#classic horror books

[m-o-o-n-thatspellsblog]

Maybe the real Frankenstein's monster was the homosexuality we repressed along the way

[luxshine]

Of all Stephen King books, Pet sematary is probably the hardest one to read -or worse, reread- , not gonna lie. But in my trip in all #kingbooksanalysis, I had to get there and see what it says about the very unhealthy ways we have to deal with grief and how they affect us and those around us, and the reason why we follow them instead of the healthy ones.

Also, please, please, please remember to keep your cats INDOORS. I know it sounds weird, but the best way to keep our furry friends safe is by insuring they have a great life away from danger -and the local wildlife, which is also kept safe by this. If you have a yard, consider building a catio, so that your kitties have fresh air, a bit of extra room to roam, but stay away from cars, trucks, other cats, and general unpleasantries.

An Indoor cat is a happy cat, and pretty much all the horrors of this book wouldn't have happened if the Creeds remembered that.

[horrortino]

Classic Horror Books #1: The Castle of Otranto

I started off my plunge into Classic Horror with The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. It is a short story published in 1764, and often regarded as the first “Gothic” novel. I read mine in a collection of gothic stories called A Treasury of Gothic and Supernatural by Avenel Books. And…it kind of gave me whiplash, lmao. I have read entirely contemporary books for the last few years, and even before that I’m not sure when I had read a book this old. To jump into something that is written with near entirely run-on sentences and “thou”, “thy”, “thee” this-and-that, my brain was uhhh chugging to say the least. This is something I suspect will improve as I go through the list, but for right now, it was a bit hard. I had to really concentrate to glean what was going on, and who was speaking.

The gist of this story is that the Prince Manfred of the Castle Otranto has been a bad guy. His father and grandfather before him were bad guys too. And for this, the haunted Castle of Otranto is going to give Prince Manfred his ghostly retribution. Unfortunately, his whole family, the church, and even another castle’s royalty gets caught in the shitstorm as well.

It definitely has the gothic literature vibes down. Dastardly men, spooky castles, damsels in distress, religion, ghosts, romance, and hey, it even has a giant spectral knight! Despite that, I found it a bit dry, although that may just be the writing style of the period. It also suffered from a little weird pacing. Sometimes it seemed like things were going quickly, and then other times it focused too heavily on something that could have been much, much shorter. The dialogue was copious and heavy, very formal, and sometimes I was like, “will you just get to the point!!” But, overall, I did like the story, and it was interesting to read something that is labeled the “first Gothic story”, because Gothic elements just seem so commonplace to me that I didn’t ever think of them originating from something.

One fun tidbit I came across was the mention of “Queer Elements” regarding this story while I was researching. I personally did not notice the queer/homoerotic elements that were pointed out, but because of that, I ended up down a rabbit hole of queer components in Gothic lit. There are several publications that visit this in detail, and I will look into them while I continue my reading list.

Spoilers ahead, in pink!

Manfred was such an asshole, and my biggest disappointment in the story was despite all this shit being his fault (and his father & grandfather’s fault), Isabella, Hippolita, Theodore, and both his children paid the price for his misdeeds. Then he just like…retires to religion afterward, to repent, I guess?? Sure dude, try to marry (and ASSAULT??) a young girl who was engaged to your (now smushed) son, be a total twat to your loving wife, abuse this random kid you suddenly want to place all your blame on (Theodore), and then accidentally MURDER your daughter! I was all invested in this cute “love at first sight” thing that Theodore and Matilda had going on and then, nope. Stabbed.

The whole random giant legs and arms and such showing up and frightening Bianca, Diego, and Jaquez was sort of hilarious though. It’s laughable but I suppose if I walked into a room and an enormous armored hand was just waiting for me, I would be a bit scared too lol

Well! Thank you for joining me on this little jaunt through my first dip into Classic Horror! Up next is The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, a gothic horror-romance from 1794. It is also 704 pages long, which means I mayyy supplement it with a few shorter stories/manga so that I don’t get too burnt out reading it.

See you next time!

