Hey everyone, I'm looking at getting some new horror books. I'm looking for some good horror authors. Tell me who are some good horror authors past and present that I should be reading?

Here is who I am reading as of right now.

Stephen King (I have just about every book by King. I just started reading him and so far I like what I have read)
Dean Koontz (I have only read one book and have two others to read. So far, I like his writing and style)
H.P. Love Craft (One book of a collection of stories. I have not read any of his work just yet)

I'm an author and it seems that my writing over the last year has started heading in the horror genera area. I'm trying to read as many good horror authors as I can. I study the way they write and how they set up a scene. In the process of studying these authors I have become addicted to the horror genera.

Thanks everyone for any and all recommendations of authors.  

As you can probably guess from my username, I will recommend that you read the Lovecraft book first.  Despite his peculiar style and relatively small body of work his influence on modern horror is almost impossible to overstate.  Start with The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, At the Mountains of Madness, and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.  HPL's work recently came into the public domain, it can be read in full here along with a lot of other interesting material.

Older authors: Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson, and Arthur Machen (mainly The Great God Pan).

My favorite living horror author (indeed, favorite living author) is Dan Simmons.  He has written almost all kinds of fiction but even his SF and historical fiction has plenty of horror elements, he's not shy about doing horrible things to his characters.  Summer Of Night is incredible, it's similar to King's It but better in every conceivable way. Its sequel A Winter Haunting and psuedosequel Children Of Night are somewhat lesser but are still extremely good.  His short story collection Prayers To Broken Stones is also excellent.

Thank you! I will check out Dan Simmons. I really liked part of "IT" and I really liked that parts of floating back and forth to kids and adults. I'm writing a book right now that is kind of like that. I will check out his work and try and pick up his book Summer of Night.

I forgot to add that I have a book of Edgar Allan Poe collection. I wish I knew how to get all of HP LoveCrafts work. I like having print copies when I read. I read some on a Kindle but I really love print.

I will check out the older authors you posted as well.

Thanks!

Summer Of Night differs from It mainly in that it doesn't jump back and forth, it focuses on the kids and stays there.  You get a similar effect if you read the other two books and a couple of others he wrote that have young characters from SoN as adults, even though only one of the other books is a direct sequel.  The plotline is similar in that both center around a small group of childhood friends in a small Midwestern town who discover and are forced to fight an ancient cosmic horror, the characters and feel are fairly different.  

If you want a printed copy of HPL's complete works I found one here.  It's reasonably priced and is complete, according to the reviews.

Brian Lumley's Necroscope series is good fun. F Paul wilson has some good stuff. I liked "The Keep"

Thank you. I think I have that collection if it is the same as Barns & Noble. I will look into it and see if it might have a few other pieces of his work that I do not have.





Thank you! I will look those two authors up.

Some people find some of the plot devices in them too dark and fucked up, but if you stomach it, Richard Laymon is pretty good.  I really enjoyed the Beast House series.

Dean's early work isn't great, he used to have a real problem with ending his novels.  And his most recent stuff isn't great, he's actually a Christian and has been putting rather clumsy moral themes in his most books.

But his mid career stuff is fantastic, like Lightning, COld Fire, Mr. Murder, Sole Survivor, and The Taking.

Try The Passage by Justin Cronin - it's a combination post-apocalypse, vampire, zombie novel, and while that sounds like it might suck it actually won a ton of awards, got really great reviews, and has been optioned for a movie.

Mark Z Danielewski -  House of Leaves

Thanks everyone. I'm writing these names down.

I'm not sure what part of Koontz's career the books I like were written in, but my favorites in no particular order:

Watchers
Twilight Eyes
Strangers (LONG, but great twist)
The Funhouse
Darkfall
Night Chills

Another great horror'esque book is Robert McCammon's Swan Song. Bad ass post apocalyptic story. Read it for the first time at age 13 in 3 days (it's like 900 pages) if that tells you anything.

The Passage is great.  Don't forget the second in the trilogy The Twelve.  With the third to be released next year I believe.  

I enjoyed the Necroscope series also.  If you like vampire books you should be entertained.  The third in the series The Source was my favorite.  It takes place mostly in the vampire home world.  Do yourself a favor and stop after The Last Aerie.

All the authors listed above are great.

I'll add two more: Justin Cronin - "The Passage" (two out of the trilogy have been release, third is expected in 2015) and John L. Campbell "Omega Days" (two of the books have been released no ETA on remainder). Campbell's writing style is kind of like mental popcorn but still a good read.

Thanks everyone writing these all down. I have really been joying reading horror and I have started to write a lot of horror so reading everyone's work is helping with my writing.

I did get the first book Necroscope and I have book two and three coming.