good horror stories

[mydogsandme]

Can anyone recommend any good horror books? By horror I don't mean gore/slash horror/zombie etc type horrors- more along the lines of ghosts, supernatural or weird, my favourite being H P Lovecraft. I can never find anything scary enough!

[mike b]

Try M.R.James, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary etc. Not to be read in a room with dark corners...

[reddoggy]

Try Graham Masterton, if not scary then definitely weird. Phil Rickman for contemporary scary-ish and Barbara Erskine for 'across the centuries' supernaturality.

[andy-hughes]

Stephen King's The Stand, Christine, and Salem's Lot should hit the spot.

[LeMarchand]

Another vote for Masterton (though his quality can vary), Rickman is good too (though I've only read the Merrily Watkins series, and his reluctance to definitely ascribe the events in the books to the supernatural is beginning to grate).

If you can find any A.E. Merritt, you may enjoy his work; I believe Lovecraft himself was impressed by both William Hope Hodgeson and Arthur Machen.

T.E.D. Klein's "Dark Gods" and "The Ceremonies" (both out of print) are definitely influenced by HPL, but be warned - the guy can't write endings!

[feebal]

M R James is definitely the master of the old school English ghost story. But for a great contemporary collection try John Connelly's "Nocturnes" (available in paperback in good book shops - though often wrongly placed in the crime section). I can't enthuse enough about these creepily effective supernatural stories in the classic style. If you like Lovecraft you should dig these. Let me know if it gives you the fix you're after.

[Buenchico]

M R James is, as has been said, the ultimate master of the classical ghost story but I reckon that Dickens' short story 'The Signalman' has to be my favourite masterpiece. It'll only cost you �1.50 from Amazon but, for better value, you can buy 'The Signalman & Other Ghost Stories' (a total of 12 stories) for just �3.00 secondhand.

Chris

[mydogsandme]

some great suggestions here- I will follow them up pronto and let you know!

[TommyC]

Found your post rather late in the day, I'm afraid, but for what it's worth I just finally finished reading Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw", after never managing to get round to it in about 30 years... :o) The first "appearance" scene gave me sensations I really DON'T want to experience again - and that's a hundred-year-old story after 30 years of modern horror films...!! Enjoy...