Be Afraid: It's Horror Week on Goodreads!

The Hallowed Ones made vampires scary again. I was afraid to close my eyes when I set it down and tried to sleep.

Stephen King Firestarter right after completing The Institute and The Body by SK as well, which was great.

"To build a fire" by Jack London is the only true horror story I have ever read. Nothing else, nothing in the category of "horror" books, has actually scared me to the point of hearing my heartbeats.

Bunches of things here I'd like to comment on.

Middle school and early high school reading? Try . Besides starting an appreciation of the short story, it introduces a wide range of style and subject matter from H. G. Wells' "The Sea Raiders" to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls," from Geoffrey Household's "Taboo" to Isak Dinesen's "The Sailor-Boy's Tale," from Dickens to Faulkner.

I haven't seen the movie Kwaidon but the book is one of the most beautifully, delicately written fantasy works I've ever read.

I just finished , which is a good ghost story about dead witches. I wouldn't put it in the Shirley Jackson stratosphere, but it's about on par with Joe Hill's , and maybe just a bit better.

Currently reading which is scratching an itch I hadn't realized I had. Old fashioned tales of the supernatural told with some wit and most of time an ending you're not quite expecting, a Christie specialty.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. The master of horror and suspense.

Elizabeth(The Book Whisperer) wrote: "Getting ready to start Stephen King's The Institute"

It was so good!

Some of the scariest books I've read are the old Stephen King books that start with an "S": The Shining, Salem's Lot, and The Stand. Thomas Tryon's book The Other is truly frightening, and any short story by Shirley Jackson is eerie.

I just finished Pet Sematary!

Jelena wrote: "Dracul
This one is sooo spooooky"
Saw it in the bookshop the other day and wanted to buy it but was scared it will be too scary... Would yo recommend it to someone who is new to horror genre and doesn't really know how much can take? ;)

"Passage" by Connie Willis absolutely scared the snot out of me for days.

Alex wrote: ""Passage" by Connie Willis absolutely scared the snot out of me for days."

LOL ! Happy Halloween .

I'm rereading a new find: Penpal by Dathan Auerbach 👻 I found the author on the NoSleep podcast and wow...what a great storyteller! This will stay with you... (but make sure you get the real one b/c there are some creepypasta adaptations that aren't the same)

For a new twist on vampires, try Robin McKinley's Sunshine

Read The Yellow Wallpaper and I recommend it for a short psychological horror story (with an interesting historical/feminist angle).

Currently reading The Whisper Man :)

Scariest book to me is The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. Don't be fooled by those idiotic movies; this is the ultimate in psychological terror.

Melliott wrote: "Scariest book to me is The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. Don't be fooled by those idiotic movies; this is the ultimate in psychological terror."

You are SO right on this one. There is no one who can compare to Shirley Jackson! The 1963 movie version of the story is the closest adaptation to the story, but for sheer scary, scary ... The Haunting of Hill House is THE ONE!

"Pet Sematary"! It's my second book by Stephen King! The first one was "Dreamcatcher" which I read more than 10 years ago. I remember it was disappointing and felt more like a silly comedy rather than a piece of horror fiction. But I'm glad I gave Mr King a second chance, because "Pet Sematary turned out to be great! Already wondering which book I should pick next!

Alexander wrote: "Hello, I would like to ask for recommendation. I like black metal music and I would like to read something homologous in literature, to have the same kind of emotions. What books would introduce me..."

😎 You should try 'Heart Shaped Box' by Joe Hill... and Grady Hendrix's novels 'My Best Friend's Exorcism' and 'I Sold my Soul' and 'Wanderers' by Chuck Wendig...actually I love Chuck Wendig's 'Miriam Black' novels. It's six books, but seems like not enough. She's a hilariously foul-mouthed psychic whom if she makes skin contact with another person... She can see how AND when said person will die.

If you want to experience horror you never experienced before, Piaget's Last Fear is FREE today (Halloween, 31. November) on Amazon Kindle store. Get the book for free now and keep it forever in your library.

In an old psychiatric asylum, a psychology freshman meets a strange patient—a "faceless girl", bound to her bed with heavy leather restraints. She holds a secret that's about to unfold in an obscure laboratory, during an experiment which will bring the young psychologist to the edge of life and of sanity itself.

