April Genre -- Horror

I looked up a list of horror books from the Horror Writers Association, so I guess this is probably a good place to start. Here are some on their list:

The Exorcist by William peter Blatty
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Ghost Stories of M. R. James
The Shining by Stephen King
The Stand by Stephen King
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R. L. Stevenson
Dracula by Bram Stoker

It turns out that I have several on this list. I am reading The Stand for a group read, but I will not finish for a long time. I think that I will read Frankenstein as I have wanted to read that one for a while now. I am glad that the days are longer here now. I haven't read any horror in a great many years, so I hope that it will not be too scary.
--BJ

Hi Billiejean, I've been snooping in other groups to get an idea what to read next. I am trying to avoid Last and First Men, jk. I would absolutely recommend Frankenstein, it is such a thought provoking book and it wasn't that scary to me. The Stand, on the other hand, I wouldn't read while alone in the house. I felt the need to take breaks and just talk to someone while reading The Stand, but I scare easily. I've always wanted to read Turn of the Screw but I didn't know it was in the horror genre. If I read it this month I'll post my review here.
--Wela

Here are the books I picked from the Genre Reader's Advisory.

The Books of Blood by Barker, Clive
Lost Souls by Brite, Poppy Z
House of Leaves by Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fury by Farris, John
Symphony by Grant, Charles
Those Who Hunt the Night by Hambly, Barbara
Obsession by Herter, Lori
Prince of Wolves by Krinard, Susan
The House by Little, Bentley
The Best of H.P. Lovecraft by Lovecraft, H.P.
Talons by Mancini, Anthony
Relic by Preston, Douglas
Right Hand of Evil by Saul, John
Frankenstein by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Summer of Night by Simmons, Dan
Ghost Story by Straub, Peter

I think I'm going to go with Ghost Story.

#2 Why are you avoiding Last and First Men? I have that book on order. It was sort of hard to track down. Frankenstein is one of those books that I just can't believe that I have never read. Also Dracula. I am saving Dracula for October! :) Thanks for the heads up on The Stand. I have just started it, so not too scary yet. But I do read a lot late at night alone, so maybe I should save that one for the daytime. I look forward to your thoughts on The Turn of the Screw, another book that I have never read.

#3 You have several books on your list that I have not heard of, including Ghost Story. I looked into it, and it looks pretty interesting so I look forward to seeing what you think about it. I am excited about this month's genre, since I have not read any horror in 15 - 20 years!!
--BJ

I enjoyed Dracula very much.

I was also looking at reading Frankenstein but I'm getting a little weary of the more difficult classic reads and thought I'd go with something more modern.

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite is one of the most horrifying books I've ever read! I thought it was very well written but it is definitely not for the faint of heart.

I still have flashbacks.

I think I'll need something modern, as well (to keep my English at least relatively up to date). After compiling my several TBR lists (not all books are entered yet though), it was a bit easier to check out what horror books I actually have. Here's the present list I can choose from:

Orson Scott Card: Homebody
Joe Hill: The Heart Shaped Box
Max Brooks: World War Z
Neil Gaiman: Coraline
Ira Levin: Rosemary's Baby
William Blatty: The Excorcist
David Morrell: Creepers
Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Laura Whitcomb: A Certain Slant of Light

Richard Matheson:
- Hell House
- A Stir of Echoes
- I Am Legend
- The Shrinking Man

Clive Barker:
- Weaveworld
- Thief of Always

James Herbert:
- The Rats
- Domain
- Once

Stephen King:

- The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
- Night Shift
- Rose Madder
- The Regulators

Dean Koontz: (Not sure if they are thrillers, suspense or horror novels, but I usually think of Koontz as a horror writer.)

- Ticktock
- Strange Highways
- Odd Thomas
- Brother Odd
- Forever Odd
- Hideaway
- Key to Midnight
- Life Expectancy
- Mr Murder
- The Mask
- The Funhouse
- The Vision
- Velocity
- Watchers
- Intensity

David Wellington:
- Monster Island
- Monster Planet

Alex Flinn: Beastly
R L Stine: Goosebumps Series 15 books
Shan Darren: Cirque Du Freak 1-12

Btw, Dracula, plus any books by Lovecraft and M. R. James are my all time favorites.:) I highly recommend them! They are simply brilliant!

