Novel Horror

[Gallahan]

As a GM or player, reading cool horror novels helps make Beyond The Supernatural games that much more fun. We get to see what other characters did in similar situations, and --BETTER YET-- we get some new ideas that might *stump* our GM.

Thus, what novels of an adventure/horror/thriller genre have you read that you think we might benefit from reading? Tell us, we're eager!

To start off, here's one of my favorites: *early* Dean Koontz. If you only read ONE Koontz novel, read STRANGERS or PHANTOMS.

Another favorite: H.P. Lovecraft. Must-reads are: The Call of Cthulu, and The Mountains of Madness. But, he has tons of short stories out there too.

So, any other great *horror* novelists out there? What do you enjoy reading? What might make for good background?

[demos606]

Must not ever under any circumstances forget Poe. The original Grimm's fairlytales, Frankenstein, Dracula, and Ill have to post more classic stuffs later when I think of more.

[Killer Cyborg]

As a GM or player, reading cool horror novels helps make Beyond The Supernatural games that much more fun. We get to see what other characters did in similar situations, and --BETTER YET-- we get some new ideas that might *stump* our GM.

Thus, what novels of an adventure/horror/thriller genre have you read that you think we might benefit from reading? Tell us, we're eager!

Dan Simmons
Neil Gaiman
Stephen King
Dean Koontz
Richard Laymon*
Jim Butcher
Laurell K. Hamilton
Tanya Huff
John Steakley (Vampire$)
Michael Crichton
William Peter Blatty





*Killer Cyborg Incorporated is not responsible for any mental damage caused by reading books by this author. Read at your own risk.

[Gallahan]

When Beyond The Supernatural first came out, I had not ventured far into the realm of horror in books, film and thought. The beauty of BTS was that it introduced me into a new realm that I had previously dismissed as unimportant and/or meaningless, even though I played and read sci-fi and fantasy. Horror was my personal UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.

After getting my copy of BTS via mail order, I ventured into this newfound territory by watching horror movies, absorbing horror soundtracks and reading horror novels.

One of King's novels stands out as one of his best: Salem's Lot. Strangers, by Koontz is another. Yet another, less well known author, is James Herbert, and his novels: Haunted, Sepluchre, and Portent are excellent.

Lee Hawks wrote: "NIGHT, WINTER AND DEATH," and I have since lost my copy of it, and he has since NOT written much, but it was a great novel about werewolves in an isolated town in Virginia.

[Gallahan]

I've delved into the world of graphic arts, and stumbled upon a book of illustrations by Clive Barker. He's not only a good writer, but an EXCELLENT graphic artist. But, his drawings and skteches are... to say the least: ...grim, dark. GREAT STUFF.

I cannot say that I've read any of his novels, but I do intend to. I have seen his movie NIGHTBREED, and even have that excellent score by Danny Elfman.

Any other novels out there to read? Any other great authors?

[count zero]

Tim Powers
Declare
The Anubis Gates

Peter Straub
Floating Dragon
Koko
Lost Boy, Lost Girl
Houses Without Doors
Mr. X
Magic Terror
(I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Straub. Fans of King, Koontz, Simmons, et al. will find much to savor in all of Straub's books.)

Dan Simmons
Carrion Comfort
Song of Kali
Lovedeath

F. Paul Wilson
The Keep
Any of the Repairman Jack novels, but especially:
The Tomb
Conspiracies

Jorge Luis Borges
Collected Fictions

Stephen Dedman
The Art of Arrow Cutting

Robert E. Howard
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
(Try this for an old-school kind of BTS action.)

Neil Gaiman
American Gods
Neverwhere

Gene Wolfe
Strange Travelers

* * *
That's as many as I can think of off the top of my head. I might post more as they occur to me. So many books, so little time. . .

pax
Ø

[Gallahan]

Great timing with the Soloman Kane thing. I just got it because it was released in the same likeness of a couple of Conan books he did. I haven't read it yet, but it's in the queue.

Thanks for listing those authors and titles. It's tough for people who just don't know which authors are similar to other authors. I mean, if you haven't read them, then you just don't have an idea. I'm going to explore Straub and see how he is. Many thanks!

