Date: Fri 21-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

horror-chill-scary

Full Text:

Books That Will Make Your Skin Chill Faster Than The Frozen Food Aisle

(with cuts)

BY KIM J. HARMON

Horror is dead.

Sorry -- no pun intended (well, maybe a little) -- but when Stephen King and

Dean R. Koontz only publish once a year and Robert R. McCammon is still on a

self-imposed sabbatical and the only new stuff coming out is a not so

inconspicuous attempt to raise the genre into the realm of literature (where

it doesn't belong), then horror is dead is a quite accurate depiction of these

state of affairs.

You might find yourself in some big chain superstore looking for a new summer

chiller -- something to freeze the blood in your veins, raise the hair on the

back of your neck, make your skin ripple with gooseflesh -- only to come up

depressingly empty.

It's time to go back.

Back to the favorites.

From Salem's Lot (Stephen King) and Stinger (Robert R. McCammon) to The Fury

(John Farris) and Watchers (Dean R. Koontz), there are books that still have

the power to frighten. Below, we will look at 12 (the stroke of midnight and

all that) and list some others.

It's a rare thing, these days, to sit down in a darkened room, one light

burning over your head, and read a good old-fashioned horror novel. Maybe the

rest of the family is asleep, the sounds of the house settling are like mere

ghostly whispers, and from somewhere behind you there is a soft rustling, like

something -- the malformed foot of some gruesome creature? -- is being dragged

slowly across the floor. And while you clutch the pages of your book tighter,

your knuckles turned whiter, something is reaching out...

Salem's Lot : Stephen King's second -- and best -- novel, Salem's Lot remains

the most outstanding vampire novel of all time. Even after years and years of

being desensitized and innured to frights, this one still has the power to

make you shudder.

Stinger : Part sci-fi and part horror, this one is all scary. A dusty Texas

town is beseiged by an intergalactic creature hunting for another creature

which had escaped from imprisonment. One of Robert McCammon's best, this may

be the one that truly thrust him onto the stage with King and Koontz.

The Fury : An early novel by John Farris, this is one of those shockers (two

kids with extraordinary mental powers) that can flat out make you shiver.

Watchers : A laboratory experiment goes horribly wrong and two creatures --

one abnormally intelligent and the other bent on a jealous sort of revenge --

escape. Perhaps Dean R. Koontz' best book, although Phantoms, Midnight and

Darkfall are mighty close.

The Keep : A chilling novel, the first in a long cycle by F. Paul Wilson, The

Keep is the story of a demon released from imprisonment inside an old Nazi

fortress in the Romanian mountains. Wilson, who has also done science fiction

and medical thrillers, knows horror.

Night Boat : This one defines the word lurid. It's got a Carribean setting, a

long-buried Nazi submarine, and zombies. A long-forgotten Robert McCammon book

(albeit one he wishes was never published...), it is still quite frightening

in a good, old-fashioned way.

The Shining : A venerable Stephen King classic. The last great haunted house

novel.

Cold Moon Over Babylon : One of the scariest books ever written. A gruesome

story of a drowned school girl seeking revenge from beyond the grave. A lot of

atmosphere. A lot of eerie chills. (Sorry, had to mention this one even if it

may be awfully hard to find).

Suffer The Children : Written by John Saul (God help us), this is a ghastly

and grim tale of a handicapped girl at the center of some brutal killings. It

was Saul's first, and best, book.

Things have slipped quite a bit since then, although a couple (like Comes The

Blind Fury and Nathanial ) are quite spooky.

The Dark : Before Moon and The Magic Cottage and 48, James Herbert was a

writer of some very lurid horror novels... the kind of B-movie stuff you might

find on a late night Creature Feature. In this one, a presence is moving

within the darkness and feeding on the minds of those it encounters. A true

shocker.

I Am Legend : This is one of the most chilling novels ever written, about the

last surviving man in a world gone mad. Could be the best that Richard

Matheson -- the grand master himself -- has ever done, and he has done a lot.

Depending on which volume you pick up (soft cover or trade paperback), you

will also be treated with several other short works by Matheson.

The Cellar : I couldn't believe I found this on a list of horror's 100 best

books, but looking back it does bring to life the luridness of those old

Hammer horror films. And Richard Laymon, who has written some fine horror

(including an excellent and -- believe it or not -- original vampire novel,

The Stake) , can sure make your skin crawl with this one.

Or Try These

Mystery Walk, They Thirst, Usher's Passing and The Wolf's Hour by Robert R.

McCammon; Psycho and Ripper by Robert Bloch; The Light At The End by John

Skipp and Craig Spector; The Legacy by John Coyne; Crucifax by Ray Garton;

Worms and Wolfsbane by Al Sarrantonio; Brujo by William R. Relling; Hell House

and Seven Past Midnight by Richard Matheson; The Monastary, Out of the Night,

and Deathwalker by Patrick Whalen.

There's also The Grave and Bloodwind by Charles L. Grant; The Elementals by

Michael McDowell; The Uninvited by John Farris; The Exorcist by William Peter

Blatty; Breeder by Douglas Clegg; Dracula by Bram Stoker; The Spear, The Rats,

The Fog, The Lair, Domain and Sepulchre by James Herbert; and Rosemary's Baby,

Son of Rosemary, and The Boys From Brazil by Ira Levin.