Breaking the Ice// Favorite Horror

Captkirky wrote:

Oux wrote:I am going to go out on a limb here and say I am probably the only person here that isn't a Stephen King fan...

I didn't start reading King until about a year ago, if it makes you feel better. And even as a King fan, I wish most of the conversation didn't always dead end on him.

Martin wrote:Not really horror but the first book that scared me was the Wizard of Oz. I was about 7 years old and loved the way reading that whole series made me feel. Been reading horror ever since.  My favorite horror novel is The Stand.

Spooky enough, there's an entire phobia surrounding people who feel like they are "followed" by The Wizard of Oz. I met one in high school. He said he hadn't gone a day in his life that he could recall where a wizard of oz reference hadn't come up at some point. Paranoia? Who knows, Still some people think that movie was haunted.

Oux wrote:I am going to go out on a limb here and say I am probably the only person here that isn't a Stephen King fan...

Oh no! Is there any particular reason?

My love of horror began with R.L. Stine's Goosebumps and Fear Street Series. I think the first "real" or adult horror novel I read was probably Cujo. I can't remember exactly which I read first, but know it was a Stephen King novel. It's so hard for me to pick a favorite horror novel overall...if Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are considered horror, then The Vampire Lestat is my favorite. Aside from those, I'd go with a tie between Summer of Night by Dan Simmons and Pet Sematary by Stephen King.

jessguerrero89 wrote:Oh no! Is there any particular reason?

I've tried a few times to get into his work, but I just don't get sucked into his stuff.   Occasionally he will write 2/3rds of a good book but he can never end them. And some of his work (Stand, It, Dark Tower) I find more dry or tedious than scary.  *shrugs* He just has never clicked with me.

Like the rest of you, my first horror reads were R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series...sadly I dont think I ever read them all though as there are so many! First "adult" horror novel was The Shining. Those topiary animals still get me...

Favorite horror novel though is Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.

Oux wrote:

jessguerrero89 wrote:Oh no! Is there any particular reason?

I've tried a few times to get into his work, but I just don't get sucked into his stuff.   Occasionally he will write 2/3rds of a good book but he can never end them. And some of his work (Stand, It, Dark Tower) I find more dry or tedious than scary.  *shrugs* He just has never clicked with me.

That's understandable, not everyone is going to like the same authors. But Dark Tower isn't meant to be scary. It's fantasy, not horror. I get it though, his endings do go off the rails sometimes, that's just his weird style. Have you read any of the Richard Bachman stories?

LoAndBeHolt wrote:

Martin wrote:Not really horror but the first book that scared me was the Wizard of Oz. I was about 7 years old and loved the way reading that whole series made me feel. Been reading horror ever since.  My favorite horror novel is The Stand.

Spooky enough, there's an entire phobia surrounding people who feel like they are "followed" by The Wizard of Oz. I met one in high school. He said he hadn't gone a day in his life that he could recall where a wizard of oz reference hadn't come up at some point. Paranoia? Who knows, Still some people think that movie was haunted.

I've never heard of this Wizard of Oz phobia, though it does make sense, it's pretty scary when you really think about it. But there is actually a name for the fear of the flying monkeys. It's called aeropetespithekosozophobia. Nice bit of trivia for you there

[quote="jessguerrero89"]

Oux wrote:
That's understandable, not everyone is going to like the same authors. But Dark Tower isn't meant to be scary. It's fantasy, not horror. I get it though, his endings do go off the rails sometimes, that's just his weird style. Have you read any of the Richard Bachman stories?

I've not. I know DT is fantasy, I just meant after 200 pages I put it down and had no desire to pick it back up.

I think the first horror I read was Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark when I was about 8. I started reading King a couple years ago and I know he's my favorite horror writer and Carrie would be my favorite so far and Pet Semetary for a close second place!

ChrissyJ99 wrote:I know the horror snobs won't consider these "real horror" but I consumed every RL Stine, Christopher Pike etc YA book that I could get my hands on with my allowance in middle school or get my parents to buy me. I had shelves upon shelves and how I wish I hadn't donated all of them when I got older. They had such great covers. The first one I read that hooked me was called Fun House but the author escapes me. I know I was in 5th grade which was still elementary school in my area and I used it for a book report and disturbed my teacher. My first King I finished was Misery and it was AWESOME. Pet Semetary will probably always be my favorite horror novel though. It terrifies and wrenches your heart strings at the same time.

I read the long walk first but my mom refused to get me any more adult horror for a while so I read like every goosebumps book. I would go into those Scholastic book fairs with my checklist and come out with bags of books. We are not horror snobs lol.

My first horror novel was Welcome to Dead House by R.L. Stine. Goosebumps was the thing that made me realize I liked all this spooky stuff. My first adult horror was Poe. My 6th grade teacher read The Black Cat and The Tell-tale Heart to the class for Halloween and I was hooked. I immediately told my dad when I got home and he gave me a tattered, old hardcover of Poe's work from his bookshelf.

