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I would use StoryGraph. I know a lot of people are also recommending GoodReads, but I've found StoryGraph to be more useful for at-a-glance information. There is a minimized section for content warning submitted by readers/reviewers. I like that StoryGraph has this feature and gives the users the option to ignore it if they don't want to be "spoiled", but is there for people who need it.
[edit] hit enter before I was done.
The Beast of Rose Valley by J.P. Barnett
The Kraken of Cape Madre by J.P. Barnett
Full disclosure, I'm the author, so it's a bit self-serving, but I'd love it if you'd check out my books and see if they might be for you. I've worked a long time to find a publisher, and I'm stoked to have had my first two books release this year. Both of them are fast-paced creature feature horror thrillers, have received great reviews, and even won awards.
They're both part of the Lorestalker series but are episodic in nature, with different protagonists, so you can read them in either order. Here's a link: The Lorestalker Series
A third book in the series is on the way this December. Thanks for your consideration!
If you've never read Michael Crichton's Sphere, then I highly recommend it. It might not entirely be horror, but it's got some freaky underwater stuff and a sci-fi twist.
And for another recommendation that hopefully doesn't come across as too self-serving -- I'm a traditionally published author and my second novel, The Kraken of Cape Madre, is due out June 3. As you can tell from the title, it deals with, well, a kraken. It doesn't go deep under the sea, mostly taking place near the beach (more like Jaws), but I think it might scratch the itch you're looking for.
You can pre-order the eBook here (paperback pre-orders coming soon): The Kraken of Cape Madre
And here's the blurb:
It’s been almost two years, but the nightmares still haunt Miriam Brooks—grisly images of her brother being slaughtered. A relaxing Spring Break at the beach seems like a good way to put some distance between her and the troubling past, but paradise shatters when she saves a tourist from something lurking beneath the waves.
Soon, she’s on the trail of a sea creature from the legends of Vikings and Pirates. The fishermen of Cape Madre tell tales for the right price, and Miriam quickly learns of a string of disappearances all related to this mysterious monster.
The cops and the coast guard are meant to handle the crimes of men, but Miriam’s been trained to find the creatures of lore—creatures like this. Pulled back into the life she wants to forget, Miriam is the last line of defense between man and myth.
I guess it depends on the person. If they're younger and into more comtemporary stuff I think they could get a better sense of the genre from short storiy collections so I would probably suggest King's Skeleton Crew, Barker's Books of Blood and a good multi-author anthology like My Favorite Horror Story to get a taste of some others.
If they're more interested in classics I guess I would recommend them Algernon Blackwood's The Willows, Matheson's I Am Legend, and Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House. They're all quick reads and groundbreaking landmarks. I was tempted to say the obvious classics like Dracula or Frankenstein but they can be a bit dry even for seasoned readers and I don't think they're great as first introductions to the genre.
Last Days by Brian Evenson involves a body mutilation cult and in addition to being very creepy and strange, it also has a horror-noir vibe that reminds me of some of Lovecraft's stories.
If I may suggest my novel, Blackwater Lights, it certainly fits all your criteria. Takes place in West Virginia, and has a cult, sex, drugs, suppressed memories of strange lights in the sky, and ultimately hints of a much larger conspiracy.
https://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Lights-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00C8S9XU0
It was published by Penguin Random House as part of its Hydra digital imprint, so is only available in ebook form, but got rave reviews from Cemetery Dance magazine and noted horror author F. Paul Wilson, Scott Sigler, and others.
Here's a short story anthology that hits every single point you've listed and also can be listened to on audio.
Oral histories on tragic events can make you lose sleep for sure:
Voices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
Gulag Voices: Oral Histories of Soviet Incarceration and Exile
And I will never forget the Sand Creek Massacre part of Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee.
I would particularly recommend the novella My Work Is Not Yet Done, perhaps his single finest story, and his non-fiction account of the absolute horror of reality, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, despite the crummy cover.
King was inspired by his mother telling him about the time she saw a guy jump from a building in Portland, Maine.
