# Best Horror Writer!



## etexas (May 19, 2008)

I am rereading King's The Stand right now, so I though a poll on who our favorite "keep the lights on" writers are would be fun.


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

Throw in what Novel or Novels you like as well!


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## AV1611 (May 19, 2008)

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (*Php 4:8*)


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## ReformedWretch (May 19, 2008)

Jerry Jenkins


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## turmeric (May 19, 2008)

Jerry Jenkins  

Robert Bloch
Fritz Leiber
H.P.Lovecraft

Where have you guys been?

Richard, you _do_ have a point; I notice that I read a lot less of that stuff since becoming a Christian, but I'm not convinced it's wicked. I regard it as a parable of the law and the curse. Of course, I'm not talking about slasher stuff.


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## Seb (May 19, 2008)

I voted Stephen King - not because of all the other books he wrote, but strictly because of The Stand. I think it's maybe the best novel I've ever read from any genre. 

The rest of his books that I tried to read were too dark for my liking.

The Stand got in my head and messed with me for weeks after finishing it. What a great book!


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## SouthernHero (May 19, 2008)

Edgar Allan Poe, easily.


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## JBaldwin (May 19, 2008)

I haven't read a horror novel in years. I just finished listening to _Les Miserables_ for about the 3rd time which is fine book dealing with forgiveness, redemption, etc. though it is somewhat catholic. It's on my top 10 list


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## Blue Tick (May 19, 2008)

Joseph Smith...


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## matthew11v25 (May 19, 2008)

GOOSEBUMPS!!! j/k


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

Seb said:


> I voted Stephen King - not because of all the other books he wrote, but strictly because of The Stand. I think it's maybe the best novel I've ever read from any genre.
> 
> The rest of his books that I tried to read were too dark for my liking.
> 
> The Stand got in my head and messed with me for weeks after finishing it. What a great book!


I also voted King based on the merits of The Stand. It is a modern classic. King writes GREAT Short Stories! I recommend any of his collections.


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## py3ak (May 19, 2008)

_Christabel_ by S.T. Coleridge.


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## JM (May 19, 2008)

I enjoy dark romanticism or Gothic writing such as Poe mentioned above and the psychological terror of Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho" or James' "Turning of the Screw."


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

JM said:


> I enjoy dark romanticism or Gothic writing such as Poe mentioned above and the psychological terror of Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho" or James' "Turning of the Screw."


Poe is the "Godfather" of the Genre, if nothing more than the fact that all these years later Poe can STILL scare the socks off you!


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## MrMerlin777 (May 19, 2008)

One word,

POE.


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## Sonoftheday (May 19, 2008)

I don't really read horror, but I love thriller and these two genres often intermingle. 

I vote Dean Koontz (AKA Dean Kontz). I love the Odd Thomas Trilogy, and the Christopher Snow books. I really hope he brings out the next Frankenstein book soon. I recently read Darkest Evening of the Year and found it enjoyable, but not his best. 

Some of Stephen Kings stuff that I have read is rather grotesque or sexual and unappealing to me because of that (scenes from the novels of Dreamweaver and Thinner come to mind.) I have enjoyed what I have read by Richard Bachman though. Apparently though he died a few years ago Stephen King recently found another novel that Richard had written. 

This thread has inspired me to get a copy of The Stand, I have loved the movie for 5-6yrs now and watch it biyearly but I have yet to pick up the book.


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

Sonoftheday said:


> I don't really read horror, but I love thriller and these two genres often intermingle.
> 
> I vote Dean Koontz (AKA Dean Kontz). I love the Odd Thomas Trilogy, and the Christopher Snow books. I really hope he brings out the next Frankenstein book soon. I recently read Darkest Evening of the Year and found it enjoyable, but not his best.
> 
> ...


Oops! Sorry! I just saw my typo on Dean's last name! I did the thread pretty late...sorry! You will love the novel The Stand if you have only seen the movie!


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## Sonoftheday (May 19, 2008)

> Oops! Sorry! I just saw my typo on Dean's last name! I did the thread pretty late...sorry! You will love the novel The Stand if you have only seen the movie!



Hey I'm just glad I was able to point out someone else's typo for once. I do it constantly. (however Firefox's spell check helps nowadays.)


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

My next Poll will be "Who wants Rich to put a Spell Checker on the PB?"


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## JM (May 19, 2008)

SpellBound - Spellchecker for Firefox and the Mozilla Suite
ieSpell - Spell Checker add-on for Internet Explorer


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## danmpem (May 19, 2008)

Kenneth Robbins' _The Audition_ (the five character version). And Phillip Valle's 2007 play _Levee_.


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

danmpem said:


> Kenneth Robbins' _The Audition_ (the five character version). And Phillip Valle's 2007 play _Levee_.


I was hoping you would "weigh in", I remember you used to work at a (Boarders) in school. I bet that was a cool job (I love books) did you get a discount? That would make it cooler!


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## danmpem (May 19, 2008)

etexas said:


> danmpem said:
> 
> 
> > Kenneth Robbins' _The Audition_ (the five character version). And Phillip Valle's 2007 play _Levee_.
> ...



I did get a discount; but, the retail markup on books these days is so large that even with the discount (33% off), it was still cheaper to go with Amazon.com. I rarely bought books in the store. Just the same, I'm a used-book-kinda-person anyway.

The two plays listed about are both projects I've had the privilege to work on. The former is published (and may even be free to read online somewhere), while the latter should be release sometime in the next year or so (hopefully).


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## Seb (May 19, 2008)

JM said:


> SpellBound - Spellchecker for Firefox and the Mozilla Suite
> ieSpell - Spell Checker add-on for Internet Explorer



...and Google Toolbar has spell check built-in.

Off topic, I know, but I think Max has a Mac. Am I remembering right Max?


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## Presbyterian Deacon (May 19, 2008)

*I've read some Poe, and some King--but*

I didn't vote. I don't care for "horror" as a genre. 

I am more interested in a good mystery or fantasy when it comes to extra-biblical or "light reading."


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

Seb said:


> JM said:
> 
> 
> > SpellBound - Spellchecker for Firefox and the Mozilla Suite
> ...


I am a "Mac-Head."


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## etexas (May 19, 2008)

Presbyterian Deacon said:


> I didn't vote. I don't care for "horror" as a genre.
> 
> I am more interested in a good mystery or fantasy when it comes to extra-biblical or "light reading."


You are in luck! My next thread will be for best Mystery writers!


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## Presbyterian Deacon (May 19, 2008)

etexas said:


> Presbyterian Deacon said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't vote. I don't care for "horror" as a genre.
> ...



 Cool!


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## bookslover (May 20, 2008)

Sonoftheday said:


> I have enjoyed what I have read by Richard Bachman though. Apparently though he died a few years ago Stephen King recently found another novel that Richard had written.



Aren't Stephen King and Richard Bachman the same person?

As to other authors, how about M. R. James (1862-1936)? His specialty was the ghost story. See his interesting Wikipedia article.


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## J. David Kear (May 20, 2008)

Poe!

King is also a great writer across many genre.


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## VaughanRSmith (May 20, 2008)

King is King. Not because of his horror books, though. For his Dark Tower series.

And yes, Bachman is one of King's pseudonyms.


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## Theoretical (May 20, 2008)

_Pale Horse, Pale Rider_, by Katherine Ann Porter. It's semi-biographical in most of the book, and it is an excellent example of just how hollow a de-Christianized, skeptical worldview is in dealing with human or natural evil. 

Of historical interest (and how I came upon it in the first place), it remains the only narrative account of the Spanish Flu outbreak that spanned 1918-1920. In that regard, the last of the stories is basically a direct autobiography of what it was like to have a an almost-lethal bout with the disease. Very haunting and thought-provoking


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## Ivan (May 20, 2008)

I don't recall if I ever read a horror or thriller novel. In the past I have read a lot of John Irving and other authors like him. Yes, I do have a quirky side to me. However, it's been a very long time since I have read such novels. I think if I were to choose to read a novel today it would be a historical one. I've read a few of them in my past too.


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## danmpem (May 21, 2008)

Exagorazo said:


> King is King. Not because of his horror books, though. For his Dark Tower series.
> 
> And yes, Bachman is one of King's pseudonyms.



 I really enjoyed The Green Mile, Misery (it was more suspense than anything), and several of his short stories (like The Shawshank Redemption, or whatever the name of the short story was).


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## Sonoftheday (May 21, 2008)

> Aren't Stephen King and Richard Bachman the same person?



Yes, But in Stephen King style quirkiness he acts as if they are not. Accroding to wikipedia Stephen King had said that Bachman was dead in 1989, and the books published under the pseudonym since were "found by his widow."

Richard Bachman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## turmeric (May 21, 2008)

Sooo...one day when King is rooting around in his attic or basement, whichever is scarier, he finds a handwritten note, yellowed with age, which he had missed somehow from Bachman's widow, asking him to find out who did Bachman in. So he calls Dean Koontz, who specializes in this kind of thing, and find out something bonechilling...unbelievably creeeeeepy...


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## D. Paul (May 21, 2008)

Robert McCammon wrote "Usher's Passing" - scary. (Back when I could  be scared. Now I am stout and strong.

He's not as popular as the others but scary is scary.


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