My favorite horror novel these days is Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. I love quiet ghost stories that sneak up on you, piling on the dread.

Oux wrote:

jessguerrero89 wrote:

Oux wrote:
That's understandable, not everyone is going to like the same authors. But Dark Tower isn't meant to be scary. It's fantasy, not horror. I get it though, his endings do go off the rails sometimes, that's just his weird style. Have you read any of the Richard Bachman stories?

I've not.  I know DT is fantasy, I just meant after 200 pages I put it down and had no desire to pick it back up.

He's not for everyone. :/

Maybe, if I were to suggest something it would be something not ground in the supernatural like Misery, or Apt. Pupil...that story is scarier because it's based in truth. No pressure though, read what you like. We love reading Nick Cutter, Lovecraft, Bentley Little (which I just got into), Michael McDowell, Neil Gaiman....Kind of all over the board because we get sent so many amazing authors each month, its hard to single them out.

I'm sort of amazed that anyone can remember the first horror novel they read (unless you didn't get started on horror until you were older). I certainly can't. My favorite is The Exorcist by the late great William Peter Blatty.

Oh, I pretty much exclusively read supernatural horror.

Oh lord, I can't remember what my first horror novel was. I can remember my first horror series was Goosebumps, which I loved when I was younger. And my first Stephen King novel, around the same time, was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Horror has been a part of my life for a while even though I was such a scaredy cat when I was little

I thought about it a while and my first 'horror' novel (after Goosebumps and R.L.Stine as a kid) must have been 'The Doll Maker' by Sarban/John William Wall. I remember it because I randomly picked it in the library and tried years later to search for it. I couldn't remember title or author and the internet was no help back then... But some years later it was quite easy to find with so much more information available. I read Stephen King's Gunslinger at that time too, but as this isn't actually horror, I think 'The Doll Maker' was it.
I don't really come from a reading-household and when I started to read adult fiction with 12 or 13 I started with Mr King because he was actually the only author I knew because of the movies Pet Cemetary and It I knew and loved. As a consequence, I read King when I found a book of him (which wasn't that easy in a small village in Germany, lol) and mostly continued reading fantasy novels. I really started reading Horror Novels after reading Anne Rice, because that was at the library was well) just with the Nocturnal Reader's Box and all the recommendations of you guys like Bradbury or Cutter and I love it.
So my favourite adult horror novel is a book by Mr King which isn't discussed or even mentioned so often: Duma Key. But I really really enjoyed Ed Kurtz 'Bleed' and this is my favourite right now (may change again, lol).

First horror was The Other, then Harvest Home, both by Thomas Tryon. My Dad was a big horror fan, and introduced me to him, King, Ira Levin, and William Peter Blatty at a young age. My 6th grade teacher called him in for a meeting due to my "inappropriate reading choices". Pet Sematary is one of my all time favorites, but The Troop by Nick Cutter is a recent favorite.

I think my first horror was probably either King or Shaun Hutson. As for favourites, it's hard to pick a particular title, but surely something by Michael Slade.

First horror I would have read would have to be a fear street book. I was 11 and the young adult horrors/thrillers had me hooked for years. I now enjoy a lot of Dean Koontz. Lightening would have to be my favourite. Although it's more thriller than horror

jessguerrero89 wrote:

LoAndBeHolt wrote:

Martin wrote:Not really horror but the first book that scared me was the Wizard of Oz. I was about 7 years old and loved the way reading that whole series made me feel. Been reading horror ever since.  My favorite horror novel is The Stand.

Spooky enough, there's an entire phobia surrounding people who feel like they are "followed" by The Wizard of Oz. I met one in high school. He said he hadn't gone a day in his life that he could recall where a wizard of oz reference hadn't come up at some point. Paranoia? Who knows, Still some people think that movie was haunted.

I've never heard of this Wizard of Oz phobia, though it does make sense, it's pretty scary when you really think about it. But there is actually a name for the fear of the flying monkeys. It's called aeropetespithekosozophobia. Nice bit of trivia for you there

I'm terrifid of monkeys full stop. Flying monkeys are too much for me to even fathom

I don't know if this was the first, but I remember The Dead Lifeguard, by RL Stine being one I read a lot when I was younger. As far as where I am now. I genre hop and kinda read a lot of things. But reading The Stand still gets me. I read it for the first time when my kids were sick, and every time I heard a cough come from their bedrooms, is get super paranoid and I wanted to duct tape all the cracks around their doors.

My first was either pet semetary or needful things by StephenKing, it's been so long ago. My favorite right now is birdbox, though it's right the with a couple of Stephen King ones.

The first horror book I remember reading and falling in love with was The Shining. I remember reading it in history class (yep, I was that kid...I could get things done quickly so then I would hide books inside my history book so it looked like I was reading the assignment. Since then, I've read tons of King and also went through a Dean Koontz phase.