From **On Writing**: > When he was 5 or 6, Stephen King writes in this memoir, he asked his mother if she had ever seen anyone die. Yes, she said--a sailor who jumped off the roof of the Graymore Hotel in Portland, Maine, and landed in the street. > > "He splattered," my mother said in her most matter-of-fact tone. She paused, then added, "The stuff that came out of him was green. I have never forgotten it." > > That makes two of us, Mom.
Though I realize it may sound self-serving, you might enjoy my book, The Beast of Rose Valley. It's traditionally published and recently released last month. It's on the line between horror and urban fantasy, so it sounds like something that might be up your alley. It's getting pretty good reviews so far, and it's the first in a series -- the second book (The Kraken of Cape Madre) is coming out in June.
You can find it here: The Beast of Rose Valley
And here's the synopsis:
After suffering through a horrific car accident, Jake Rollins struggles to survive in his tiny hometown of Rose Valley—a place to which he hoped never to return.
When a sheep is viciously mutilated on the ranch where Jake is recovering, he's dragged back into the cloying politics of small town life. While the Sheriff tries to pass off the incident as the work of coyotes, Jake turns to a local reporter and old high school flame, Shandi Mason, to search for the truth.
They discover that this creature has stalked Rose Valley before, claiming nearly a century of carnage and intrigue, all starting with a shameful secret guarded over by one of the town's most respected citizens.
As livestock mutilations escalate into deadly attacks on humans, and the Sheriff organizes a foolhardy manhunt, Jake and Shandi must race to save the town from a seemingly unstoppable evil.
<em>The Troop</em> by Nick Cutter is a good fun read but the only other one that comes to mind that maybe wouldn't be considered a horror but is pretty horrific in parts is <em>Lord of the Flies</em>
The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller. https://www.amazon.com/Calling-Supernatural-Thriller-Robert-Swartwood-ebook/dp/B004SYNSN0
It popped up last week in my Bookbub daily deals email. It's actually not bad at all, and the plot is thickening on Job 42 as I reach the halfway point.
If anyone wants it, I'll be able to digitally "lend" the book when I'm done. If anyone here wants to read it, I'd be happy to try to do it, its not something I've ever tried.
"The Wendigo" by Algernon Blackwood is a good place to start. It's free on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-h/10897-h.htm.
Or you can try for "The Curse of the Wendigo" by Rick Yancey. It's a "kid's" story but there's still a hefty amount of gruesome violence, while staying true to Algonquin mythology.
I recently started Kathe Koja's The Cipher (on Kindle) and I really like it. It's from 1991 making it a bit more contemporary than your list! It's currently $3.03 in the US.
FUCK AUTO-PLAY VIDEO AND AUDIO ADVERTISEMENTS
I'm reading a fucking article, the last thing I want is fucking noise with it.
Here is a cleaned-up version that won't pull that shit: https://getpocket.com/a/read/188661913
Haven't read it, but the anthology Tomorrow's Cthulhu: Stories at the Dawn of Posthumanity edited by Scott Gable might fit the bill.
Not only that, but I challenge anyone to come up with a writer that has a larger vocabulary. I learned so many new words reading his stories.
Also, apparently he loved to carve little stone statues that he would then just throw into the woods near his house and people still occasionally find one. There is a book out about all his artwork.
Can't go wrong with the old masters. Robert Bloch's Mythos writings, Clark Ashton Smith, Ramsey Cambell. I'd recommend all of them. Check out this book. I think it represents the best of "Lovecraftian" fiction. There are some Lovecraft stories in the book, but the other represented authors afford themselves quite well.
I just started reading the Odd Jobs series, which is more funny horror, but I'm really enjoying it. Basically, these eldritch abomination creatures have shown up on earth and the end is nigh. It's unclear if they are aliens or demons or what, but they're here to destroy the world, and once the "Soulgate" closes at some indeterminate point in the future, not even death will be an escape from their horrors. The powers that be have crunched the numbers and come to the conclusion that we are completely unable to fight them, so there's nothing to be done but accept the inevitable. The books are about the underfunded government organization that exists just to manage the situation until it is decided to let the public know about the immanent apocalypse, and then usher humanity through the end in a calm and orderly fashion.
