The Horror section of the library I am based at is in desperate need of... ahem.. new blood.

I'm getting tired of seeing the same few authors all the time and would welcome some suggestions apart from romantic vampire stories, which we are frankly up to our arses in.

We seem to have nothing but Richard Laymon, Stephen King, Sean Hutson and Dean Koonz, who have all been around for decades (and in the case of Laymon, turned his toes up years ago).

Who is new and interesting in the genre?

Not all of these authors are necessarily new, but they're good and in most cases not as well known as the authors you've listed already:

John Langan, Joe Schreiber, Joe Hill, Caitlin Kiernan, Sarah Monette has a good collection of ghost stories (the Bone Key), Sara Gran, Tanith Lee, Bentley Little...

Thanks for that list. It's not really my area, but from those writers only Tanith Lee is familiar - her feminist SF epic Drinking Sapphire Wine is a big favourite of mine.

Tom Piccirilli, Gary Braunbeck, and Sarah Langan.

Don't forget people like Dan Simmons and Ramesey Campbell.

Clive Barker
Frank Peretti
Ted Dekker
An Oldie but a goodie John Saul

I quite like Poppy Z. Brite -- I don't think she's writing horror any more but I enjoyed her novels Drawing Blood, Lost Souls (a vampire novel, but I felt it was a distinguished example in its genre), and Exquisite Corpse. I think her work is quirky and inventive. Readers should note that there are usually homoerotic themes, and she can be _very_ graphic (especially in Exquisite Corpse, which has to do with serial killers and, if I recall correctly, describes at least one victim's extended death in great detail).

Joe Hill is definitely getting a lot of buzz, and not just for his heritage.

For genres I don't know much about, I tend to review the award sites for recurring author names. So something like this : http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm

The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction can be a life-saver too.

Edit: And although I don't usually read horror myself, I'd call Max Brooks a must.

Message edited by its author, Nov 5, 2009, 4:30pm.

Jonathan Maberry is another one that might be good. His Patient Zero has been really popular at my library.
I don't think any horror collection should be without Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

I absolutely loved Poppy Z Brite's Lost Souls - it's one I keep recommending to people, but I gather also she no longer writes horror. I've had some gratifyingly quick results and it looks like we're going to get some Sara Gran, Sarah Monette and Joe Hill.

Thanks one and all.

Well, I actually liked A. Lee Martinez's books. These are comic horror, if you can call it that. I enjoyed Gil's All Fright Diner and A Nameless Witch.

Message edited by its author, Nov 7, 2009, 6:14pm.

I saw Martinez at the Texas Library Association conference last year. He was horrible. He wasn't prepared to speak about his book or why his book would have cross over appeal for young adults as well as adults (he was on a panel to discuss that). He didn't even really give us an idea of what his book was. He was pretty much, "hi. I write books."

Generation Dead and Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters are different. Teenagers are returning to life (in various degrees) and their friends are trying to adjust to their new condition. An interesting twist on tolerance and acceptance.

11: He still writes good books, even if he's a bad public speaker.

John Connelly's Every Dead Thing and other novels in the same series are horrific. I think that they are supposed to be mysteries but I usually take my horror patrons to him.

I'm a little out of touch on the newest and latest in the horror, but you might want to check out the past few years "The Year's Best in Fantasy & Horror" collections. Usually they have a bibliography that covers the past year. Interlibrary loan those and starting using that to see patterns. That's what I've done in the past when I've gotten out of touch with the genre and wanted to find out about some good books.

I'm partial to short stories collections myself though, so I might be biased here. Some that come to my mind that I've read recently are Dark Delicacies and The New Weird.

Oh, and almost forgot, I think The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror" series usually has a bibliography as well. Looks like the latest is The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19.

Oh, and I forgot to "touchstone" my suggestions above The New Weird and Dark Delicacies.

Guess they've released some more in the Dark Delicacies series. Going to have to track them down. I was speaking of the first collection, although I'm sure the others are good as well.

Edited:
Weird, I see Dark Delicacies as a "Touchstone" to the right, but unlike the other books it doesn't seem to be a link in this post or in the overall touchstone list. Going to try removing it, then editing the post again to add it back in.

Message edited by its author, Nov 10, 2009, 7:48am.

What? No H.P.Lovecraft? Cthulhu is not pleased!

Consider also adding The New Annotated Dracula by Klinger, which might be the definitive work on Stoker's classic.

Message edited by its author, Nov 6, 2009, 7:15pm.

I enthusiastically agree about Poppy Z. Brite...Lost Souls is one of my all time favorite, I wish more people were on to her!

#16

Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror is up to 20 (although it has been out less than a month).

I think it is probably worth including a few of these anthologies in the library as well. Although Mammoth books are published in the UK by Constable And Robinson.

#17...I certainly don't think H.P. Lovecraft counts as as "new and interesting" in the horror genre, though! Classic, certainly. But not new. :-)

8> Yes. Let the right one in should be on there, and Lindqvist has another 'Handling the undead'.

Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2009, 3:30pm.

>21. You're right! I forgot about Handling the Undead. I know there's a British edition and an Australian edition, but I'm not sure if one has made it to the US yet. So depending on where your library is located, that one may or may not be an option.

>17 and 20

True, Lovecraft is not new, (I happen to think he's always interesting) but there are lots of new collections based on the Cthullu mythos that might interest Lovecraft fans. If you're looking at graphic novels, there are also some newer ones based on the works of Lovecraft like H.P. Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep illustrated by Chuck BB.

Let the Right One In has been very popular, I'm sure thanks to the buzz generated by the film version. There are a few copies of Handling the Undead around in our regional library system, but I haven't seen it here yet.

Message edited by its author, Nov 10, 2009, 5:02am.

There's a zombie novel co-written with movie director Guillermo del Torro, which would also be popular. Reviews have been mixed but generally good, but I'm sure it is/would be popular. I think it's called 'The Strain' and is the first in a trilogy.

It is called The Strain. There's also another one that's similar called Hater by David Moody which is another first in a forthcoming trilogy. I'm not sure about The Strain, but I have heard that the movie rights to Hater have already been sold and that a film directed by Guillermo del Toro is in the works so it might be worth checking out. (I don't know about your library, but my patrons seem to have a mania for reading the books as soon as they start seeing the movie trailers.)

That's all we have too and for some reason they have started adding anything paranormal including Sherrilyn Kenyons Dark hunter Series which being strictly romance with vampires and shapeshifters is about as scary as a Mills and Boon. It's very frustrating it makes the much neglected sci-fi section look good.

I have to raid my fiction and Sci- Fi shelves and as I am not a big reader of the genre I check out the bookshop horror sections so I know what to look for.

If you haven't already got them you could try Let the Right One In and Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist, The Shack by William P. Young and The Wander's Tale by David Bilsborough
possibly wont come up as horror in any catalogue but I would also add The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs it is a truly scary and creepy story so get a couple of copies and put one in horror and see how it does.

Good Luck and maybe one day library management will go back to funding book buying and remembering that branch libraries have avid readers too. We are all on a no more books till new budget already as book fund has been raided to make up for the shortfall on an upgrade project. Moan Moan.....

Message edited by its author, Nov 16, 2009, 11:30am.

Not sure if they've been mentioned yet, but I quite like Jack Ketchum and Brian Lumley. I did see someone had mentioned The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, I enjoyed this book. Was a horror/thriller mix and I won't be suprised at all when this gets released as a movie.

Message edited by its author, Dec 1, 2009, 4:00am.