I'm going to read Homebody first for the challenge.

Watchers by Koontz is my favorite of his.

I hadn't realized that Orson Scott Card wrote horror. I have been wanting to read some of his books for a while. And for some reason, I have been wanting to read Odd Thomas. I am not sure why, maybe it was recommended to me.
--BJ

#4: I was mostly joking about Last and First Men, it is just a dense read. It is not really interesting to me but I will finish it.

I read The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, thanx for listing it. Through the first half of the book I thought to myself, "This book is not scary at all" but then my husband came into the room to get something and I felt his presence before I saw him. Needless to say, I jumped out of my skin. He gave me such a look, I don't think he believed a book could scare someone so. The book had suspense and mystery and it held my attention until the end (and the end came suddenly). A very good read!

> 8.and 9.
I think, I'll consider these posts to be nudges.:) So I'll read first Homebody, then Watchers, and then Odd Thomas.

> 8. I've read only some 8 books by Koontz, so far my favourite is probably Phantoms.

> 9. I could've written the same question about Homebody I asked about Koontz. In this case, I couldn't decide between calling it fantasy or horror after reading the blurb. It's also tagged by some LT reviewers as mystery and thriller. Probably it's the mixture of all these genres. Well, I'll read it, then I can try to decide.:)

I just finished Homebody by Orson Scott Card this morning. A blend of Carpentry and building construction, paranormal romance and gentle read. It could've been condensed in a short story easily. A tedious beginning, an annoyingly melodramatic middle, and a fast-paced, happy ending. Not as good as I hoped, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Wish it was a bit more scary.

Hi everyone....would love to join even though I am a bit late. Hope that is ok.

I would not describe myself as a fan of 'Horror' as a genre, but find that I have actually read a few of the books you have been discussing eg. Frankenstein, Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and that I enjoyed each and every one of them very much.

In the Horror genre, can I suggest some of Edgar Allan Poe's tales. I have had his complete works on my shelf for a while now, as I was interested in his poetry, but this months genre gives me a reason to read some of his tales. I did a bit of research and if you're interested the 'horror' specific tales in his complete works are;

The Black Cat
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Premature Burial
The Masque of the Red Death
The Cask of Amontillado
The Imp of the Peverse
The Oval portrait
The Assignation
The Tell-Tale Heart
Shadow-A Parable
The Man of the Crowd
Hop-Frog
William Wilson
Berenice
Ligeia
Morella
The Oblong Box

Hi, pj77!
Good to see you! The more the merrier! Thanks for the list of Poe tales. I have been wanting to read some of them myself. I finally started Frankenstein yesterday! Have a great day!
--BJ

Hey BJ....I read Frankenstein last year and I really enjoyed it, but I didn't find it has 'horrifying' as I expected it to be and really enjoyed the exploration of the human condition. I found parts of the story quite saddening too. I'd love to hear what you think when you finish. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Have read a few of Poe's works listed above and while I would not describe myself as a 'Horror' fan, I have enjoyed these short stories very much. Poe is an amazing writer. His stories are always well developed and fast paced with lots of twists, but the psychological experiences of the central character, the horror that they feel, is so detailed that you too are thrown into the depths of Poe's terrifying plot! Sounds horrible I guess, but I think as short stories they are great and at least they are over in one read at a time.....better than a week of lingering horror!! Gives me a chance to read a 'happy' story in between :) So far have read The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum which was absolutely horrific and am just about to start The Fall of the House of Usher.

Hey, pj77!
I finally finished Frankenstein, and I thought that it was a magnificent story. I agree that it was a story of the human condition and quite sad. But I did think that it had it's horrific moments, too. (Not, however, to the Stephen King level there!) I am so glad that I finally read this story. The notes at the end indicated that this novel has the most film adaptations of any work of fiction. That right there indicates an enduring story!

I have enjoyed every one of the books that I have read for this challenge, so I feel pretty lucky! I am a little worried that I might not finish next month's book on time. My daughter is graduating from high school, so that will be my number one priority for May. I will, however, try to get that book read, too.

Have a great day, everyone!
--BJ

Don't worry too much about when you read them. I haven't read March's yet!

Thanks, Morphidae! And thanks for setting up this fun challenge! :)
--BJ

Deleted this post because it was meant for the May thread:)