The first book is $0.99 on kindle monthly deals right now.
https://www.amazon.com/Oddjobs-Heide-Goody-ebook/dp/B01GVT13XQ
Hey, I don't know if this is appropriate or not but I'm a writer who just put out a book with (what I think is) a truly terrifying female villain. It's called House of Seven and it's about a group of criminals who search for the one piece of evidence that could incriminate them all. A supernatural entity (the terrifying female villain) starts picking them off one by one. Here a link (hope this doesn't get me into trouble): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NTTX29M/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
It is on Amazon. It's like 7.00 bucks, I looked it up right away. I am thinking of getting it in case the price goes up.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FZSCUKO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
A couple comments have already mentioned him, but I'm throwing another vote for Peter Straub in the mix. Peter is one of King's favorite authors, and they've worked together on two books: The Talisman, and its sequel Black House. I read Ghost Story at King's recommendation (I think he mentioned it in On Writing, but it might've been somewhere else). Ghost Story is a phenomenal tale. If you like it, check out some earlier work in the genre like Henry James's The Turn of the Screw.
If ghost stories aren't really your thing, Arthur Machen's novella The Great God Pan is a fun little macabre yarn, and again came recommended to me by King.
Actually, come to think of it, King himself has already answered your question. In the back of On Writing King lists out the novels he thinks all aspiring writers should read, and there's some solid horror titles in that list. His nonfiction piece The Danse Macabre also has tons of good recommendations!
The House Next Door--Anne Rivers Siddons
It was recommended to me on here, I believe. Perhaps it's a bit of a cheat because apparently King references it in On Writing. Nevertheless, I haven't read On Writing but have read The House Next Door.
It is the best slow-creep I've ever read.
I've read a lot of horror, from the old stuff to the 80s masters to some of the incomprehensible weird stuff to the non-fantastic murder-y stuff. As I read more and more, I find myself prefering stories where the monster is never revealed, where the action mostly takes place off-screen, and where it creeps into you slowly and methodically.
This has all that. It's basically a haunted-house story, although in my opinion way better than most in the genre, if not all. In a way it follows the standard plot, although instead of ghost hunters you simply have the next-door neighbors as the protagonists. And they notice things that go wrong.
The Haunting of Hill House was pretty fantastic and good at this method, what with the hand-holding scene and some others, but still devolved into a silly climax in my opinion. The followers all got worse (Hell House anyone?).
Not The House Next Door. It never gets silly, never lets up, never satisfies with a tidy explanation.
Furthermore, the characters are very real and the writing itself is excellent, in my opinion. You know these characters, they are all individuals, and multifaceted (for the most part).
I so loved this book.
So of course I wanted to read the author's other stuff. It's all upper-crust society novels!! This is the only horror!
Which, although disappointed, makes it even more special.
Check out <strong>You</strong> by Caroline Kepnes. There aren't any supernatural elements, and it's more psychological thriller than horror, but it's riveting and scary as hell. It's about a young man stalking a young woman in NYC, and it's all told from the point of view of the stalker. The creepiest thing about it is that Kepnes makes his story so compelling that you might find yourself rooting for him.
​
Best,
Geoff Jones
Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>
Try reading some M. R. James. Very creepy. Almost never any violence or overt gore (maybe aside from “An Evening’s Entertainment”).
You can download a collection of most of his stories legally and for free here.
Gotta give a mention here to https://librivox.org/. I've been catching up on a lot of horror classics that I didn't have time to read, but could listen to on the drive to work. Recording quality can be a bit dodgy at times since all recordings are done by volunteers, but that would be the trade-off for getting classic stuff for free.
As for a couple my favorite stories I've heard recently:
The Willows, Algernon Blackwood.
The King in Yellow, Robert W Chambers.
Hop Frog, as well as Masque of the Red Death, both by Edgar Allan Poe.
Just to add, PTSD Radio does have an official digital release in english
You can find it served in multiple services/apps. The online/free options are only half of the whole work so far.
​
Seeds of Anxiety/Fuan no Tane is the one I didn't find an official release for.
