Tags: cold reads

As this first month of reviews comes to a close, some readers may find themselves scratching their skulls at this last selection of the horror genre's type five essentials. Certainly, I must be mistaken in including a novel that is solidly in the field of science fiction. "My God man, have you gone mad?!" I hear you screaming at your computer screen. Actually, I am indeed quite insane. However, I believe the true lunacy would be to dismiss H. G. Wells's tale of a terrifying alien invasion as a simple romp into the world of the scientifically fantastic. Wells imbues his story with a palpable fear that will have the readers shivering with genuine fright at the thought of mankind meeting its end at the cold hands of an alien invader.(read more...)

In a world that has become populated by hunky, teenaged bloodsuckers with a penchant for sparkling, this reviewer finds it very refreshing to go back to a time when vampires were of a charming nobility and still possessed an air of mystique and utter horror. Dracula is just the fix I need, providing an engaging adventure story set to the tone of the moody European Gothics. While it is not free from faults, this novel is a seminal piece of literature for serious fans of vampires, whether they be Edward Cullen or Max Schreck.(read more...)

Deep in the impenetrable mist, a beast cries out in the night, a cry that is longing for release and raging to quench a thirst that can only be satiated in the misery of others. This is the scene taking place both in the streets of London and in the tortured soul of Henry Jekyll in Robert Louis Stevenson's horror classic. Within a mere 87 pages, Stevenson takes us on a journey that we are likely never to forget, even after years of reading his beautiful words.(read more...)

Out of all the novels up for examination this month, Frankenstein, penned by 19-year-old Mary Shelley, has been critiqued, studied, and anatomically dissected (no pun intended) by literary analysts big and small. Everything that could have possibly been discussed already has been... and then was discussed some more. Therefore, it is somewhat intimidating for a meager blogger such as myself to delve into the multiple complexities and interpretations that arise from this landmark in horror and the world of literature as a whole without repeating things that have already been said. But there is a thunderous rumbling in the sky that urges me forward and compels me to continue in my dark studies. So with the eagerness of the devoted student of midnight, I will compile together a creature that will hopefully be more appealing to the eye than Shelley's tragic monster.(read more...)

When one makes an outlandish claim such as the chicken came before the egg or that it was Elvis who put the bop in shop-bop-a-loo-bop, one should expect to be met with a torrent of verbal venom and rotten produce. Saying that The Castle of Otranto is the very first horror novel in literature history seems like a claim that would receive a similarly warm reaction. Generally regarded as the first Gothic novel, I believe that by extension this book must have had a good amount of influence on the genre as a whole and helped shape the foundation of horror. While most definitely not perfect, Otranto serves as a nice little history lesson in terror. Like they say, it all had to start somewhere...(read more...)

When Classic-Horror.com returns from its hiatus in May, we'll be featuring a number of regular columns tracking different aspects of the horror genre. Here's a preview of one such column, Jose Cruz's study of horror in literature, Cold Reads. 

"Norman Bates heard the noise and a shock went through him." And so begins this timeless tale, a story that is guaranteed to send a few jolts of nervousness through your veins as well. Overshadowed by its celluloid counterpart, Psycho the book has all the creeping chills of the movie along with the great privilege of having Mr. Robert Bloch to guide us through the long, dark corridors of both the Bates house and the minds of its inhabitants.(read more...)