Post by kylerexpop on Aug 2, 2004 13:13:21 GMT -5
i grew up reading stephen king. i still think salem's lot is fantastic. but i've also read more scary stuff, and i must find more! if you've got any suggestions, i want you to hit me as hard as you can. meanwhile, try some of these if you haven't:
nightmare by sk epperson - totally disturbing blend of real-life horror, mental problems, and sex deviancy. i read it when i was like in junior high at my local public library, and it was so sick and twisted that i was tainted forever. today, it still holds up as his/her best book (i never paid attention to the author; i think it's a girl. i just don't know). i have one or two other epperson books, and oh, i just remembered i read borderland and it had a similar tone to nightmare, but it wasn't as gloriously cool (nightmare had lesbians) and the ending was vague and personally antagonizing. still, if you can find nightmare (check used bookstores) it's good.
anything by bentley little - i have to say, though, that your first bentley little book will probably be your favorite, because they're all really similar (am i spelling similar correctly? i'm having a bad morning) and while it's not once-you've-read-one-you've-read-them-all, you certainly pick up on his formula. he's sort of a literary michael moore, where each book is not just a way to scare you, it's also a way for him to pick on something he doesn't like (homeowner's associations, insurance companies, sexual practices at universities, etc.). but you can be assured of three things:
1. each little book has very creative and terrifying plot twists and/or antagonists
2. there will be at least a little overt sexual deviancy in the plot, and often a whole lot of sexual deviancy (but in an honest "hey, that's what i do with my girlfriend/boyfriend" way)
3. the ending will be close to anti-climatic, and will almost make you think the book was a disaster, until you realize that the build-up was so good that the rushed ending didn't hurt the story, and since these little books are sort of grounded in reality, this probably is how things would end anyway, yeah?
if you want to try him out, i suggest starting with [glow=red,2,300]the return[/glow] or [glow=red,2,300]the policy[/glow], and work your way up to the perverse twistedness of [glow=red,2,300]the house[/glow] and [glow=red,2,300]university[/glow]. i read university when i was much younger (i read a lot, don't i?) and there is some sexual stuff in there that blew my young mind! man, that bentley little is one cool cat.
summer of night by dan simmons - i met dan simmons a few times, because back in colorado there was this great little used bookstore that was almost exclusively horror books, called "little bookshop of horrors," if i remember correctly, and they'd have authors drop by to do readings and stuff, and simmons was always up for it. pretty cool. i think i liked simmons too because my ninth grade english teacher mark graham highly reccommended him, and we all trusted mr. graham because he was a great teacher and a book reviewer for the rocky mountain news that was into horror and is credited (in no less than the stephen king story bio) as being the professional critic who first figured out (or had the b*lls to print in his column) that richard bachman was really stephen king. anyway, summer of night is a king-esque tale of kids fighting vampires in their small podunk town, but simmons manages to make it cool and throw in a hot girl who is really into one of the lead kids (you'll know what i'm talking about when you get there). it's a sprawling epic, with a little too much baseball for my liking, but it's a worthwhile long summer read if you like that sort of long-winded describe everything horror yarns. maybe i'll try to read it again. play ball!
i'm tired of this, now. i can't even type correctly or spell . . . good; i need some yogurt. tell me what you think!
kyle
nightmare by sk epperson - totally disturbing blend of real-life horror, mental problems, and sex deviancy. i read it when i was like in junior high at my local public library, and it was so sick and twisted that i was tainted forever. today, it still holds up as his/her best book (i never paid attention to the author; i think it's a girl. i just don't know). i have one or two other epperson books, and oh, i just remembered i read borderland and it had a similar tone to nightmare, but it wasn't as gloriously cool (nightmare had lesbians) and the ending was vague and personally antagonizing. still, if you can find nightmare (check used bookstores) it's good.
anything by bentley little - i have to say, though, that your first bentley little book will probably be your favorite, because they're all really similar (am i spelling similar correctly? i'm having a bad morning) and while it's not once-you've-read-one-you've-read-them-all, you certainly pick up on his formula. he's sort of a literary michael moore, where each book is not just a way to scare you, it's also a way for him to pick on something he doesn't like (homeowner's associations, insurance companies, sexual practices at universities, etc.). but you can be assured of three things:
1. each little book has very creative and terrifying plot twists and/or antagonists
2. there will be at least a little overt sexual deviancy in the plot, and often a whole lot of sexual deviancy (but in an honest "hey, that's what i do with my girlfriend/boyfriend" way)
3. the ending will be close to anti-climatic, and will almost make you think the book was a disaster, until you realize that the build-up was so good that the rushed ending didn't hurt the story, and since these little books are sort of grounded in reality, this probably is how things would end anyway, yeah?
if you want to try him out, i suggest starting with [glow=red,2,300]the return[/glow] or [glow=red,2,300]the policy[/glow], and work your way up to the perverse twistedness of [glow=red,2,300]the house[/glow] and [glow=red,2,300]university[/glow]. i read university when i was much younger (i read a lot, don't i?) and there is some sexual stuff in there that blew my young mind! man, that bentley little is one cool cat.
summer of night by dan simmons - i met dan simmons a few times, because back in colorado there was this great little used bookstore that was almost exclusively horror books, called "little bookshop of horrors," if i remember correctly, and they'd have authors drop by to do readings and stuff, and simmons was always up for it. pretty cool. i think i liked simmons too because my ninth grade english teacher mark graham highly reccommended him, and we all trusted mr. graham because he was a great teacher and a book reviewer for the rocky mountain news that was into horror and is credited (in no less than the stephen king story bio) as being the professional critic who first figured out (or had the b*lls to print in his column) that richard bachman was really stephen king. anyway, summer of night is a king-esque tale of kids fighting vampires in their small podunk town, but simmons manages to make it cool and throw in a hot girl who is really into one of the lead kids (you'll know what i'm talking about when you get there). it's a sprawling epic, with a little too much baseball for my liking, but it's a worthwhile long summer read if you like that sort of long-winded describe everything horror yarns. maybe i'll try to read it again. play ball!
i'm tired of this, now. i can't even type correctly or spell . . . good; i need some yogurt. tell me what you think!
kyle