Based on glancing at its Amazon page I would guess no, but I suppose it depends on the 10yo: https://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-Halloween-Stories-Terrifying-ebook/dp/B077L6ZLVH
Yea, Boy's Life is amazing story. The Wolf's Hour. Now there is a book that is listed in probably my top 5. A spy during WWII that is also a werewolf? Incredible. This book was very hard to put down. Amazon Link
Also Stinger. I really enjoyed it. Made the environment seem so real and when the monster finally shows up....watch out!!
Thanks for the review! I love war/horror stories and am considering one for my next project. I'm currently reading One Last Gasp by Andrew Piazza and enjoying it so far. I also can't wait for Overlord to start streaming on Amazon.
I'm going to make what is probably an unusual cosmic horror recommendation and suggest Communion by Whitley Strieber. Nobody talks about creepy little gray aliens or abductions in the realm of cosmic horror, but I think it's right at home in that category.
Now I haven't read the book (I'm irrationally scared of being abducted) but I did see the movie, and it deals with all kinds of cosmic horror themes. Otherworldy, almost god-like entities with questionable motives and seemingly limitless power, questioning reality and the nature of the universe and your place in it, the feeling of your life simply being a cog in some grand plan that you don't get to see and can't understand, etc.
It's definitely the stuff of cosmic dread.
Agree with the short stories suggestion. I find that that oomph factor of horror does not translate well to the long narrative form of the novel. I prefer short stories, even short creepypastas. Traditional ghost stories/folklore also aren't that long.
Here's a short one I just recently read. The collection it came from is something I highly recommend. http://txti.es/ylw3u
There's a guy named Bob Leman who was semi-known when I was a kid. He only did short stories (AFAIK) but they are absolutely fantastic.
It's pitch-black southern gothic stuff; hard to describe without giving too much away. One of them is about a family that digs up an ancient worm in their cellar and gets their lives ruined.
Leman didn't publish much and it's hard to get ahold of, but there's not a single story that was less than 8/10. Thirty years later I still remember them vividly--that's not true of most of the stuff I read back then.
Here's one available for free online.
His only collection (self-published, I think?) is going for like $2000 used, but every story in it was first published in a magazine. I tracked down most of the issues they were originally published in on AbeBooks for a couple bucks each.
Something from Laird Barron.
Aaron Neville has a very interesting book that was just released this week. Wyrd and Other Derelictions. No characters, no dialog. The 'stories' consists of nothing more than a vivid description of the aftermath of something VERY bad that happened. Like a crime scene but the crime in question is oh so much more. I've only read the first 'story' so far but it's a very interesting concept. And it's still on sale as I type this.
This may seem self-serving, but I'm a new, traditionally published author and my first novel, The Beast of Rose Valley, has a romantic subplot. It's not full of sex or anything, but the B-plot centers in two characters falling in love while also saving their town from a rampaging monster.
It's getting pretty solid reviews. It's the first in the series, which is called Lorestalker, and the second book is due out next month. The second book doesn't have a romantic subplot, but the third one will.
The ebook is pretty cheap and the paperback is actually currently on sale at Amazon. Here's the link if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LGFG2CL
I love the little diatribe about exclamation points. The scene in the tub room is still stuck in my head twenty something years later. It's one of my favorite books.
If you thought this was heavy, and it was, try Tampa. It's about a female predator who is a teacher. I wanted to make a juvenile joke about her last name, let's just say it's very appropriate for the book.
The Horror Show by Vincenzo Bilof is a really cool collection of horror poetry that tells a loosely connected narrative. Very enjoyable and different.
You should be able to get an ebook version for free online, as it's a really old book (public domain).
Here we go. Gutenberg listing -The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
Here you go :
Masters of Gothic Horror
Contents
THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO by Horace Walpole
THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO by Ann Radcliffe
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley
LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI by John Keats
THE VAMPYRE by Henry Colburn
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER by Edgar Allan Poe
WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Brontë
THE DOOM OF THE GRIFFITHS by Elizabeth Gaskell
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD by Charles Dickens
THE GREAT GOD PAN by Arthur Machen
THE BOARDED WINDOW by Ambrose Bierce
THE YELLOW SIGN by Robert W. Chambers
THE WILLOWS by Algernon Blackwood
UNCLE SILAS by Sheridan Le Fanu
DRACULA by Bram Stoker
Available on ebook on Amazon :
It's an old one, but The Throne of Bones by McNaughton is really great! Deals with the horrific implications of necromancers, ghouls, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Throne-Bones-Brian-McNaughton/dp/1587151987
[Sticks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticks_(short_story\)) by Karl Edward Wagner is a great folk horror story. It was reprinted in A Little Ochre Book of Occult Stories.
