Author Topic: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers  (Read 16051 times)

Offline Brown Eyes

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Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« on: October 29, 2009, 08:17:55 pm »

Heya!

Tell us about your favorite author of scary, spooky or horror related stories, books or poems!  Do you have a favorite author, or a favorite type of scary story?  Do you like all-out horror type stories, or more subtle psychological chiller type stories?

I tried to include a wide variety of types of writers here... both classic and modern.  Please let me know if there are any specific requests for me to add to the list.

You can pick up to 3 options here, and you can change your vote if you feel like it.



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Offline Brokeback_Dev

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2009, 08:35:55 pm »
I picked Steven King for "Cujo" and  Bram stoker for "Dracula" thanks to him we have vampires in our midst. FInally Edgar Allen Poe for "The Raven"

Offline Monika

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2009, 08:39:48 pm »
One of the first horror stories I remember hearing was The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. I was really young and I listened to it on cassette and remember being terrified!



from wikipedia

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a "vulture eye". The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator's guilt manifests itself in the hallucination that the man's heart is still beating under the floorboards.

It is unclear what relationship, if any, the old man and his murderer share. It has been suggested that the old man is a father figure, or whether the narrator works for the old man as a servant, perhaps, that his vulture eye represents some sort of veiled secret, or power. The ambiguity and lack of details about the two main characters stand in stark contrast to the specific plot details leading up to the murder.

The story was first published in James Russell Lowell's The Pioneer in January 1843. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is widely considered a classic of the Gothic fiction genre and one of Poe's most famous short stories.


Offline Clyde-B

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2009, 08:44:37 pm »
H. P. Lovecraft   




Offline delalluvia

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2009, 09:18:56 pm »
I'm not really well-read in this genre since I don't really like to be scared  :-\.  But I put down two writers I do know that scared me - Stephen King for Pet Semetary and Edgar Allen Poe for most of his short stories.

And

Phantoms by Koontz was really scary if you can suspend your fear of his really careless writing.  The story is good though.

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2009, 09:20:25 pm »
Thanks Buds!

So, I have a question for folks... I considered putting Toni Morrison on the list because of Beloved.  I think Beloved is an absolutely fantastic book and it does involve a ghost.  It's one of those books that's always stuck with me.  

I didn't really know if it would qualify for this type of list, or if the use of the ghost theme in that book is too metaphoric... or, in other words... if the inclusion of the ghost in that book was for motivations so different from a lot of typical ghost stories, that it wouldn't really be appropriate for this list.

For anyone who's read Beloved, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

the world was asleep to our latent fuss - bowie

Offline mariez

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2009, 09:31:06 pm »
One of the first horror stories I remember hearing was The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. I was really young and I listened to it on cassette and remember being terrified!

Yes, The Tell-Tale Heart was one of the first horror stories I read, along with his poem, The Raven. 

Firestarter was the first Stephen King book I read and I remember that I couldn't put it down, even though it scared me.  I'm not generally a big fan of the "horror" stories, but I appreciate good writing in any genre.

Thanks Buds!

So, I have a question for folks... I considered putting Toni Morrison on the list because of Beloved.  I think Beloved is an absolutely fantastic book and it does involve a ghost.  It's one of those books that's always stuck with me. 

I didn't really know if it would qualify for this type of list, or if the use of the ghost theme in that book is too metaphoric... or, in other words... if the inclusion of the ghost in that book was for motivations so different from a lot of typical ghost stories, that it wouldn't really be appropriate for this list.

For anyone who's read Beloved, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.



Oh, this came in as I was typing.  That's a good question, Amanda. I have read Beloved and I agree that it's a terrific book. I don't think it would have occured to me to put it on this list for the reasons you mentioned - but strictly speaking I guess it is a "ghost" story of sorts.
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Offline CellarDweller

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2009, 09:40:22 pm »
I used to have a ton of Stephen King paperbacks.  his stories are great!


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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2009, 09:57:34 pm »
Poe and Stoker. Classics both.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2009, 10:27:45 pm »
I'm finding the (early) results here very interesting.  Some clear favorites indicated in the results so far.  I have to say that I'm surprised that Rice hasn't gotten any votes yet (I'm not an Anne Rice fan, but still...) and I think it's awesome that Poe is getting so many votes!

I voted for Jackson Shelley and Wharton.  I love Shirley Jackson... The Haunting of Hill House (and the movie that came out in the early 1960s based on the book) I think is absolutely spectacular.  Her book We Have Always Lived in the Castle is also great, but not quite the same as The Haunting.  

