What are Some Classics in the Horror genre?

CharlasThing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night

Únete a LibraryThing para publicar.

What are Some Classics in the Horror genre?

Este tema está marcado actualmente como "inactivo"—el último mensaje es de hace más de 90 días. Puedes reactivarlo escribiendo una respuesta.

1ScribbleScribe
Editado: Jul 15, 2010, 8:15 am

I've already read all of Poe's works, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly & Dracula by: Bram Stoker. Now I"m starting on H.P. Lovecraft...are there any "classics" in this genre that I'm missing??

2jseger9000
Jul 14, 2010, 10:46 pm

How funny! I was going to start a very similar thread.

Aside from what you mentioned, I would add (I'm not in a pretentious mood, so I'm not going to write in explanations):

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery (short story)

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend and many of his short stories. I will use the Nightmare At 20,000 Feet collection as a place-holder

William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland

Algernon Blackwood's The Willows and The Wendigo

Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot (not my favorite, but it has had a HUGE impact on horror)

Clive Barker's Books of Blood

I'm ashamed to say I've only read about half of what I've listed here.

3Moomin_Mama
Jul 15, 2010, 7:33 am

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is often mentioned alongside Frankenstein and Dracula.

The Turn of the Screw - an early example of horror that is left to the reader's imagination and may be internal or external, very creepy.

The short ghost stories that were popular in Victorian times are great too - M.R.James is one of the best, but a good anthology of Victorian ghost stories will give more variety.

4ScribbleScribe
Jul 15, 2010, 8:14 am

I've read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde already, I just forgot to mention it. Sorry. ^_^

I've never read The Turn of the Screw, but I've heard the name before. So that's definitely something to read.

5bibliobeck
Jul 15, 2010, 6:06 pm

#s 3 & 4 Moo... I LOVE The Turn of the Screw. Read it SScribe, you'll love it. I think I'd also add The Woman in Black by Susan Hill to the list - spooky stuff.

6TheBentley
Jul 15, 2010, 10:14 pm

If you're going to delve into Lovecraft, I would recommend you also sample his contemporaries, E. F. Benson and M. R. James, who were also writing horror stories at the turn of the century, but of a very different kind. Moving into the mid-century, I'd recommend The Haunting of Hill House, Conjure Wife, Rosemary's Baby, and The Exorcist.

7CarlosMcRey
Jul 16, 2010, 3:32 am

In terms of Lovecraft contemporaries, I'd second James and Benson. I'd also recommend Machen's The Three Impostors and Ambrose Bierce's horror stories.

I'd also recommend Le Fanu's work. Carmilla, though fairly short, is easily on par with Dracula, which it influenced. His other work seems well thought of, though I've only read Carmilla.

8ScribbleScribe
Jul 17, 2010, 7:57 am

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

& what about....

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux? Is that a classic horror text?

9Moomin_Mama
Jul 17, 2010, 8:27 am

Bentley, as much as I love The Exorcist I rarely think to recommend it as a horror. I always think of it more as a book about faith, with horror overtones.

10quartzite
Jul 17, 2010, 10:29 am

I'd add Ghost Story by Peter Straub and perhaps Interview with the Vampire.

Phantom and Portrait both definites.

11TheBentley
Jul 17, 2010, 10:43 am

8 and 10: Definitely good choices. I'd second all those.

9: You're right about The Exorcist. I think it might be the most genuinely spiritual book I've ever read. But I think it's still a horror novel--it's just a very different horror novel experience, which might be the primary reason to recommend it as a classic. It's like no other horror novel you're likely to read.

12quartzite
Jul 17, 2010, 10:52 am

Also by Bram Stoker
The Jewel of the Seven Stars an early mummy's curse novel.

13JonathanGorman
Jul 19, 2010, 9:57 am

Hmmm, lots of good suggestions already. I'll add a few more. Chamber's various King in Yellow short stories and some Fritz's Leiber work is quite good. I'd also recommend T.E.D Klein, Ramsey Campbell, and Thomas Ligotti. Klein and Ligotti can be tricky to track down though.

Chamber's is probably the only one that's "classic" in the sense of being older, although I guest Leiber is getting up there himself.

I also like Brian Lumley's short stories for a good pleasure read, but I've read a lot of critics who pan him so your opinion might be different.

If I get time later I can look up some of the short stories I like of each.

14pgmcc
Editado: Jul 19, 2010, 11:14 am

#13 Some of Ligotti's material is becoming more readily available, but, in general, you are correct.

Another hard to get author is Robert Aickman, but his work is worth tracking down.

Also, Oliver Onions.

15quartzite
Jul 19, 2010, 10:45 am

Perhaps some Bradbury? Something Wicked This Way Comes?

16Locke
Editado: Jul 19, 2010, 1:22 pm

Absolutely, Something Wicked This Way Comes is undoubtedly a horror classic! In my opinion It and 'Salems' Lot by Stephen King should also be considered horror classics. The Shining, and Pet Sematary also springs into mind but I haven't read those yet...

And don't forget the british authors; The Influence and The Parasite by Ramsey Campbell are very good examples of quiet horror (oh, I never forget the prologue of The Parasite; it could be a masterpiece of a short story in itself). Actually, now we are speaking of Ramsey Campbell, I think I will read The Hungry Moon as my next book!

I also second The Picture of Dorian Gray as a classic horror novel!

18saraslibrary
Oct 4, 2011, 1:23 am

Thanks for the link! :) As they said, it's definitely quirky.

19artturnerjr
Oct 4, 2011, 1:26 pm

>18 saraslibrary:

No problem. The absence of anything by Edgar Allan Poe is a bit of a head-scratcher, but it otherwise seems to be a pretty solid list.

20cdhtenn2k10
Oct 4, 2011, 8:48 pm

Try some of the early works by Graham Masterton, like The Manitou or Charnel House. Also, some of Dean R. Koontz's earliest works are quite good.

21ChelleBearss
Oct 4, 2011, 9:38 pm

Thanks for the link!
I'm somewhat new to reading horror, other than Stephen King. I've just discovered Shirley Jackson and quite enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I'm currently listening to The Haunting of Hill House

22jseger9000
Oct 5, 2011, 10:44 am

#20 - ...early works by Graham Masterton, like The Manitou or Charnel House...

I saw the movie of The Manitou and it was ridiculously campy. But I could see that there was promise in the story. I've been curious about the book for years. Does the novel handle things better than the movie?

23tjm568
Oct 5, 2011, 11:05 am

Dan Simmons' Carrion Comfort and Summer of Night. Both great, but very different from each other.

24quartzite
Ene 8, 2012, 8:22 pm

Doing some combining, I was reminded that one of our ur-horror authors, predating even Poe was Washington Irving with classics like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Spectre Bridegroom.

25StefanY
Ene 9, 2012, 3:24 pm

If you like Dracula, I'd highly recommend Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories by Michael Sims. It's a collection of short stories from Victorian and pre-Victorian times with excellent background on the stories and the authors. Some of them were REALLY good. It also includes an omitted chapter from Dracula that's interesting to read.

26ScribbleScribe
Ene 13, 2012, 9:52 pm

Update: I read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, The Exorcist, and a shit-ton of H.P. Lovecraft's works.