Tags: books

Horror is fear of the unknown, the invisible terror lurking just beyond our sight. Even in movies and literature when the creature or abomination is exposed in all their grotesque glory, it is the thought of them slinking in the darkness that creates the tension. As the cliché goes, what you don't see is more frightening than what you do see. Ambrose Bierce teaches us this most valuable of lessons in his short but powerful tale of "The Damned Thing."(read more...)

Lullaby is by no means a conventional horror novel. Then again, Chuck Palahniuk is by no means a conventional horror novelist. Hell, Palahniuk isn't even a conventional writer. While these factors may seem to be detriments to the success of the book, Palahniuk's novel accomplishes something that hardly seems possible in the world of horror today: he has developed a completely new, unique, and refreshing idea. Lullaby deserves to go down in the annals of the best psychological/satirical/horror novels, however small said annals may be.(read more...)

Dark and dirty things occur in the Deep South at the dead of night, while the crickets are a-chirping and the big ol' devil moon is smiling down at the earth. I apologize for the folksy intro, but after reading "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, I can't help but get in the moonshine spirit of things. If the bizarre effect the tale had on me isn't testament enough, I can personally assure you that Faulkner's prose will have you convinced that his town of Jefferson, Mississippi is as real as your own childhood home.(read more...)

Gather around, everyone. I have a tale to tell you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. But fear not, my dear readers. We have the safety of the crackling fire and the roof over our heads to protect us from the night's terrible wrath. You may have heard this story before. Perhaps from a family member or a friend of a friend. For those of you who have yet to hear this little shocker, you may wish you never had...(read more...)

See the swashbuckling hero smite out evil with the blade of his holy sword! Witness the evil doings of nefarious French criminals and diabolical African warlords! Shiver at the sight of the dead returning from their graves to the beat of voodoo drums as they shamble forth into the mysterious void of the night world! All these thrilling adventures await you in Robert E. Howard's tale of vengeance and bare-chested action that succeeds in both boiling the blood and chilling the flesh.(read more...)

When we sleep, why is it so easy for our dreams to descend into nightmares? Why is our first reaction to a sudden pain to laugh at the sensation? Everything that exists seems to overlap into the next, breaking the barriers. The world of fantasy is just a breath away from reality, phantoms eagerly pressing in around the corners of our lives until they crack. Perhaps one of the most terrifying things about Clive Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart" is that it reveals to us (and revels in) the symbiotic relationship between pain and pleasure, light and darkness, and the toll that it takes on our souls.(read more...)

In 1872, a writer named Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu published a tale that in many ways paved the road for Dracula, Lestat, and hundreds of other bloodsuckers to come. This was the tale of Carmilla, an undead seductress who typified the bond between vampirism and sensuality and whose dark influence on the genre can still be felt to this very day.(read more...)

Even before seeing Robert Downey Jr.'s awesome performance in Guy Ritchie's film Sherlock Holmes, I had been a fan of the genius detective for some time. For some reason I was always intrigued by Holmes, something about this figure of reasoning and bravery resonating within me. I still consider him to be one of my literary heroes, right alongside Batman. The Hound of the Baskervilles helped bring back some wonderful memories and reinstate my assertion that Holmes is one of the greatest characters in the history of literature.(read more...)

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...)