READING LIST: HORROR

I have previously noted an enthusiasm for horror books, movies, stories, and even the word "horror." It is a pretty word and has a nice phlegmatic sound to it. 

(Scary things)

In that vein, I decided to make a list of a few recommendations. I will attempt to avoid any sort of spoilers that could not be gleaned from the cover, name, or most basic plot summary.

Not listed in any particular order, they're all worth reading. I may extend the list if I come up with any new ones.

READING LIST:

The Ruins, Scott Smith

  

    Summary:

      Group of friends go into the Mexican wilderness and end up trapped in some ruins with something that is rather inclined toward ruining their vacation.

      This is not the best horror story I've read, but it's one of the most fun to read in all its grueling glory. Classic horror. Lovecraftian. The characters are beautifully crafted and the plot itself is a fun take on the "five go out" idea. Plus the antagonist is pleasingly malevolent. Plot holes and all, it's certainly worth reading. Movie was fine, but they kind of screwed up a few parts. Namely the characters. And the ending. 

Cujo, Stephen King

      Summary: 

      A massive dog goes rabid and attacks people.

         There are so many King potentials to mention (Carrie, Shining, Salem's Lot, Dead Zone if that counts as horror, Cell, the Stand etc) that it is hard to choose one. Chose Cujo because hot damn. It hits hard at the end and sticks with you throughout. King has his shortcomings, but when he delivers, he makes it count. 

Note: this is a less supernatural-based story than most of King's stuff.

         

The Cobra Event, Richard Preston

       Summary: 

       A bio-weapon is being prepped for deployment in New York City.

       The man is brilliant. Unlike most of the others, this is scary because of the real-world nature of it. Yes, it suffers from an agenda, but the agenda is pretty freaking scary in itself. Semi-thriller, but due to the horrific brutality of even chapter one, I have to say it's horror.

Haunted, Chuck Palahniuk

     Summary:

     A bunch of would-be writers tell the stories of their own flaws while competing for limelight.

     Hands down strongest impact a horror book has had on me. Not at all my favorite horror, but it will make you see the world in fifty shades of jade. Palahniuk puts such disgust and loathing for humanity that it seeps into your skin and makes your stomach turn. And research. Much research too. He's a helluva journalist when he's not scarring minds. "Guts" is the most famous part since it frequently makes people swoon (is swooning still a term?), but the rest just keeps digging deeper and deeper into the depravity that resides within us all. Maybe not in such extremes, but it's there. If you do read it, I would recommend you sit alone in a room and read part of it out loud to yourself. See how far you make it before you feel uncomfortable.

Dracula, Bram Stoker

     Summary: 

     Come on, you know what it's about.

     This is, oddly, my most hesitant entry on the list. It's an exceptional book with a magnitude of impact on the genre that is impressive, but it does have its short comings. It's tough to read, it's full of more latent and generally misogynistic sexual imagery than Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams, and it's sometimes hard to really decide why you're rooting for some of the "good" guys. On the plus side it created one of the most iconic and awesome creatures, and it's just a damn good book. Genuinely creepy.

I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

     Summary: 

     A lone man struggles to survive following the apocalypse. 

     One of my all time favorites. He is an exceptional writer, has a wickedly keen sense of what makes a good story, and IAL has one of the best reversal of expectations that I've seen. Everything he writes is drenched in bitterness, but it rings true to his worlds. Plus, he makes vampires seem... er... real? Or at least plausible. Yes, yes, the movie is cute (mostly because of Will Smith singing Bob Marley to a dog) but it has very little in common with the book. Different plot, characters, setting, morale and theme. Odd that Smith would do that. IAmRobot

And the immortal line: "Once I thought [birds] sang because everything was right with the world[...] I know now I was wrong. They sing because they’re feeble-minded."

John Dies at the End, David Wong (Jason Pargin)

      Summary: 

      I don't... I really cant sum this one up. It should be read. The closest I could get is: sentient drug screws with the user's dimensional ties, but that does it a disservice. It's so much more.

      I tentatively call this horror. My usual regimen of horror doesn't include laughing until it hurts, utter mind-savaging weirdness, or penis jokes. But in the immortal words of Robin Williams: "when in doubt, go for the dick joke." Cracked.com author keeps that terribly strange sense of humor running into the sequel too, all the while telling a gorefest horror that has some powerfully personal moments that are not at all humorous but stick with you.

Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton

     Summary:

     Man clones dinosaurs, opens dinosaur theme park, things go poorly for all involved.

     It's science fiction horror about dinosaurs. It's also startlingly impressive in Crichton's own particular way. You'll either love it or hate it. Yes there's a load of time spent on science, but it's worth reading. Yes there's a lot of time spent on potential morals that can be drawn from the story, but they're philosophically sound. And the story is amazing. 

    It is better than the movie, and that is an exceptional movie. The first movie, i mean. I've vomited spaghettio's that spattered into a better story than the second movie.

Honorable Mentions:

H.P. Lovecraft

Summary:

Things got pretty weird.

      Mostly wrote short stories, and the longer his stories run, the weaker they tend to be. Hard to list him for a specific entry without mentioning a bunch of other good horror short stories. Buy a collection, though. He's the Tolkien of horror. I'd personally recommend The Color out of Space, and Call of Cthulhu. Suffer through the dialogue.