The Definitive List: Authors in the Classic Vein

[Simon]

A companion list to the definitive list of classic horror authors, this will be a list of authors who, although started writing horror after 1960, tend(ed) to write horror in the classic vein.

I'll start the ball rolling with a few suggestions but please chip in to nominate others.

Aycliffe, Jonathan - (The Lost)
Barron, Laird - (The Imago Sequence and Other Stories)
Campbell, Ramsey - (Demons by Daylight, Alone with the Horrors)
Cannon, Peter H. - (Scream for Jeeves: A Parody)
Cardin, Matt - (Dark Awakenings)
Copper, Basil - (The Great White Space)
Cottam, F.G. - (The House of Lost Souls)
Golaski, Adam - (Worse Than Myself)
Gregory, Stephen - (The Blood of Angels)
Harwood, John - (The Ghost WriterThe Seance)
Hill, Susan - (The Woman in Black)
Kiernan, Caitlín R. - (The Red Tree)
Langan, John - (Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters)
Ligotti, Thomas - (Teatro Grottesco)
Lumley, Brian - (The Taint and Other Novellas, Fruiting Bodies - And Other Fungi)
Oliver, Reggie - (Dramas from the Depths)
Pugmire, W.H. - (The Fungal Stain And Other Dreams)
Russell, Ray - (Haunted Castles)
Samuels, Mark - (The White Hands And Other Weird Tales)
Talley, Brett J. - (That Which Should Not Be)
Thomas, Jonathan - (Midnight Call and Other Stories)
Unsworth, Simon Kurt - (Lost Places)
Valentine, Mark - (The Collected Connoisseur)

[[deleted user]]

ah, nice distinction; here is a good place then to include Ramsey Campbell. I would also suggest Brian Lumley, though I'm not sure what would be determined as his definitive work.

[Simon]

If not a difinitive work, then perhaps a recommendation of where to start with the author for those who've not read them before?

[[deleted user]]

For Brian Lumley I would suggest the novella collection The Taint which are stories in a Lovecraftian style.

[mark]

Basil Copper - The Great White Space

[Simon]

Thanks for that suggestion. I've not heard of Basil copper.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Jamesian Enthusiast]

How about John Harwood? The Ghost Writer and The Seance

and Sarah Waters The Little Stranger

[Amanda]

i enjoyed most of Fruiting Bodies and Other Fungi from Brian Lumley.

[mark]

Mark Valentine - The Collected Connoisseur
Mark Samuels - The White Hands and Other Weird Tales
W.H. Pugmire - The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams
Peter Cannon - Scream for Jeeves
John Langan - Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters
Caitlin Kiernan - The Red Tree
Jonathan Aycliffe - The Lost
F.G. Cottam - House of Lost Souls

[Simon]

Thanks for all those.

I'm about to be going on holiday for a couple of weeks so I won't be in a position to update the list so don't be despondant if it seems like your suggestions in future are being ignored.

[Simon]

I've got Aickman in the other definitive list thread as he started publishing stories in the 50's but he's definitely a borderline case!

[Martha]

We are considering Matheson "classic" since he started writing before 1960. We'll leave writers like King and Koontz to other horror groups.

[Werner]

Kyle, Harvest Home was written by Thomas Tryon, and "The Monkey's Paw" is by W. W. Jacobs.

[Karen]

I loved written in the style of H P Lovecraft

[Leah]

Hill, Susan - (The Woman in Black)

It's the only book by Hill I've read but I gave it 5 stars. And I was (am) reading Collected Ghost Stories by M.R. James at the same time, so it was easy to see how much hers was influenced by his.

[James]

You're right Leah; 'Woman In Black' definitely has that old fashioned feel...

[Benjamin]

Hey Simon,

Nice list. Thought about adding Reggie Oliver to that list? I would suggest his omnibus to cover all of his amazing works.

[Simon]

Thanks Benjamin, I've heard interesting things about Reggie Oliver and plan to read him soon...

[James]

I think I've read a few Reggie Oliver ones in anthologies, but not a whole collection. I wasn't aware of that big omnibus, so thanks.

Adam Golaski's Worse Than Myself is worth a mention - one of the best new weird fiction collections I've read in years.

[Ron]

Brian McNaughton: Throne of Bones

[mark]

great choice, Ron, great! he's always forgotten. have you read any ohter McNaughton?

[Ron]

I've read 'Nasty Stories' 1 & 2. Those books were probably the only horror besides a couple of Barron pieces that have actually disturbed me (although two non-fiction books can claim that title). I've never read the 're-titled' books..."Satan's Whatevers". I would if I could get my hands on some prints, I suppose. Other than that, I think the only thing he was ever commissioned to write was some porn. I'm married and over 18, so I wouldn't be embarrassed by that stuff, just not much interested. Although, I'm sure he wrote it well, some of the stuff in the 'Nasty Stories' books got a little racy.