[kjudgemental]

Night Show - Classic Horror Novel

Author: Richard Laymon Publisher: Headline Country: USA Year: 1984 (my copy in ‘Richard Laymon Collection Volume 3’ 2006) On one hand, it’s incredibly worrying that Richard Laymon was as successful as he was, because pretty much nothing he wrote was anything more than pulp schlock, with lots of blood and nudity and the word ‘rump’. At the same time, it’s great that Laymon was as successful as…

[the-watcher-in-the-sky]

[sergle]

I like a lot of horror podcasts, but what about horror novels? does anypony have book recommendations for me that you really enjoyed / that were super scary

[gothic-allegory]

Nyarlathotep by Álvaro Fernández González

[halloween-sweets]

[the---hermit]

vampire books

I realized this year I have read quite a few vampire books and decided to see how many I have in my collection. The pile looks taller than it actually is because I have three different editions of Carmilla. I do have a few more vampire books on my wishlist including Anno Dracula, and that edition of Dracula that is the translation of the early 20th century Icelandic translation by Valdimar Ásmundsson, who apparently took so many liberties he wrote another novel entirely. And I cannot wait to get my hands on either of those.

the books in the pile from top to bottom in case you are curious or looking for recs:

The Vampyre by John Polidori

Due Racconti di Vampiri - a small book containing The Horror Of Abbot's Grange and The Night Wind Howls by Frederick Ignatius Cowels

Resurgir: Vampirismi dall'America Latina edited by Lorenzo Incarbone - a small collection of short stories about vampires by Latin American authors

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Dracula by Bram Stoker

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

VINCENT PRICE -

THE HAUNTED PALACE (1963) - dir. Roger Corman

[auralice]

[m-o-o-n-thatspellsblog]

One of my favorite parts of Stephen King's Cell is when the main character, Clay, walks into his new friend Tom's house for the first time and he's like "hmm it smells gay in here"

[pseudobohemianlosers]

Shirley Jackson’s original sketch of the house’s layout for The Haunting of Hill House.

[horrortino]

Classic Horror Books

This year, while I was enjoying one of David Sodergren’s wonderfully wicked horror novels (hiiighly recommend), it occurred to me that I have very little knowledge in the foundational classics of horror. I have never read Dracula, I haven’t once touched Stephen King, and when I was in 9th grade, I think I only barely skimmed Frankenstein to complete a test. Of course, one does not need to have completed a roster of 100 classic horrors to enjoy the genre, but it did make me realize that I wanted to see the origins of it. Where did certain tropes come from? Why are we familiar with quintessential horror monsters like Vampires and Werewolves? How did all the subgenres pop up throughout time?

So, with this in mind, I researched and made a list of classic horror novels, and classic horror short stories/novellas. I organized them by year of origin, so I could start at the oldest and make my way forward in time. Now, take my list with a grain of salt because I am a US American, and my research was done primarily through a US American/English speaking lens. Other countries and cultures may have a different idea of classic/influential horror. (However, if you have any horrors that are considered classic in your country, please don’t hesitate to let me know! I would love to see if I can find an English translation so I can build on my worldly horror base!)

I did stop at around ~20 years old, which is why the last book is from 2002. Perhaps as time goes on, new classics will be added to the list. Isn’t that exciting?

With that said, here is the link to my Classic/Influential/Formative Horror sheet. If I find any more as I go, I will add them. I will also update the sheet as I finish each book by highlighting them and adding a link to my post discussing it. The lavender highlight means I have finished the book, and the mint green means I am currently reading. If I highlight it with light blue, it means I have DNF’d it, and I will also write & link a post discussing my reasoning.

Classic/Influential/Formative Horror Book Sheet

You will be able to find links to any of my classic horror book posts in the Classic Horror Books page of my blog, as well as the tag classic horror books. I will also tag each post with the author’s name, and the name of the book, so it can be searched in my blog if you are looking for a particular story.

Happy horrifying!

[toomuchhorrorfiction]

Early 1970s UK paperbacks by HP Lovecraft with cover art by Ian Miller

[monstermelodies]

More Than You Care to Know About Monsters by Dick Smith

(School Book Fairs, 1979)