So what I thought I'd do, even though I have previously provided a list of my top 15 favourite horror books, what I think I'll do here is list the 5 Horror books that I've given 5 - star ratings. They've all been read since I started on Goodreads. As well, some of the books that I'm planning to read maybe for my October Horror month.
5-Star Selections
"An excellent collection of the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, from Dagon, originally published in 1919 to The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, 1943. There are themes throughout, the Old Ones, the area of Arkham, Mass, the Miskatonic University, the Cthulhu, etc. The stories are creepy, moreso than outright terrifying, but still, leave you feeling nervous and chilled. Some are excellent; the Mountains of Madness, The Dunwich Horror, the Haunter of the Dark, the Thing on the Doorstep. Excellent to be provided the opportunity to explore Lovecraft's worlds and stories under one book."
"Boy's Life by Robert McCammon ranks up there with books by other authors; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. All great coming of age books that draw you in, tug at your heart, leave you emotionally drained.
This is the story of Cory Mackenson, a young boy growing up in Zephyr, Alabama. It's basically a year in the life, commencing when he and his father (a milk delivery man) see a car drive into Saxon Lake. Jake's dad jumps into the 'bottomless' lake to try and save the driver and discovers that the man is not only dead but handcuffed to the steering wheel and had been beaten up.
This incident with haunt both Cory and his father throughout the book. Cory will try to discover who murdered the man. His father will be haunted by dreams of the man. We follow Cory and his friends, Johnny, Ben, and Davy Ray as they go to school, get involved in boyhood adventures and deal with many traumas.
It's a fascinating, rich, tense, excellent story. McCammon draws you into Cory's life and grabs your heart strings and also keeps it pumping when things get tense. There are normal events that many of us experience growing up but it is also a very gritty story, with violence and ratcheted tension that will strain Cory, his friends and his family. Lovely characters make the story even richer, with my personal favorite being The Lady. There is too much going on to get into any real detail. Just know that you will fall into the life of Cory and be somewhat bereft when the story ends. But still glad that you got to experience it. (5.0 stars)"
"I've read a couple of other Dean Koontz books before, quite a few years ago actually and I enjoyed them but at the time my favourite horror author was Stephen King. Recently I started hearing good things about the Odd Thomas series so I decided to try the first book, Odd Thomas.
What an excellent book! I love the character of Odd Thomas, the short order cook who can see dead people and gets involved trying to help them. I also liked the characters who make up his unique and interesting friends; lovely Stormy Llewellyn (his soul mate), Little Oswald, his friend who encourages Odd to write this story; Chief Porter, who is a father figure and who believes in Odd's talents and uses them while protecting Odd; and Terri Stambaugh, his boss and Elvis Presley afficionado.
Odd meets a stranger to town and gets a weird vibe off him. Demonish creatures, bodachs, start to swarm around the town and Odd gets a feeling that something bad is going to happen. The story moves along at a nice pace as Odd investigates the stranger to find out what evil he is plotting. There is a skillfully crafted tension that grows and grows. I found icy fingers crawling up and down my back in certain scenes. Such an excellent story and a surprising ending that left me feeling quite bereft. I'm so glad that I finally started this series. I look forward with anticipation to continuing a journey with Odd Thomas."
"I woke up last night & couldn't get back to sleep. So I turned on the bed side lamp and decided to read for a bit to help me relax. Mistake. I ended up finishing Red X by David Demchuk & then laying in bed for another hour thinking about the book; its richness, the great characters, the great writing ... It was worth it.
Before I get into my thoughts, I provide the author's warning -
"Red X is a tale of terror. It includes graphic violence, implied sexual assault, animal violence, family violence, strong sexual themes, and discussions of racism, ableism, anxiety disorders, homophobia, and suicide. It is intended for mature readers."
In some ways, this book reminds me of House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. Why? House of Leaves had stories layered upon other stories, a story about the narrator who's investigating a dead friends effects, that friend's own investigation and then the main story of the House. Red X was similar. The main story is set in Toronto's gay community, from the 80s through to the present day.
Gay men are disappearing. Friends of the main characters just disappear. Their clothes are sometimes found but they are nowhere to be found. Shadowy figures are seen in back yards, at clubs. When you are able to sense them (it), as some of the characters can, they appear just out of your vision, but when you look directly, they are gone. The main characters are Trevor, Sergio, Salem and Robyn (and a dog, Samson). But a number of other characters appear and disappear.
Another story line is set in very early Toronto, when it was still York and in Scotland. It follows a group of wealthy Torontonians, especially Wood, who engage in sexual activities in the northern woods of the city. One is sent back to Scotland where he joins another 'men's club' which engages in similar practices. This is where we meet Nicholas, a barghest (you have to read the book) who he will bring back to Toronto....
Interspersed with these story lines is the author's story. Demchuk talks about his life as a gay man, how gays are portrayed in horror (victims / villains). He even plays a part in the main story as he communicates with Salem... He provides a world weary, sometimes humorous outlet. Demchuk is with his ailing mother in Winnipeg. I liked a conversation he had with a hospital worker;
' I remember the night nurse soon after she was admitted to find out how she was doing. He quietly asked me if I'd noticed any unusual behaviour from her. When I asked for an example of 'unusual' he said she had told her assigned doctor that she didn't want him near her, that she thought he was a fake. I asked if the doctor was by any chance a person of colour, for example, 'brown' and the nurse laughed and admitted that yes the doctor in question was South Asian. ... I advised the nurse that unfortunately this was not unusual for her (I believe I referred to her as 'an inveterate racist').....'
