My Top Halloween Reads
Posted by pete in General, Literature on October 29th, 2008
For any of you looking for some frights this Halloween, I have compiled a list of my top reads to celebrate my favorite time of year.
VAMPIRES
Dracula - Bram Stoker - The one that started it all, there is no better and there never will be.
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson - Second only to the master, a terrifying read.
Salem’s Lot - Stephen King - Definitely belongs in the top three as required vampire reading.
Necroscope - Brian Lumley - He redefined the vampire legend with this stunning series.
Blood Red - James Moore - A fresh take on the vampire mythos in Jim Moore’s undeniable style.
They Thirst - Robert McCammon - A modern vampire classic that is greatly under appreciated.
CLASSIC HORROR
The Raven and The Premature Burial - Edgar Allen Poe - I know, I know a poem and a story, but I couldn’t decide between the two…well it is my list.
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson - An icon in horror literature, I never tire of reading this.
The Dunwich Horror - H.P. Lovecraft - One of the creepiest stories ever written.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - A young girls legacy to the horror genre that I try to reaquaint myself with every few years.
The Haunting Of Hill House - Shirley Jackson - Simply the best opening paragraph in literary history. “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
MODERN HORROR
Ghost Story - Peter Straub - First time I read this the power went out and I had to finish by candlelight…one of the scariest experiences in my life.
The Hollower - Mary SanGiovanni - A new writer’s first book that makes it into my top Halloween reads. A stunning first novel with a great monster. My review and interview will be up soon.
Hell House - Richard Matheson - One of the best haunted house stories ever written, guaranteed to keep you awake at night.
The Shining - Stephen King - Redefined the haunted house genre with this modern classic of terror
The Wolf’s Hour - Robert McCammon - A novel approach to the werewolf legend.
