This was a hard list to put together. I’ve read literally hundreds of horror novels, collections and anthologies over the years, so I almost had enough possible choices to make the task impossible. Narrowing it down to novels helped a bit, but it was still no easy job.
Further, rating and ranking books isn’t as easy as passing quick judgment on movies. They require a much greater commitment of time and attention. Thus it’s easier to fall in love with a flawed book, as some of the entries here will doubtless prove.
What I tried for in this list was a mix of at least some of the genre’s dominant themes and prominent writers. Most of the books on the list defy genre conventions in one way or another, either taking traditional themes and twisting them around or departing entirely from the rules of the game. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if in the future this set is joined by an “eight more” or two, perhaps populated with tales that are easier to define.
The Halloween Tree – Of all the books that first set my feet on the “dark fiction” path, this one still stands out in my memory. Ray Bradbury was one of my childhood favorites, and here he’s at the top of his game. He weaves a spooky blend of kid customs, Halloween history and real-life death as a group of boys chase through a fantastic “haunted house” trying to save their seriously-ill chum. Though a lot of Bradbury’s work is over-sentimental, here the level is just right.
The House Next Door – In a genre in many ways defined by its own conventions, this tale succeeds precisely because it defies the rules. In some respects it’s a haunted house piece, but the location isn’t gothic or creepy or even old. Indeed, it’s a suburban as it can be. Which is what makes it so chilling when it starts killing people with no explanation at all for why (until the end, which I admit does spoil things just a bit).
The Dead Zone – After reading 50-some books by Stephen King, I pretty much have to put him in here somewhere. I read this one so long ago that it isn’t even on my books-read list (which means I read it sometime prior to 1988, though I don’t honestly remember exactly when). But the story stuck with me. It’s not as complicated as The Stand or as popular as The Shining, maybe not even as good as Carrie. But it’s simple and straightforward, dealing with a relatively small psychic gift. It also features a likable hero and even a few good scares. What more can one ask of a horror novel?
The Witching Hour – Sorry, Anne Rice fans. I just can’t do the vampire thing. Nor for that matter did I get much out of the second and third books in the Mayfair Witches series. This one, on the other hand, was easier to enjoy. It has a lot of Rice’s annoying fascination with gothic crap. But it also has her sense of New Orleans decadence and Victorian sexuality without all the bloodsucking.
Summer of Night – Sure, his later novels (such as The Terror and Drood) are “bigger.” And the source of evil in this one does in the end turn out to be a teeny bit lame. But otherwise this is a good use of kids in the Midwest versus an unseen force destroying their town. Sort of like It only without the space spider.
Floating Dragon – This is another read-it-a-long-time-ago entry, my favorite by far of the Peter Straub I’ve experienced. This is a tale from the good old days before Straub decided that he couldn’t decide whether or not he was a genre writer. After enduring Mr. X, I backtracked to his earlier stuff and found that I liked it a lot better. This is a particularly fine specimen, a tale of ancient, invisible evil on the loose.
Weaveworld – Clive Barker did wonders for the horror world, breaking away from some of the ruts the genre had gotten stuck in. He also introduced a measure of graphic sex and violence without descending to the extremes of splatterpunk. This is one of the better examples of his work, more substantial than his short fiction (though plenty of good moments await readers of The Books of Blood set as well). By walking a line between horror and fantasy, he creates a world hidden in a carpet that is at once magical and scary.
Hell House – This is as close to a straightforward ghost story as I could come. Richard Matheson is more comfortable than most writers working across media, as his novels, short stories, teleplays and movie scripts have proven. This one was both a book and a movie, though oddly enough the book is a good deal more graphic than the film version. Still, this is an excellent blend of the psychological and the visceral, pushing the boundaries of the haunted house tale without stepping completely outside of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment