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[cupcake_goth]

The Horror Writer's Association best 40 Horror



Best Ghost stories of Algernon Blackwood
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell
The Between by Tananarive Due
Darklands by Dennis Etchison
Raven by Charles L Grant
Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Ghost Stories of M.R. James
Dr. Adder by K.W. Jeter
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
Pet Semetary by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King
The Stand by Stephen King
Skin by Kathe Koja
Dark Dance by Tanith Lee
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
Songs of a Dead Dreamer by Thomas Ligotti
Lovers Living, Lovers Dead by Richard Lortz
The Dunwich Horror and Others by H.P. Lovecraft
At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
The Hill of Dreams by Arthur Machen
Tales of Horror and the Supernatural by Arthur Machen
Sineater by Elizabeth Massie
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Book of the Dead edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector
Ghoul by Michael Slade
Vampire Junction by S.P. Somtow
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon
Phantom by Thomas Tessier
Sacrifice by Andrew Vachss

I don't agree with everything on there. I wouldn't have put The Stand in the top 40, I'm gravely disappointed that Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan isn't on the list, and I'm shocked and a little furious that nothing by David J. Schow is on there (his short story collection Lost Angels is one of my top 20 favorite books ever).

I've got a copy of Skin laying around somewhere which I need to start reading. Will I read the other titles on the list that I didn't mark? Who knows. But it's kinda nifty to have a list like this. Time to start poking around Half.com, especially since my copy of The Book of the Dead vanished.

Comments

[artvixn.livejournal.com]

Nothing by Dan Simmons? He's one of my favorites. It's a pretty good list. How is this compiled and how often?

[serasempre.livejournal.com]

I think the SF/F crowd claim Simmons, though I'd put him on there too. According to HWA (Horror.org):

Like most "best of" lists, ours is somewhat quirky. The books that appear here were picked using a survey of HWA's general membership in 1996, so many excellent books published more recently do not appear here, and some of those that do are now out of print. Most of the recognized classics of dark fiction do appear here, though.

It sounds like a one-off kind of thing.

Also, I'm embarrassed to admit, I didn't really think Silk was that great, though admittedly better than a lot out there.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to think that Caitlin's short fiction is slightly better than her novels. I really liked Silk, but only re-read it when I'm feeling strong enough to face my spider phobia. Threshold was good too, but her short fiction is so evocative. Try finding a copy of Tales of Pain and Wonder, just be warned: Caitlin does NOT do "happy". Ever.

And you must must must find a copy of Lost Angels by David J. Schow. Must. Did I mention must?

[serasempre.livejournal.com]

I liked Silk up until the last third, then it seemed to kind of fall flat. The spiders were definitely intense. I'll definitely check out her short fiction and I'll order a copy of Lost Angels right now.

[icebluenothing.livejournal.com]

Mark me down as deeply underwhelmed by Silk, too. I like her prose style a lot, but I never cared about any of the characters, and I never really felt like the novel ever went anywhere.