Anyway, I digress. The story moves between this fiction / horror story and almost historical non-fiction, blending both into each other beautifully. There is almost too much to mention in a simple review. We move from Toronto and easily into the fae world. The main characters are wonderful, sympathetic, caring for each other. There are very poignant moments throughout. At the end there is a dinner party of those who had experienced the loss of loved ones and I don't want to ruin it for you, but it was emotional in such a simple way. The horror is also well presented; at times shadowy and times graphically.
Excellent book, one of the best I've read this year. (5 stars)"
"Wow! Do I need to say anything else about Ring Shout by P. Djèli Clark? Oh... I do? OK. Well, Ring Shout is historical fiction along with alternate history and horror, all packed up in less than 200 pages. It's about Maryse Boudreaux and her two friends and fellow freedom fighters, Sadie, of the sharp shooting skill and Chef, also known by Cordelia, ex WWI veteran and an expert with bombs. It's 1915 in Macon, Ga. Maryse has a magical sword that channels the anger, guilt, rage of dead slaves, slave traders, etc. These three, along with Nana Jean, a Gullah woman, a kind of witch are fighting for their lives against the Klan.
This more than your average Klan. There are human Klan members but many have been converted to Ku Kluxers, demons who have taken over the bodies of the humans. D W Griffiths The Birth of a Nation. This film is demonized and has brought about a 2nd Klan revival and the demons are hungry. The trio are fighting to get rid of them, to send them back to hell.
But..... But.... the three face an even stronger enemy, led by someone called Butcher Clyde. He wants, needs Maryse to help with his own invasion. Ans he's evil!!! Oh, right, Maryse also has three more mentors, three ladies who live in another time slip (let's call it that), three aunties who chose Maryse after her family was destroyed by Klan monsters. They gave her the sword.
I'll leave the plot there. It's a fascinating story. For a relatively short story, the characters are well fleshed out. The plot moves along quickly. You quickly develop strong feelings for the three women. They are all individuals and fascinating characters. There are secrets. There is lots of action. There is a lot of emotion. You may cry. Clark has grabbed you quickly, got you involved immediately and led you on a breathless race to the end. One of the best books I've read this year. (5.0 stars)"
I hope you can see from this brief selection of books the fantastic variety within the Horror genre. If you decide to check out the two non-fiction books I mentioned at the beginning, you will get an even better picture. So.. what about my possible reads of the future. I do have quite a collection now, many bought in the past year or so. I'll start with one that is next on one of my challenge lists then maybe throw in another 9 or so, to give you ten books you might like to check out.
Future Reads
"The rule of the wasps. It all started with a nuclear test that went wrong. The test cracked the bed of the sea, raised a volcano the height of Vesuvius where before there had been a five-mile Deep...
Then the Furies struck - monstrous and deadly wasps nearly the size of man.Their nests sprang up all over the world. They descended and slaughtered humanity at will. Breeding in their nests by the billions, they began enslaving the earth..."
In that house, there is a psychic called Kline who is part of its secret.
The Keeper is guardian of the house, of the psychic, and of the secret.
But now an outsider must protect them from a terrible danger. Halloran will combat men who thrive on physical corruptions; he will find love of a perverse nature; he will confront his soul's own darkness. And, eventually, he will discover the horrific and awesome secret of the Sepulchre."
The Lady of the Shroud, published here in its full and unabridged form, is a fascinating and engrossing concoction of a vampire tale, Ruritanian adventure story and science fiction romance. The novel fully demonstrates the breadth and ingenuity of Stoker's imagination.
The spine-chilling The Lair of the White Worm features a monstrous worm secreted for thousands of years in a bottomless well and able to metamorphose into a seductive woman of a reptilian beauty who survives on her victim's life blood. The novel contains some of Stoker's most graphic and grisly moments of horror."
And before too many hours pass, five civilized, sophisticated people and one tired old country sheriff will learn just how primitive we all are beneath the surface...and that there are no limits at all to the will to survive."
There's something in the water...
On the edge of the Northern Atlantic lies a remote island. The islanders are an outwardly harmonious community—but all have their own secrets, some much darker than others. And when a strange disorder begins to infect them all, those secrets come to light.
Ferry service fails and contact with the mainland is lost. Rumors begin to swirl as a temporary inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal. The fabric of the once tight-knit island is unnervingly torn apart—and whatever the cause, the question soon stops being how or why it happened, but who, if anyone, will survive."
When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over.
But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his questions? Is he friend? Enemy? Or something else altogether?
A novella filled with beauty, terror and strangeness, This Census-Taker is a poignant and riveting exploration of memory and identity."
Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process--and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he's been dreaming--which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.
Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group--known as "Arrivalists"--who may be fomenting revolution.
Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized--and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth."
One sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on and is greeted by a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town – even the police – think she’s dead.
Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything, know the most intimate details about each other . . . except for the destructive secret hidden from them both. A secret that will trigger a chain of events ending in tragedy, bloodshed, and death. And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story – the real story.
In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly disquieting breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend – a person she never truly knew at all. . . ."
In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.
But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.
But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.
And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems."
It’s the summer before senior year for best friends Tolly Driver and Amber Dennison. They’re not in the marching band, they’re not in the FFA – they don’t really count. Amber’s the only Native student in town, and Tolly’s only on the radar due to his father’s recent death.
This is all about to change.
Bodies are going to be dropping fast in this small West Texas town. For a few unbearably hot days that will resonate through the decades and even get made into a TV movie, Tolly and Amber will be famous. Notorious even. Finally, everyone will know their names.
This is Stephen Graham Jones x-raying the slasher genre, interrogating its motivations over the shoulder and in the voice of the killer itself – from a town he did some growing up in, in a year he was also seventeen.
The kills will be poignant, the jokes will hurt, and the violence will be endearing. Everything’s turned around for Tolly, for Amber – for all of Lamesa, Texas.
Be happy you weren’t there.
Be happy you’re only reading about it."