This gets mentioned a lot on this sub but Crooked God Machine fits the bill. A bleak and hellish landscape where the characters cannot seem to catch a break. I don't want to give too much away but if you are a bit more curious, here is a link with more details:
https://www.amazon.com/Crooked-God-Machine-Autumn-Christian-ebook/dp/B006PNJ2L4
It's part of a trio of books containing short stories of the Apocalypse. This one is about the events leading up to the Apocalypse. The 2nd is about it happening, the 3rd is about events afterward.
Thomas Ligotti or Ramsey Campbell, any of their short story collections. There's also my personal favorite : Clark Ashton Smith, though he's more "dark fantasy with horrific overtones" . For Smith, I recommend The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (Penguin, and with an introduction by S T Joshi!)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143107380/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This has his best of the best stories.
As stated there, Quiroga was influenced by another writer (some of) whose work fits OP's request - French writer Guy de Maupassant. Here (Amazon link) is a collection of all of his supernatural tales in translation.
Also, I emphatically second Grabiński, one of my favorite writers and part of the reason I am studying Polish.
My first novel, about a British vampire living in Japan, was published about 2 years ago. Publisher sadly closed recently, so it's no longer for sale, but it seems Amazon has some paperback copies remaining at an extortionate price! https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Dobromir-Harrison/dp/194015409X
" Unlike its sister genre, gothic horror almost never has a happy ending—at least not in a traditional sense; who is to say that Eleanor is not happy at the end of <em>The Haunting of Hill House</em>? "
Eleanor. Eleanor is terrified in her last moments at Hill House when she understands what is happening. It's not even ambiguous.
That's how The Turn of the Screw starts.
Ill also recommend R.L. Stone, plus Daniel Cohen.
Also, I loved this book: Wait Til Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Would you be okay with survival horror that wasn’t monster focused? Because the post apocalyptic genre really delivers on that detailed survival point. I’m thinking Dies the Fire by Sterling. Warning though: it’s dark.
HIGHLY recommend checking out Clive Barker's Books of Blood. Six volumes of beautifully terrifying and unsettling shorts from what may be one of the best horror authors in history.
>Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red.
Both under $20 right now and well worth it.
I've been reading the first Paperbacks from Hell find that I ordered on Amazon recently, Hot Blood: Tales of Provocative Horror. When I saw that great 80s cover, I just had to have it. And it's been pretty good so far! Lots of interesting stories.
Kill Creek by Scott Thomas was a book I'd seen dragged on this subreddit before for various reasons (specifically the way he wrote the lead female, and the fact that it's very self-insert-y), and while it's got great reviews and the plot summary seems like something I would very much enjoy, I know I could never read it. The top review on Amazon tells me everything I need to know.
Hi /u/studiospectre,
The Dinosaur Four is a mix of sci-fi, action & adventure, and horror. When people see "dinosaurs," they often think of children, but this is an "adult" book, with violence, profanity, and adult themes. There aren't even any kids in the story.
Tonally, I was going for something like Jaws, where you have a mix of big, scary monster attacks, exciting sequences where a team works together, and some characters plotting against the others.
Structurally, I was going for something like Alien, where you have a diverse group of characters stuck in a dangerous situation, you don't know who is going to make it out alive, and not all of them are working toward the same goal.
Please note that I'm not suggesting that The Dinosaur Four is as good as either of those examples. :) But it's still a fun read, and an even better audiobook, if you're a "listener."
Best,
Geoff Jones
Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>
>audiobooks of any sort that detail the history and/or the craft of horror writing
Some people disagree with his approach to the craft of writing, but Stephen King's Danse Macabre is a sort of history of horror written for various media and his On Writing is half memoir and half writing tutorial.
Both are available as audiobooks, and you can find links to overviews of the books below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre_(book)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Writing_(Stephen_King)
Good luck!