I just saw that Piaget's Last Fear is free today on Kindle. That's no good for me, because I payed for it full price on Amazon some year ago :) Nevermind… I can recommend it to all mystery/horror/psychology lovers out there.

image:

Try my Book - Pumpkin Halloween :)
https://www.amazon.com/Pumpkin-Hallow...

I read "A Spectral Hue" for horror week. Though it does have elements of horror it truly aligns well with surrealism/magical realism. A great read!

Michelle wrote: "Jelena wrote: "Dracul
This one is sooo spooooky"

I LOVE Dracul. It thought it was better than Dracula."

Preach it, my friend! Best horror ever!!!!

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I actually attempted to read some Lovecraft recently and was so bored I couldn't finish it."

Lovecraft is tedious. Instead, try stories and novels that are inspired by Lovecraft. The horror is better and so is the writing.

I've really enjoyed reading The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford, The Vanishing by Wendy Webb and The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo this October!

Leigh wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I actually attempted to read some Lovecraft recently and was so bored I couldn't finish it."

Lovecraft is tedious. Instead, try sto..."

I'd suggest "The Rats in the Walls" or "The Colour Out of Space" if you're willing to give HPL another chance but haven't read either of those. If they don't do it for you, he's not for you.

HPL influenced works, there are some really good ones:
The Grin of the Dark
The Red Tree
The Drowning Girl
The Croning

There are other good ones, but I found those four exceptional.

Jill wrote: "I've really enjoyed reading The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford, ..."

I really liked the Ford. The Twilight Pariah is similar, and maybe a bit too much so. As a novella, it's not as well developed, but still a good read.

Keith wrote: "Please, this Halloween read Shirley Jacksons The Haunting of Hill House. It must be one of the best out there!"

And the movie, too! I saw the movie when it came out in 1964; I was nine. It scared the heck out of me!

I got passive-agressive clown in the Cellar...... I don't have a cellar

Rebekah wrote: "I got passive-agressive clown in the Cellar...... I don't have a cellar"

I was a professional clown. My experience has been that in some children there is a gene-level fear of clowns. Others embrace us without question. My responsibility has always been to protect the children AND ADULTS from themselves. Some adults seem to forget where they are, and I have seen people walk into traffic to cross the street to meet me. I must protect them as well.

One time I was working a street fair making balloon animals for the kids. I was standing next to a booth and it was really crowded. I could barely move. A man was looking at the trinkets on the table next to me when he suddenly noticed I was there. He reared back in fear of the clown (me) and raised a fist. He was going to hit me. I turned away from him and looked at the children. I was going to let him hit me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had realized what he was about to do and stopped himself. He moved quickly away from me as the crowds would allow.

That was my job. I had to deal with the people who loved to see me and those who absolutely did not. Either way, I loved them.

Regarding horror I generally don't indulge in the genre, but I did read a book by Connie Willis that scared the living daylights out of me. It was entitled, "Passage". I was spooked for days afterward.

LOL !! Thanks . Best laugh of 2020 . Your review of PASSAGE is just why I don't touch the horror or the gothic genres . I'm reading
RIVERKEEP by Martin Stewart . It's classified as YA with only a little bit of macabre . I should have read it during horror week but couldn't find it in my stacks .
Do yourself a favor and do YA horror or gothic for Horror Week this year . They are much easier on the nerves . Happy reading in 2020 .

Vanessa wrote: "LOL !! Thanks . Best laugh of 2020 . Your review of PASSAGE is just why I don't touch the horror or the gothic genres . I'm reading
RIVERKEEP by Martin Stewart . It's classified as YA with only a ..."

If you like that then you will probably like " House of Teeth"
by Dan Jolley. It is an Audible Original audiobook about a teenager in the bayou who begins to realize that his southern branch of the family is imbued with a certain amount of magic and so is he. There is a certain power living in the swamps and it has something to do with the death of his father. He wasn't really killed in an auto accident. Was he?

I am currently reading Dracula The Undead. Author Dacre Stoker has turned Bram Stokers classic tale of terror into a trilogy. Bloody Good!

Alex wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "LOL !! Thanks . Best laugh of 2020 . Your review of PASSAGE is just why I don't touch the horror or the gothic genres . I'm reading
RIVERKEEP by Martin Stewart . It's classified as..."

Thanks . I'll check it out .

Angelina wrote: "Am angelina lucy from california USA..."

This type of bullshit SPAM is never helpful, even less so at a time like this.

Kindly, go fuck yourself!