My first experience with true horror was when I was in early High School and read "It" for the first time. I'm showing my age but it was a relatively new book at the time and I literally sat up 3 nights straight in utter terror reading that book. I had always been a vociferous reader and read The Lord of the Rings books in 4th grade after my parents gave me the box set for Christmas. I felt the same sense of awe upon reading "It" and subsequently devoured every Stephen King book I could get my hands on. I love psychological thrillers and have also enjoyed Gillian Flynn's books.

I've seen so many of my favorite authors here. Bentley Little is good for a light reading. The Association was a freaky look at neighborhood associations that has stick with me. I also want to mention one of the first horror contemporary authors I was introduced to in school was Shirley Jackson. Kind of a pre Stephen King. I also
like True Crime books.

Jude Scott wrote:First horror was The Other, then Harvest Home, both by Thomas Tryon. My Dad was a big horror fan, and introduced me to him, King, Ira Levin, and William Peter Blatty at a young age. My 6th grade teacher called him in for a meeting due to my "inappropriate reading choices". Pet Sematary is one of my all time favorites, but The Troop by Nick Cutter is a recent favorite.

Haha your dad sounds awesome! I don't understand why a teacher would care what you're reading as long as you're reading something. I mean, is it really any of their business if your parents choose to expose you to more adult genres? If our kid is reading adult books in the 6th grade then I'll be happy! If she's reading King and Blatty, then I'll be ecstatic!

I cut my horror teeth on R.L. Stine Fear Street, but my first adult horror novel was Stephen King's Needful Things. My favorite horror novel is definitely It.

I also started with Goosebumps and anything by R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike when I was a kid. In one of my high school English classes, they had us read a bunch of Poe and I loved it. The first adult book I read on my own and not for a class, was The Cellar by Richard Laymon. The cover drew me in because it reminded me of the Stine/Pike books. I've read almost everything by Laymon now. I've noticed though that he's an author people either love or hate. Same with Jack Ketchum. I've read some Stephen King but I'm definitely not as big a fan as a lot of people haha. I'm always interested in checking out authors I've never read before so this thread has given me some good suggestions!

My first horror novel was Stephen Kings Salem's Lot (after watching the It miniseries). I have too many favorites lol. I would have to say Christine and Duma Key are right up there. Non-Stephen King (he's sort of his own genre in my opinion) would have to be all of the Hannibal series by Thomas Harris.

it's kind of a toss up, and being so far back i couldn't confirm one way or the other. i read It in fifth grade, so i was 10 or 11 depending on what part of the year i did it in. the Goosebumps books were starting to be published around the same time, so it's conceivable i got one of those first. unlike the earlier poster's 6th grade teacher, my 5th grade teacher was impressed haha. "It" is also my favorite book.

To answer the question, my first horror novel was Bram Stoker's Dracula which in I read in college. My favorite horror novel (more novella really) is Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu.

I ask my question in the subject because I started off with short stories and shows. My favorite horror story is a tie between King's Cain Rose Up (the last scene still haunts me and feels too real for comfort) and King's The Boogeyman (I checked under my bed and in my closet every night for 5 years after I read it). My favorite horror film is Creepshow (specifically the Raft and They Creep Up on You). Just pure horror through and through.

I can't remember the exact first book that I read but I remember reading a lot of goosebumps books and loved Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The art work in those books were awesome. I was raised by my Grandmother who was a huge Stephen King fan and loved horror/thriller books and movies. She let me watch the exorcist when I was four. Needless to say the love for this genre rubbed off on me and I was also able to have many awesome books passed down my way from her. A favorite of mine is Needful Things. I don't get spooked very easily but one book that had an affect on me was The Haunted : one familys nightmare by Robert Curran. I was pretty young and lived alone while reading this book. One night I got so weirded out that I drove 45 minutes at midnight to go stay the night with my best friend.

Also.. Edgar Allan Poe The Tell Tale Heart was an early read and love.

My first "horror" books were of course the Goosebumps series. I was always obsessed with scaring myself when I was little, and as I grew older that obsession clearly never ended. My first adult horror novel was Dracula, although when I first read it, it was a bit over my head. I also grew up with Stephen King - my mom has every one of his books and would always tell me some of his short stories to creep me out. My favorite horror novel is probably Salem's Lot... I LOVE how King is a master of drawing your attention to the horrors that humans are capable of, vs. the supernatural horror creeping about town.

I'd say probably my first legit horror book was Thinner or The Mist maybe.
But my favorite now is probably a tie between IT by Stephen King, Summer of Night (same thing as IT?) and Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lundqvist.
I also just got in to Bentley Little. Just finished The Mailman and I absolutely loved it!
The Long Walk is one of my all-time favorite books, but it's hard for me to consider it "horror". I mean, it is, but just a different kind of horror I guess? I don't know what I'd call it if it wasn't horror? I don't know, I guess just not your classic horror? Hard to describe what I'm saying lol