Classic vegetable threats:
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
I'll second the VanderMeer "Weird" collection and add Hauntings by Ellen Datlow. Featuring my favorite Kelly Link story, "Two Houses" and a host of other modern spins on the ghost story.
I also like the Leviathan anthologies. The most recent is #4, with a theme of "Cities.. Not necessarily horror (though there's a fair amount of it), but will likely have stuff that would appeal to many horror fans. This series I believe was started by Jeff VanderMeer but features guest editors, such as Forest Aguirre and others
She also has a new one forthcoming: There Once Lived a Mother Who Loved Her Children, Until They Moved Back In: Three Novellas About Family
Seconding Revenge, that book is a strange, strange mindfuck. If you'd like some slower, infinitely more depressing Japanese lit that falls right into the "devastating" category there's also <em>Out</em> by Natsuo Kirino.
I think Michael McDowell's The Elementals is a great example of the slow, ominous build and a great summer read. First time I read this book I was fourteen in the dead of summer and I loved it so much it stuck with me all these years. It's so unfortunate that it's out of print, but McDowell's popularity has actually picked up the last few years and I see they released The Amulet in a kindle format so I'm hoping they do the same for The Elementals - from all his books, that one is my favorite.
Night Film was fantastic. I'm on the waiting list to borrow "House on Haunting Hill" from my library. I'm finishing up "Carrion Comfort"..it's a hell of a read! As for gifts, my vote is: The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691160597/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_VxRCub19GJA09
The Brothers Grimm were pretty dark.
I try not to self-plug too often but you may enjoy my free novella "The Further We Soar Into Madness". Feel free to PM me if you have any comments/questions.
YESSSSSS!
"Chuck Dutton built Music City Salvage with patience and expertise, stripping historic properties and reselling their bones. Inventory is running low, so he's thrilled when Augusta Withrow appears in his office offering salvage rights to her entire property. This could be a gold mine, so he assigns his daughter, Dahlia, to personally oversee the project.
The crew finds a handful of surprises right away. Firstly, the place is in unexpectedly good shape. And then there's the cemetery, about 30 fallen and overgrown graves dating to the early 1900s. Augusta insists that the cemetery is just a fake, a Halloween prank, so the city gives the go-ahead, the bulldozer revs up - and it turns up human remains..."
There's an old short story (not a novel, sorry) called The Nothing Equation, by Tom Godwin, that is available to read online.
It's about a guy who's stationed in a solitary outpost (basically a glass bubble) in deep space, surrounded by complete darkness and emptiness for six months. For some reason, the individuals who had previously manned the one-man station either went crazy or killed themselves...
The first two paragraphs read as follows:
> The cruiser vanished back into hyperspace and he was alone in the > observation bubble, ten thousand light-years beyond the galaxy's > outermost sun. He looked out the windows at the gigantic sea of > emptiness around him and wondered again what the danger had been that > had so terrified the men before him. > > Of one thing he was already certain; he would find that nothing was > waiting outside the bubble to kill him. The first bubble attendant had > committed suicide and the second was a mindless maniac on the Earthbound > cruiser but it must have been something inside the bubble that had > caused it. Or else they had imagined it all.
Are you looking for a particular story or book? If the former, may I suggest "Ringing the Changes." It's an excellent atmospheric story with an interesting plot.
If the latter, then one of his best collections is Cold Hand in Mine which features the story "The Hospice." It also has "The Swords" which is another Aickman classic. If you want the reissued copy from Faber and Faber and you're in the US, check out The Book Depository which has free worldwide shipping (although it takes a couple weeks):
http://www.bookdepository.com/Cold-Hand-Mine-Robert-Aickman/9780571311743
Though their catalogue is much smaller, in terms of quality free public domain texts, I'm quite the fan of Standard Ebooks.
Here's the Amazon page. You can take a look at the table of contents there.
There's also two other Penguin editions of The Call of Cthulhu (one has art of a funny-looking squid man in formal wear, the other has an orange cover with tentacles on it), but as far as I can tell they all have the same content. (I linked the standard Penguin Classics edition since the other two Lovecraft collections are also Penguin Classics and don't have the fancier-looking editions that The Call of Cthulhu does.)
