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Author	Topic: How scary are horror novels really for you?
Excellence Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 6/5/05 5:33am Subject: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	Never read any horror novels so far, unless I count that flimsy Sleep Hollow book I read as a preteen, more comical than scary. Or perhaps I misinterpreted what I was supposed to be feeling. Only read a few diary chapters of Dracula, but loving it todate. Never read a Stephen King horror, and the prospect of wading through a thousand pages doesn't seduce. So what makes them scary for you? Is it the style, the way they're penned? The events themselves? Or perhaps both, and how suspense is built? I'm curious if anyone actually grips their book tightly, cringing or ooh-ahhing at times. -----signature----- Rock-a-by baby, on the treetop, Beaming with pride, the filth they hold, But when the wind blows, my temper implodes, High above a pit, filled with sharkticons, Down will come hardcover addicts, beaming no more. ©
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Mastadge Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Jun '99	Date Posted: 6/5/05 6:27am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	Horror novels tend to rely more on conceptual scariness and gruesomeness. They don't tend to be adrenaline rush scary, edge of your seat scary. That's because it's very, very difficult to maintain a feeling of horror. Horror is generally much, much better suited to short stories. Most horror novels are garbage. Lots of T&A, lots of blood, but very little that's actually scary. Those that aren't garbage are usually not scary in an immediate way, but rather get under your skin and unnerve you scary -- or show you a side of human nature that you'd rather not see scary. I'd say they're generally more awful than scary. Some of the scariest books I've ever read have been The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum, which is based on actual events and is one of the most terrifically awful books I've ever read, making me almost physically ill and feeling like I needed a shower afterward, and Mendel W. Johnson's Let's Go Play at the Adams', which is very similar to TGND, but done differently, and an equally brutal read. These are books that you'll only ever need to read once, and will never forget. Other great horror -- Carrion Comfort and Summer of Night by Dan Simmons, The Shining by Stephen King -- is not, as I said, really scary. There are truly scary moments -- the short story factor, but it's more about an atmosphere of dread coupled with interesting concept that isn't actively scary but is more often just kind of cool. -----signature----- "This will be our reply to violence: To make music more intensely, More beautifully, More devotedly than ever before." - Leonard Bernstein
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Drew_Atreides Registered: Apr '02	Date Posted: 6/5/05 7:50am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	..huh.. Upon reflection, i realize i've read an awful lot of horror... The majority of them do nothing for me, other then to entertain.. Popular Horror (like Stephen King) is very rarely horror, it's more like shlock-opera.. The two exceptions to King's works (of which i've read alot) would be "Pet Semetary" and "The Shining"..Both of those scenes which made my blood run cold (don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it). The most effective horror that i've read is the stuff produced by the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne..I think it has something to do with the time period both wrote in. Gothic-horror, to me is really effective. Also, i think alot of it has to do with the influences these two guys had (Poe having lost his dear love, Hawthorne and his link to the Salem Witch trials) Poe seemed to have the uncanny ability to REALLY get you inside the mind of a Madman (i'm thinking "The Tell-Tale Heart"). It's uncomfortable. Hawthorne's works are just packed full of chilling atmosphere (if you get the chance, try reading "The Minister's Black Veil") -----signature----- Be sure to tune in for the Big Giveaway at 9!
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Mastadge Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Jun '99	Date Posted: 6/5/05 8:09am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	Oh, if you want a list of great horror stories over the centuries that'll help you to understand where horror fiction is coming from, I'll be sure to post one. It's amazing how many references the popular guys like King pack in to the classics like Walpole, Blackwood, Poe, Gilman and others -- and how much they all ripped off from each other, and other contemporaries like Spofford, Hawthorne, Melville and Dickinson. -----signature----- "This will be our reply to violence: To make music more intensely, More beautifully, More devotedly than ever before." - Leonard Bernstein
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sidious618 Registered: Apr '03	Date Posted: 6/5/05 8:14am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	I'm not a horro fan but I do enjoy the occasional Poe read. -----signature----- But in purple, I'm stunning!- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5
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Twinky_Stryder Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 6/5/05 9:01am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	I have to say that I have never read a book that has scared me, horror or non horror. I'd like to though, can anyone reccormend a actual really scary horror novel? -----signature----- Ranger of FFUK I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me FFUK awards 2006 Best Female Poster What about the Twinky?- Ghostbusters
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Mastadge Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Jun '99	Date Posted: 6/5/05 9:36am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	I just did. The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. -----signature----- "This will be our reply to violence: To make music more intensely, More beautifully, More devotedly than ever before." - Leonard Bernstein
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JediRaine Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 6/5/05 2:43pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	The only horror book I've ever read is Pet Semetery. Scared the crap out of me, lol. But it was for a high school class, so I had to read it. But I loved it. Kept me on edge all the way through. -----signature----- through concrete canyons echoing a world of other faces no direction looks like home... where is my oasis? . . search your feelings. you know it to be true.
