12, 02:42 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations



I can't believe this was never made into a movie.
Old 09-24-12, 06:34 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by NotEd
I agree with 12thmonkey, this is a great book. It is a challenging read, though, as it challenges the form of the book, not just the story itself, as I recall.
(Just flip though the pages to see how formatting conveys the story, as well as words themselves. Does that make sense?)

Read it 6 or 7 years ago, I think, after getting it as a gift from a friend.
Yeah i have the book in my collection and it looks pretty crazy with all the different formats. I was gonna get it for Kindle but after reading reviews it seems like the physical version is superior. I'm not sure if it's even readable on an E-Book.
Old 10-04-12, 08:56 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

New R.L. Stine book coming out oct. 9th:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DwjODGS-gWY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Spoiler:

R.L. Stine, New York Times bestselling author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series—two of the bestselling children’s book series of all time—now sets his sights on adults with a terrifying new horror novel centered on a town in the grip of a sinister revolt.

Before there was J. K. Rowling, before there was Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, there was R.L. Stine. Witty, creepy, and compulsively readable, his books defined horror for a generation of young readers— readers who have now come of age. In Red Rain, Stine uses his unerring knack for creating terror to tap into some very grownup fears. Travel writer Lea Sutter finds herself on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the wrong place at the wrong time. A merciless, unanticipated hurricane cuts a path of destruction through the island and Lea barely escapes with her life.

In the storm’s aftermath, she discovers two orphaned boys—twins. Filled with a desire to do something to help, to make something good of all she witnessed, Lea impulsively decides to adopt them. The boys, Samuel and Daniel, seem amiable and immensely grateful; Lea’s family back on Long Island—husband Mark, a child psychologist, and their two children, Ira and Elena—aren’t quite so pleased. But even they can’t anticipate the twins’ true nature—or predict that, within a few weeks’ time, Mark will wind up implicated in two brutal murders, with the police narrowing in.

For the millions of readers who grew up on Goosebumps, and for every fan of deviously inventive horror, this is a must-read from a beloved master of the genre.
Old 10-11-12, 11:43 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

If you've never read him, this is the month to give Richard Laymon a try. Just finished Funland. It starts out as more of a coming of age book, but it picks up towards the end. The Island, The Woods Are Dark, and In The Dark are a few of my favorites from him.
Old 10-12-12, 08:52 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by Trout
Has any one read "The Haunting of Hill House"? I was thinking of picking it up.
Probably my least favorite Shirley Jackson so far. Her short stories are more effective at being creepy.
Old 10-12-12, 01:34 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by Geofferson
I plan on finally reading Salem's Lot this October. Been sitting on my shelf for years and I always pass it up.
After reading the rest of King, Salem's Lot is amateurish and sloppily improbable
Old 11-26-12, 02:28 PM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Originally Posted by Supermallet
Speaking of that book: why does the Kindle edition cost so much more than the paper edition?

http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Witch-H.../dp/0142437956

The prices for today are:

Kindle Edition: $16.07
Paperback: $11.75

Last edited by dugan; 11-26-12 at 03:32 PM.
Old 10-04-13, 04:31 AM
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Re: October horror books recommendations

Annual bump


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