EDIT: jpon7 posted the Amazon links for the other two books' Penguin Classics editions in another reply, so between the two of us it looks like you've got all the links you need!
I Shudder at Your Touch (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451450795/)
and
Shudder Again
are two anthologies that came out in the early 90s and billed as 'A sensational anthology of sex, horror, and the supernatural from 21 bestselling authors such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, Ruth Rendell, Stephen J. Donaldson, Patrick McGrath, and more.'
Honestly I don't remember any of the stories but it's been decades since I read them. Seeing your post did remind me of them though. I have a feeling they were pretty tame for the most part and are probably what you're looking for in that they are foremost horror stories that are flirting with erotic themes.
These anthologies from Ellen Datlow might be what you want:
I haven't read it yet, but Shadow of the Vulture by Regina Garza Mitchell was recommended by Brian Keene in one of his newsletters.
If you like comics, Joe R. Lansdale wrote 3 Jonah Hex stories that have been compiled into a trade paperback.
Not fiction, but a seriously interesting and easy read about animal behaviour and communication.
Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals by Con Slobodchikoff PhD https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Doctor-Dolittle-Learning-Language-ebook/dp/B00842HDDS
The author is an animal behaviorist and conservation biologist who studied Gunnison Prairie Dogs and their alarm calls. He's observed this species to have a fairly complex syntax within their condensed bark, to describing if a person is tall, short, wearing a colored shirt, and how fast someone is approaching them. Anyhow, not quite what you're looking for, but might be up your alley.😊
Haha, fair enough about the King recommendations! Here’s a couple books I haven’t read yet but I’ve seen recommended for the Silent Hill vibe:
14 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618684981/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WWVF6H2WTFWS5XZXBG6W
The Mall (Downside) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1848878877/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_H80KETMWA7HQNWP2930H?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I just picked a collection that seemed to make sense (this one, though I didn't buy it) and read through the stories in publication order. "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" is an awkward ending to the Randolph Carter story, and the last piece is a fragment, but neither is so long that I'd caution against reading them if you're interested.
In the Land of the Dead by K W Jeter, if you can find it. It's depiction of Depression Era life provides enough grim horror before anything supernatural happens.
I wanna suggest Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke. It jumps right into its action and horror and stays pedal to the metal for most of the book. It slows down a tiny bit toward the middle, but I was hooked enough by then that I kept reading at the same frantic pace as the beginning.
https://www.amazon.com/KIN-Kealan-Patrick-Burke-ebook/dp/B006TMA9ZE
THRALL by Mary SanGiovanni -- a Silent Hill homage by a Silent Hill fan.
https://www.amazon.com/Thrall-Mary-SanGiovanni/dp/1492258725/
Found it, thanks for the help.
Try Daniel Mills, Richard Gavin, and Scott Thomas (the one who wrote The Sea of Ash). You may also possibly like this, by me: https://www.amazon.com/Gateways-Abomination-Matthew-M-Bartlett/dp/1500346721
Mike Carey also writes under M.R. Carey ("The Book of Koli", "The Girl With All the Gifts"), and 2 of his other books "Fellside" and "Someone Like Me" are also $1.99 right now. https://www.amazon.com/Fellside-M-R-Carey-ebook/dp/B013HA6WAG
https://www.amazon.com/Someone-Like-Me-M-Carey-ebook/dp/B07B88J71D
Check out the Weiser Book of Horror and the Occult: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635721/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_XF003GNQ05JJMJABB6R0
It's edited and introduced by Lon Milo Duquette, who is one of the premiere experts on Crowley and Kabbalah.
The novel I published in September might be a good fit. It's about a video game AI that evolves into a superintelligent AI that evolves into something resembling an Elder God. Definitely checks the boxes of of bent minds and tormented individuals. Also brutal violence aplenty. Here's a link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HL7Q289/
(If this appeals to you and you're really strapped for cash DM me)
It's not a horror novel but you could try some Call of Cthulhu solo adventurers. The CoC rules are pretty straightforward after you make an investigator and you'll just have to occasionally roll some dice to determine the outcome of some events but that's basically it and beyond that they are choose your adventure essentially.