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DAR Registered: Jul '04	Date Posted: 6/5/05 9:50pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	Horror novels really don't do it for me. I read the Shining once and while I thought it was a great story I just didn't feel frightened. Being scared is one emotion I never feel while reading. -----signature----- All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
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WormieSaber Registered: Oct '00	Date Posted: 6/6/05 9:50am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	I'm the same way. I tried reading Pet Cemetary by Stephen King and I found it somewhat...demented. To me, it has to have an element of fantasy in it. So I don't really dig reading horror novels. I do love making up horror stories. I'm getting a horror novel published. But it is kind of strange, considering that, I suppose. Science Fiction and true stories are what I like to read best. Or, information books. -----signature----- "Most people think that winning the argument is what matters, not learning the truth." - - Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren
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Steven_Erikson_Fan Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 6/6/05 7:12pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	I wholeheartedly recommend Robert R McCammon, I used to be a very heavy horror reader in the 80s and this author delivers. Best book he ever wrote is one of the best modern horror novels I've ever read -- Swan's Song. Apocalyptic horror in the tradition of King's The Stand. I actually prefer it over the latter. The quality in his books can range but you won't do poorly reading any or all of them. There's some schlock (Stinger) and just plain in yer face unbraided creature feature horror (Usher's Passing). And psychological terrifying horror (Mine) and original takes on old mainstays of popular genre themes (The Wolf's Hour). One can't go wrong with McCammon, it's all thrills and great fun. An author I often thought hacked by some of today's genre writers. In fact I am slowly recollecting his books because over the last few years because the titles have come back in print and some back out again unfortunately. I also pitch George R R Martin's Fevre Dream and Dan Simmons Song of Kali. I am also big on Howard Philips Lovecraft. Love his stories.
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Excellence Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 6/6/05 7:28pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	My next vamp book I'd read is Fevre Dream. It's old, but I hear quite good. -----signature----- Rock-a-by baby, on the treetop, Beaming with pride, the filth they hold, But when the wind blows, my temper implodes, High above a pit, filled with sharkticons, Down will come hardcover addicts, beaming no more. ©
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Steven_Erikson_Fan Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 6/6/05 7:38pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	Oops, I just re-read the title of the thread and realized I posted inappropiately. Horror has reached claustrophobic levels especially if you read the novel during the stillness of night, quietly alone, that can generate the proper atmosphere to make the skin crawl or that look over your shoulder affect.
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DVader316 Registered: Feb '00	Date Posted: 6/6/05 7:42pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	The only horror I really read is anything by King, and no, his books and short stories/novellas have never scared me or kept me up at night or whatever. Nevertheless Ive enjoyed them for the most part, if only because Ive always loved King and the characters he creates and the demented, twisted situations he always puts them in. I definitely read them purely for enjoyment rather than to be scared or thrilled or whatever. Oh, and I look forward to reading Fevre Dream, too. I picked it up a while ago and should be getting to it sometime this summer. -----signature----- Currently Reading: Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind
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Steven_Erikson_Fan Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 6/6/05 8:01pm Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	I used to love King, but I can't get into his books anymore especially his latter works. The attention and pages he spends on character development simply unravels me. And I want to further add on my previous post, any fans of ASoIaF, Erikson, and perhaps King, if they are seeking to pursue a pure horror novel I think would discover reward and exceeding enjoyment in order via Swan Song by McCammon. A Must Read IMO.
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Mastadge Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Jun '99	Date Posted: 6/7/05 4:48am Subject: RE: How scary are horror novels really for you?
	As far as that genre goes, McCammon is among my favorites. Stinger, which is basic B-movie material, is so earnestly done that it works, and quite well. The Wolf's Hour, with its 007/Indiana Jones WWII werewolf story, is also a lot of fun. Gone South, Boy's Life, Swan Song -- all very good. But his best is Speaks the Nightbird. The thing is, though, while some are horror and some aren't quite -- they're not really scary. -----signature----- "This will be our reply to violence: To make music more intensely, More beautifully, More devotedly than ever before." - Leonard Bernstein
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