[count zero]

If you're going to pick up a novel by Straub, I'd suggest starting with Koko. In the 15+ years since I first read it, it's still one of my favorites. And I forgot a couple of other worthy Peter Straub novels: Shadowlands and Ghost Story, which was was made into a movie in 1981. If you can find it on video (not sure if it's available on DVD), it's entertaining. Not great, but kinda creepy. The version that shows up on basic cable stations like AMC or Sci-Fi is so badly chopped up, it's nearly unwatchable.

I also thought of a few more:

Chuck Palahniuk
Lullaby

Mark Frost
The List of 7
The 6 Messiahs
(More old-school action, this time in Victorian era England; the second book isn't quite as enjoyable though.)

Elizabeth Hand
Waking the Moon

Fritz Leiber
Dark Ladies
(Astute readers may recognize Leiber as the author of the Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories.)

Thomas Ligotti
The Nightmare Factory
(Another writer who doesn't get nearly as much attention as he deserves.)

pax
Ø

[Killer Cyborg]

Mark Frost
The List of 7
The 6 Messiahs
(More old-school action, this time in Victorian era England; the second book isn't quite as enjoyable though.)

So I'm not the only one to read those?
Cool.

[Gallahan]

Any fans of H.P. Lovecraft out there?

If you haven't read his work, mainly short stories, try the popular THE CALL OF CTHULU, but more importanly AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. Those are great stories.

The latest AVP movie got some inspiration from Lovecraft's AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, I think.

[count zero]

Any fans of H.P. Lovecraft out there?

If you haven't read his work, mainly short stories, try the popular THE CALL OF CTHULU, but more importanly AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. Those are great stories.

The latest AVP movie got some inspiration from Lovecraft's AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, I think.

I've been a fan of HPL since high school, but I've always felt that his stories were always more useful for concepts and background than for actual enjoyable reading. His prose can be very difficult to get through much of the time. (Go back and read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" again and see if you're not completely annoyed by the old man's monologue about the history of the town and HPL's attempt to write in a regional dialect--the man really did have a wooden ear for dialogue.) He uses a lot of uncommon or archaic words; words that I find terribly useful to have in my vocabulary--but I don't find many opportunities to use "rugose" in conversation.

Ultimately, I think HPL and his stories didn't have much of a direct influence on the culture. His influence is more with the writer's of the so-called "horror" genre in the latter part of the 20th Century. Guys like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Thomas Ligotti (especially!), and so on. You can probably name any prominent horror author and he (I'm not sure about female horror authors like Poppy Z. Brite or Nancy Collins, etc.) will say HPL was a big influence. IIRC, Stephen King (didn't he sneak in something about the Plateau of Leng into Needful Things?) said HPL is the grandfather of modern horror--E.A. Poe being the great-grandfather. But outside of a relatively small audience, HPL is virtually unknown. Ask some random person on the street if they've heard of Stephen King, and I bet almost all will say "Yes" even if they've never read any of his books; do the same with HPL and you're likely to be met with a blank stare nearly every time. Even with something like the movie version of "Re-animator", not many will make the connection with HPL. My point being that HPL made a huge impact, had a huge influence, just not directly.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like HPL's work. I am quite fond of the Cthulhu Mythos and everything that goes with it. But his prose is an acquired taste. My favorite HPL stories have always been the ones involving Randolph Carter: The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", et al. I didn't include HPL in either of my previous posts because eveyone always mentions him. HPL is the old standby, always there to use as a bit of horror street cred: "Ever heard of H.P. Lovecraft? No? Hmm, well check him out and then we can talk. . ." He's not the be-all, end-all of horror fiction, but there are a lot of buried treasures in his work if you can get past some of the dross.

pax
Ø

[Killer Cyborg]

There is a series called, "Alfred Hitchcock presents The Three Investigators" that is extremely good. It's along the lines of The Hardy Boys, and they constantly investigate supernatural mysteries (99% of which turn out to be hoaxes, Scooby-Doo-style).
I've gotten a lot of adventure ideas from those books.