While I haven't read it myself, I've heard good things about the Blackwater series by Michael McDowell (who you might know as the writer of Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas). It's southern gothic horror fantasy saga following the lives of two families from the 1910s to the 1960s in Alabama.
YMMV on if this is long and epic enough for you, though. On the one hand, the series is 6 books long. On the other hand, when they were originally published, each one was less than 200 pages. Also, as far as I know, they aren't currently available as separate volumes. Unless you're willing to pay hundreds of dollars for secondhand first-edition copies, the recent omnibus release is your best bet.
The Events at Poroth Farm is magnificent. However, I have to say it is not collected in Dark Gods. Those stories are good but alas the book is hard to find online for a reasonable amount (you may have more success at used book stores; I've found two copies each for under $2). Thankfully, you can find The Events at Poroth Farm in the Cthulu Mythos Megapack for like 99 cents.
<em>The Scream</em> by John Skipp and Craig Spector.
First of all, it would be difficult to make the music in the book. Metal fans would argue endlessly abut what genre it should be, and miss the entire point of the novel.
Second, the onstage antics just aren't as shocking these days. The Scream would be a top-tier black metal act, sure, but no one would blink an eye at what they do after bands like Mayhem, Bile, Marilyn Manson, et al.
Finally, the two in-concert slaughter scenes would draw the ire of survivors of the Las Vegas concert massacre, the Eagles of Death Metal survivors, etc.
I'd love to have a movie based on good old-fashioned 80s splatterpunk mixed with heavy metal, because my inner and outer headbangers would giggle madly if it ever happened. I think the time when it could be made is long passed.
Swan Song is definitely his best, IMO. That said, I also have a soft spot for Wolf's Hour - a werewolf working as a spy and fighting Nazis during WWII is a recipe for awesome.
I just got into Lovecraft with this awesome edition I found on Amazon. It's only $10 and it's 600 pages long with most of his most famous stories people will recommend to you. For the most part the stories are in order of when they were published but that's not always the case. My favorites I've read so far are The Call of Cthulhu and The Colour Out of Space.
These can always be nitpicked, but overall, this is a fantastic list that's very comprehensive.
edit: Come Closer is on sale now on amazon for $2. I kept having it pop up as a suggested recommendation and this list made me decide to pick it up.
$21.21 on Amazon! Not to mention their used books (though with used, you have to pay shipping).
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You can read the first couple pages on amazon. It starts off the same way Hamlet does, but now done through college football as the great bard would have wanted if he lived today.
Oh god, that guy. He's the reason I added the R to my name. (Rush is my actual middle name so it's not a lie.) Here is a link to the first book on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Lakewood-Memorial-Book-One-Trilogy/dp/1479352349
12 hours, 5 replies, and 0 "Stephen" corrections. God damn.
If you like fast paced books with no page padding, anthology horror from new writers may introduce you to fresh stories that meet your criteria.
Like Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness (2004) - Amazon. They have some more books out beyond 2004 but this one also has a short story by King - Stationary Bike.
Eyes of the Dead by Greg James is the first of a trilogy that takes place during the Great War, a soldier who can't remember anything before the fighting began, but he will make the unpleasant discovery, the second novel deals with a American pilot who returns to London after nearly getting killed in a duel with the Red Baron, not realizing something has followed him from the Western Front to stalk the streets of Whitechapel, and the third novel deals with an Englishman in the ANZACS, who is lost and adrift off the coast after the failure of the Gallipoli campaign, until he washes up on a dismal island but discovers he is not alone.
I read Jeff Strand's Andrew Mayhem series because just came out <strong>Cemetery Closing (Everything Must Go)</strong> . Great re-reading and wonderful conclusion in books where you can find everything (serial killers, groups of serial killers, cannibals and much more) all interspersed with a sparkling humor.
The Fall of Felix: A Halloween Tale
Free Horror Story available for Kindle for a few days, a little bit of comedy and tragedy, a lot of anger. Please let me know what you think.
It’s promising to be a harrowing Halloween for two misfit teens and a child orphaned by a doomsday cult, their only hope of surviving the night is a washed up horror writer who's lost his nerve and his daughter who recently moved to their little village to get away from this kind of thing.