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Post by noose on Aug 25, 2011 20:44:17 GMT
pause to consider the terrifying prospect of Horror: 100 Best Books ... as selected by vault of evil regulars. Great idea. I'll say John Burke's TALES OF UNEASE. I'll go into more reasons why after I move house...  |
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Post by dem on Aug 25, 2011 20:55:21 GMT
pause to consider the terrifying prospect of Horror: 100 Best Books ... as selected by vault of evil regulars. Great idea. no johnny. trust me. it is a terrible idea! |
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Post by andydecker on Aug 25, 2011 21:33:27 GMT
either. pause to consider if The Lurker at the Threshold is really a better novel than, say, Anne River Siddons' The House Next Door? The Lurker at the Treshold is not a novel, its a blueprint how to write uninspired pastiches.  This list gets ever more bizarr. To choose Trail of Fu Manchu over Brood of the Witch Queen, which seems to be missing, is just insane. Kafka is by no doubt creepy, but The Trial has nothing wahtsoever to do with genre. Lisa Tuttle is in, but no Sunglasses after Dark?  no johnny. trust me. it is a terrible idea! Its a challenge |
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Post by noose on Aug 25, 2011 21:42:18 GMT
and a challenge is what everyone needs once in their life. I scratch TALES OF UNEASE and go for Cliff Twemlow's THE PIKE...
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 25, 2011 22:19:17 GMT
I'm, sorry but putting in The Stranger by Camus is cheating. Considered by the French to be the best piece of literature ever - I think that automatically excludes it. Its not a horror novel.
Conversation in cafe
'What horror fiction have you read lately?'
'Camus' 'The Stranger''.
'But that's only a horrific in the sense that it sees life as meaningless. It's not really horror is it?'
'Oh, you're right. I'll just tuck in another Bowen or Aikman. There sorted....'
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Post by Dr Terror on Aug 25, 2011 22:56:49 GMT
My selection would be one by Richard Staines...
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 26, 2011 6:34:43 GMT
putting in The Stranger by Camus is cheating. Considered by the French to be the best piece of literature ever - I think that automatically excludes it. Yes, with that reputation it must be rubbish. |
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Post by mattofthespurs on Aug 26, 2011 8:14:26 GMT
I have now modified my early post listing all the books from the second volume. Enjoy!  |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 26, 2011 9:14:59 GMT
putting in The Stranger by Camus is cheating. Considered by the French to be the best piece of literature ever - I think that automatically excludes it. Yes, with that reputation it must be rubbish.
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Post by weirdmonger on Aug 26, 2011 10:37:27 GMT
I'm, sorry but putting in The Stranger by Camus is cheating. Considered by the French to be the best piece of literature ever - I think that automatically excludes it. Its not a horror novel. Conversation in cafe 'What horror fiction have you read lately?' 'Camus' 'The Stranger''. 'But that's only a horrific in the sense that it sees life as meaningless. It's not really horror is it?' 'Oh, you're right. I'll just tuck in another Bowen or Aikman. There sorted....' LOL Yours, des (who is 'picker' of 'The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen' in that book) |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Aug 26, 2011 15:16:09 GMT
Good luck, Matt! I'm (unsurprisingly) sadly deficient here.
2. John Blackburn - The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare – Huzzah! Did this in school, where we were marched to the local cinema to see the Polanski film. Beltin’. Fell in love with the story ever since. Even enjoyed the recent Aussie update to Melbourne gangsters.
8. Jane Yolen - Frankenstein, Mary Shelley – A very odd novel, and coming to it through Universal and Hammer not quite what was expected.
11. John M. Ford - Tales of Mystery & Imagination, Edgar Allan Poe. Do like House Of Usher & Masque.
17. Jack Williamson - Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Rober Louis Stevenson. Yay! Currently on a Jekyll binge, enjoying Hammer’s Two Faces Of and the Spencer Tracy version.
20. Gene Wolfe - The Island of Dr Moreau, H. G. Wells. Picked up a copy of this. Haven’t read it for a while. Well, since I saw the manic 1996 film. Recently revisited the ’77 version, and looking forward to a DVD release of Island Of Lost Souls due out later this year. Then I’ll probably reread it.
21. Colin Wilson - Dracula, Bram Stoker. I want to reread this, but last time I tried, I couldn’t sustain it.
23. Douglas E. Winter - Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad. For comparison with Apocalypse Now.
24. Richard Dalby - The Jewel of Seven Stars, Bram Stoker. Devotion to Hammer’s Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb led me to struggle through this.
25. Geoff Ryman - Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, M. R. James. Must try some of these.
53. Joe Haldeman - Lord of the Flies, William Golding. Did this at school and suffered the ’63 fiilm.
54. Richard Christian Matheson - I am Legend, Richard Matheson. Yay!
57. Hugh B. Cave - Psycho, Robert Bloch. Double yay!
58. Stephen Laws -Quatermass and the Pit, Nigel Kneale . Thought I had a copy of this yonks ago. Did Kneale actually write a novel, or was it the script?
60. Lisa Tuttle -The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson. Mmmm
61. Tad Williams - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Philip K. Dick. Wha?
63. Craig Shaw Gardner - The Crystal World, J. G. Ballard. Oh dear. Prefer almost any other Ballard to this.
68. F. Paul Wilson - The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty Yes!!!!!!
71. Stephen King - Burnt Offerings, Robert Marasco. Zzzzzzzzzz. Brother had a copy because we saw the fillum at the cinema (on a double bill with The Car). Hasn’t stayed with me.