[Ron]

...and already I show either my ignorance or forgetfulness...I checked the author profile...apparently, there's another short story set I don't *think* I have. Will have to verify whether I have them or not...which may be a little tough to do right now, we just moved and the books are boxed up.

[Ron]

Okay, was right in the first post. The books I'm seeing are re-issues and edits of the 're-titled' books. I should have checked Amazon before I posted in the first place.

[mark]

you should check out The House Across the Way, it is excellent.

[Ron]

Hmmmmm....I hadn't seen that one. I'll probably end up buying it. I think Wildside prints all their books on platinum. I don't mind shellin' out the bucks for a nice L.E. set like 'I Am Providence', but everything they print in paperback is pricey...even the public domain stuff.

[Ron]

Joyce Carol Oates: Lots to pick from

[Martha]

McNaughton is excellent, The Throne of Bones was genuinely disturbing to me, I loved it! I think it should have been made clear by Ron's posts, but I'm just putting it out there: McNaughton's stuff is gory and highly sexual at times. FYI to our more squeamish readers!

[Simon]

Great horror it may be, but surely being "gory and highly sexually explicit" puts it outside of the category for what people are looking for when they want horror in the classic vein?

[Jon Recluse]

I would think so.

[Werner]

I'd agree with Simon and Jon on that.

[Martha]

Yes, I agree. I do recommend it as modern horror but wouldn't say it's in the classic vein.

[Werner]

Personally, I think that restraint in the use of gory and sexual elements is a quintessential part of the classic writing style in this genre. It's one of the features that most sharply differentiates the older classics from much of the more contemporary writing.

[Jon Recluse]

I agree.
Classic horror is usually Quiet Horror.

[Jon Recluse]

I'm open to a vote on a case by case basis.

[Werner]

Scott wrote: "Restraint doesn't mean not using it at all."

That's true enough! It would mean, though, not going over the top with it. I haven't read any of McNaughton's work, so I'm not much of an authority on how to classify it specifically. :-)

[Jon Recluse]

If "highly explicit sex" is notable, I'm against it.

Just my personal taste, but I rank sex with bathroom breaks in literature.
You know they do it, you don't need it described to you.

[Jon Recluse]

Me.

[Jon Recluse]

I don't want a lobotomy.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Jamesian Enthusiast]

I tend to agree that restraint and gentility is a crucial element in most classic horror. There are always exceptions to the rule. If one can see other distinctive defining qualities in a work that puts it in the classic horror vein, then I respect that person's view. I think we will all see things somewhat differently from someone else.

Certainly pulp horror from the 20s and 30s can be rather shocking in content, but I still put it in the category of classic horror because it's pre-1960.

[Benjamin]

Speaking of shocking... has anyone read ECHO OF A CURSE (1939) by R.R. Ryan? Pretty tame by todays splatterpunk gorific standards... but whoa... I can't beleive this one wasn't banned in England at the time.

[Jon Recluse]

The Monk can be considered shocking, but, by today's standards, you could film it as an after-school special.....

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Jamesian Enthusiast]

Now I have to read Echo of a Curse!

[Simon]

I've not read "The Throne of Bones" but perhaps it's advocates could explain what it is about it that they think makes it classifiable as being in the classic vein.

[mark]

i am an advocate. i was pleased with the choice because the more folks who know about the author, the better. however i cannot strongly advocate for his inclusion on the list. as much as i would like to see his name there, it is really only because he is an unsung author.

but it is not about the sexuality that is in his novels (several of the authors in the list above have the same) but rather because he neither writes in a classical style or pastiche, nor does he write about classic 'weird fiction' ideas.

[Osie]

I’m quite surprised not to see Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) on this list. “The Willows” and “The Wendigo” (which I wrote a blog post about HERE if anyone is interested) are his most famous horror stories.

Although I’ve heard people say something to the effect of calling Blackwood’s writing “horror stories” is like saying the Sistine Chapel is a “good painting,” Blackwood is not very often read these days. His work usually includes actual supernatural events, however, his stories are generally very psychological in nature and would disturbing even without the supernatural stuff.

[mark]

Blackwood is indeed wonderful! but this list is for modern authors who write in the classic vein.

[Simon]

Blackwood is included on the definitive list of classic horror authors.

[Robert]

Hi,
I just started exploring this discussion group today and came across (through one of the links on this page) , "The Beast With Five Fingers - Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural" by W@illiam Fryer Harvey. Is anyone familiar with Mr. Harvey? Thoughts? Comments?

[Werner]

I've read and liked both that story and another one by Harvey, "August Heat."