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Top 5 horror writers

Well a lot of my favorites in horror would include what's been 'shit-filtered' by Stewart.

1) Dean Koontz
2) Stephen King (Bachman novels, and some EARLY works)
3) Caleb Carr
4) Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Only a few I would consider horror... and that goes back to what CDA said about what you consider horror)
5) Richard Matheson
 
My top five horror

EDGAR ALLEN POE!!!
Anne Rice
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Dean Koontz (only some of his latest works; the others are too, for lack of a better word, yuck)
:confused: I can't think of another.
 
1. Stephen King - for best scares stick to the older stuff but his newest Cell had its moments.
recommend: It and Pet Semetary
2. Dean Koontz - As far as horror goes his books are hit or miss. Some like The Taking and Phantoms are great scares others like Hideaway come off as cheesy.
recommend - The Taking and Phantoms
3. Clive Barker- I haven't read anything Barker has put out in ten years, somewhere along the line he lost me, but if you pick up one of his early books they are great horror.
Recommend - The Books of Blood and The Hellbound Heart
4. Edgar Allen Poe - Pyschologically his stories can really mess you up.
recommend - The Telltale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado
5. Joyce Carol Oates - This one is a stretch but some of her short stories have really screwed with me.
recommend - Where are you going, where have you been
 
There aren't many horror novels these days worth reading. Most are sad thirllers and really don't belong in horror. Clive Barker, Brain Lumley, H.P. Lovercraft, what about Stoker and Shelly?
 
I see quite of few shared likes for horror authors. :)

Anne Rice
Robert McCammon
Richard Laymon
Clive Barker
Peter Straub
 
First off, I'd like to tell Stewart that, while you are entitled to your opinion, I must disagree that all horror is s**t. Granted, the vast majority of horror fiction isn't comparable to anything by Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, but there are some works in the genre that have genuine literary value. It's just that they are few and far between, since unfortunately, as with most areas of popular fiction, horror has its share of hack writers.

I must also disagree that horror doesn't work in the novel format. There are several great horror novels, and personally I prefer novels to short stories when it comes to reading horror.

That said, I don't think I've read enough to select the five best authors in this genre, but I will say that I have enjoyed works by Stephen King ('Salem's Lot is still my all-time favorite book), Brian Keene, James Herbert, Melanie Tem, Richard Matheson, Edward Levy and a few stories by the late H.P. Lovecraft. I also plan on reading stuff by Clive Barker and Peter Straub, among others.
 
I don't read very much horror so the only person I could think to recommend (who has already been recommended several times anyway) is Edgar Allen Poe. I don't at all like the modern authors in horror. Horror as a genre has never held my interest, but I do like Poe, not so much as a horror writer as a good writer in general, so I thought I'd just throw it out there.
 
good to see someone else listed Brian Lumley, enjoyed his Necroscope series.. and Clive Barker.. how about Peter Straub?
 
Here's mine(I could only think of 4), in order:

Peter Straub ~ his early stuff is great, Julia, If You Could See Me Now, Ghost Story, and Shadowland are all great works of the horror genre.

Stephen King ~ his influence is undeniable today, and his 70's work is pretty much responsible for kicking off the horror publishing boom back then and establishing horror as a permanent genre. The Shining, Salems' Lot, The Stand, etc, I could go on and on.

Kathe Koja ~ first published in the early 90's under 'The Abyss' line of horror from Dell. Her first 4 or 5 books are just incredible, filled with some brilliant prose. She reads like a cross between Clive Barker and William S. Burroughs. Skin and Strange Angels are particular faves of mine. She has left the horror genre behind and now writes young adult books.

Bentley Little ~ I love how bizarre and surreal his stuff is, but his formula for taking everyday, mundane institutions(Walmart, insurance companies, homeowners associations) and putting a malicious, evil force behind them is getting a bit old. The Ignored is his masterpiece.
 
Vespertilio91 said:
My top five horror

EDGAR ALLEN POE!!!
Anne Rice
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Dean Koontz (only some of his latest works; the others are too, for lack of a better word, yuck)
:confused: I can't think of another.
Click to expand...


I thought of another:D

Annette Curtis Klause

All of my favorites, except Poe and Koontz, are dark fantasy writers. That includes vampires, magic, werewolves, etc. Not entirely scary but thrillers nonetheless.
 
Stewart, I disagree with you (I seem to be doing this a lot:D ) about King.

I do, however agree with you (gasp) about Laymon and Poe. I read a Laymon book (some crap about a bracelet) by recommendation that he was the new King (perhaps I was unwilling to like him out of spite). Snooze-fest. Correction...a poorly written snooze-fest.

Poe is good, Poe is great, Poe is the master of horror (sorry Mr. King). "The Masque of the Red Death" is still one of the scariest things I've ever read.
 
I guess my impression of Poe is that he was more of a mystery writer than horror.

My top five in horror...

H.P. Lovecraft
Clive Barker
Stephen King
Anne Rice
Peter Straub
 
Poe is great and all, he's a legend, a drunkard too, yadda yadda yadda...

I'm not going to deny his writing be good, even great but his works don't scare me - not one bit.
 
I gotta agree with the rest of you, Poe is the best.

others:
Dean Koontz
Edward Lee
Anne Rice
Stephen King, man Cell was messed up!
 
Stewart said:
Do you have reasons?
Click to expand...

Purely subjective ones :)

When I disagree that King is shit, I disagree based on how I'm judging his writing. In this case, it is whether or not I felt what I perceive to be the 'horror' experience whilst reading his work. I did.

I will concede that his writing is, at times, not sophisticated, but I think he would be the first to admit that.

I believe King is an acomplished horror writer because of his ability to create psychologically complicated characters through which his stories are filtered. Witnessing Jack Torrance (The Shining) go insane through the eyes of his wife and child, even Jack himself, is terrifying. The glimpse we get into the oldest evil ever (It) is all the more horrifying because we witness it through a group of children we can all identify with.

So there you go.
 
Thanks.


Peronel said:
...his writing is, at times, not sophisticated, but I think he would be the first to admit that.
Click to expand...

I remember Shade made a post here, regarding a quote from Different Seasons, where King was indeed the first one to admit that his writing was not sophisticated. But rather than leave it at that, he then lashed out at how he was glad he wasn't an "important" writer, like Joseph Heller, who only released a book every seven years. A bitter unsolicited comment, an indication of King's attitude to his own "talents".
 
Stewart said:
King ...then lashed out at how he was glad he wasn't an "important" writer, like Joseph Heller, who only released a book every seven years. A bitter unsolicited comment, an indication of King's attitude to his own "talents".
Click to expand...

He was probably thinking about how much money he'd be missing out on if he didn't release a book every year.

PS: I look forward to seeing your opinion on "We" - I've been considering buying this book for a while.
 
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