72. Al Sarrantonio - 'Salem's Lot, Stephen King Huzzah!
77. Peter Straub - The Shining, Stephen King Huzzah again!
79. Charles de Lint - The Wolfen, Whitley Strieber – Bonkers! As is the film.
84. Geoff Williamson - Red Dragon, Thomas Harris My dad and my uncle rated this
85. J. N. Williamson -The Keep, F. Paul Wilson – Good, but preferred the film.
90. Malcolm Edwards - The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks. Nasty and compelling
95. Adrian Cole - Damnation Game, Clive Barker – Was this CB’s first? At least it was short.
96. R. S. Hadji - Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd. Don’t remember this as particularly horrifying.
l
Picture Of Dorian Gray by Wilde picked by David J Skal – Huzzah! Just picked up another copy, as I revisited the ’45 George Sanders/Hurd Hatfield cinematic corker – and have a copy of the 1970 campfest with Helmut (Silly) Berger, Herbie Lom and Richard Todd to visit.
War Of The Worlds by H.G Wells picked by Les Edwards. Think I’ve read this. Saw both films, and heard the album. At least Richard Burton’s on it.
Hound Of The Baskervilles by Doyle picked by Tony Richards. Huzzah!!! Loadsa film versions!!!
The Phantom of the Opera by Leroux picked by Lofficer (both of them) Got a copy but haven’t actually read it yet.
Case of Charles Dexter Ward by Lovecraft picked by Christoper Wicking – Cracking. As is Rog Corman’s The Haunted Palace.
The Devil Rides Out by Wheatley picked by Stephen Volk – easily the best horror book of the 200.
Nineteen Eighty Four by Orwell picked by Lucius Shepard – Did this at school. Bloody sci-fi.
The Body Snatchers by Finney picked by Andy Duncan. Had the ’78 Donald Sutherland film tie in.
Mudwich Cuckoos by Wyndham picked by Mark Morris – Huzzah!
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury picked by Peter Crowther. Read this as a result of seeing the film.
The Collector by John Fowles picked by Ian MacLeod. Odd one
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin picked by Nancy Holder. See the Polanski film!!!
They Thirst by McCammon picked by Yvonne Navarro. Yay! Boffo!
Pet Semetary by Stephen King picked by Michael Marshall Smith. Revisited it to chat to mum-in-law when her blind club sent her the audio book. Good spooky stuff. Must watch the film.
Books of Blood Volumes I, II, III by Clives Barker picked by Anthony Timpone. Rawhead Rex!!!
Misery by Stephen King picked by Graham Joyce. Apt title.
Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris picked by Frank M Robinson. Yep.
From Hell by Moore & Campbell picked by Stephen R Bissette. Wish I could afford this.
American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis picked by David McGillvray Yes!
And that’s it. The only other one I wouldn’t mind is The Cellar by Laymon, even though I’ve owned two copies and given up on it once. Friday Night At The Beast House has rekindled my Laymonism, and I’ve found The Beast House and The Midnight Tour.
No The Dead Travel Fast, N Smith or Hutson? For shame!
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Post by mattofthespurs on Aug 26, 2011 17:29:47 GMT
The one's I am missing from the collection are;
"Best Tales Of Hoffman"
"John Silence"
"Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce"
"Medusa" by Visiak
"Last Bouquet" Bowen*
"Cadaver of Gideon Wyck" Laing
"Second Century of Creepy Stories"*
"Johnny Got His Gun"
"The Outsider and Others" Lovecraft*
"Deliver Me From Eva" Paul Bailey
"And The Darkness Falls" Karloff*
"Sub Rosa" Aickman
"Worse Things Waiting" Wellman*
"Murgunstrumm and Others" Hugh B Cave
"In a Lonely Place" Wagner*
"Nest Of Nightmares"
"Revenger's Tragedy"
"Manuscript Found In Saragossa"
"Fantomas"
"They Return At Evening"*
"Jumbee"
"Hunger and Other Stories" Beaumont*
"Blood Sport" Robert F Jones (although I'm pretty sure I've got it somewhere)
"Year Of The Sex Olympics"*
"Bloody Chamber and Other Stories"
"Sweeny Todd"
"Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen"
"Haunting Beauty" Birkin*
"Feesters In The Lake"
"More Tomorrow and Other Stories"*
The ones with the asterisk are either very expensive or impossible to find. The one's without are easy enough to come by but I just don't feel like splashing good cash on books that I have a passing interest in. If they appear on eBay cheap enough I'll have em.
Finally got a copy of "The Night Stalker" by Jeff Rice and it arrived this morning. Just started to read it. Of the ones I do have I think I've read 80% of the list.
Lots and lots of stuff I would not consider to be horror though.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Aug 26, 2011 17:43:25 GMT
Panic over. Found "Blood Sport" and "The Bloody Chamber" as well which I didn't know I had. I think that makes it 29 titles I'm missing from the 200. |
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Post by noose on Aug 26, 2011 19:43:00 GMT
Heya Matt, I've got a spare copy of Second Century - it's packed up just now, but if you want it - I can pass it on. My own copy once belonged to Ron Chetwynd Hayes no less!!
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Post by mattofthespurs on Aug 27, 2011 7:01:59 GMT
Wow! Thanks Johnny, that would be fantastic.
Pm me what I would owe you and how you want me to send you some dough.
Cheers!
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