Oh, this came in as I was typing.  That's a good question, Amanda. I have read Beloved and I agree that it's a terrific book. I don't think it would have occured to me to put it on this list for the reasons you mentioned - but strictly speaking I guess it is a "ghost" story of sorts.

Thanks for your input Marie.  Yeah, I think you're right.
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Offline delalluvia

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2009, 10:32:08 pm »
I read a lot of Anne Rice, but I just never thought her books were scary.  Perhaps because she's telling the story from the 'creature's POV in her vampire novels?

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2009, 10:57:36 pm »
Hey Bud, great idea for a poll!

I wish I could add to my vote. I somehow missed voting for E. A. Poe!

Here's a fun EAP prank: A few years ago, I bought one of those sleep-noise machines -- you know, the kind that makes white noise or the sound of waves or whatever when you're trying to sleep? Anyway, one of the settings was "heartbeat." It so happened that at the same time, my older son, then about 12, was reading EAP stories. So my younger son and I set the little machine for heartbeat, hid it, and then when my son said "What's that sound?" pretended we didn't know what he was talking about.


 
I considered putting Toni Morrison on the list because of Beloved.  I think Beloved is an absolutely fantastic book and it does involve a ghost.  It's one of those books that's always stuck with me. 

I didn't really know if it would qualify for this type of list, or if the use of the ghost theme in that book is too metaphoric... or, in other words... if the inclusion of the ghost in that book was for motivations so different from a lot of typical ghost stories, that it wouldn't really be appropriate for this list.

For anyone who's read Beloved, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Well, I loved Beloved. It didn't scare me, though -- except in, you know, the larger political/humanity sense.  :-\


I also voted for Stephen King. I used to love Stephen King in his earliest days -- like the first 10 books or so  -- then I got kind of sick of him. This isn't very scary, but in recent years I've circled back around to like him again, partly because he seems like such a likeable person in real life, as far as I can tell. I read his memoir about writing, and it was pretty charming; he seems very down to earth, and not to have changed that much since the days when he was a regular unknown horror-magazine geek. And he certainly knows how to keep you turning the pages!

Also, as I've said many times, his book The Stand is the closest parallel I know of for Brokieism. I guess that's not very scary, either, but still.



I read a lot of Anne Rice, but I just never thought her books were scary.  Perhaps because she's telling the story from the 'creature's POV in her vampire novels?

I'm almost going through something similar with Anne Rice, except in an even weirder sense -- I've never read any of her books! When I lived in New Orleans, she just seemed kind of annoying (that's where she lives, in a big scary haunted-looking house). But now, in retrospect, I'm developing a certain affection for her, too. I think she deserves a lot of the credit for the trend these days to humanize/romanticize vampires. I'm not a big vampire buff (ooh -- no pun intended!), but her idea was pretty original, and the Twilight series and its ilk owe a lot to her.



Offline Monika

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2009, 11:56:08 pm »


Phantoms by Koontz was really scary if you can suspend your fear of his really careless writing.  The story is good though.
this made me remember another novel that scared the shit out of me - Whispers by Koontz. Thinking back on it today still gives me the chills.
I don´t think I ever read Phantoms though.

I´ve also read Beloved, but never thought of it as a ghost story inspite of its magical elements.



As I kid I also read a lot of Stephen King. I think that the stories I found most disturbing (in the scary sense) was IT (that clown...uhhh) and the short story The Langoliers.

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2009, 12:04:23 am »

Thanks Buds! :)

I think there is an actual ghost in Beloved, if I'm remembering correctly.  It's been a long time since I've read it, so a lot of the details are not fresh in my mind.

I always thought Beloved was eerie and vaguely spooky... though certainly not a truly scary, scary ghost story in the more conventional sense.

But, it's really interesting to think how wide a range of tone and feeling the category of "ghost story" contains.  Ghost stories can be pretty subtle, or they can be very blatantly scary.  I mean even a some Shakespeare involves ghost stories while not necessarily always being truly scary.

I'm a huge wimp when it comes to scary stories... I get scarred really easily from good scary stories and movies. I think my imagination runs wild easily... and things like ghost stories tend to impact me the most (more than, say, stories about killers or gory horror stories/ movies).

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Offline Sason

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #14 on: October 30, 2009, 03:55:21 am »
I don't care much for regular horror type stories, but in them earlier days I've read a fair deal of psychologically scary and creepy stories.

I've read Ira Levin and liked him.

But I miss Ruth Rendell in the list, her books are truly scary that way. The perpetrator always turns out to be a truly sick and deeply disturbed person. When I used to read them they usually gave me chills down the spine.

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2009, 05:10:15 am »
The scariest and most horrifying novel I've ever read is "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. Not a horror story but a novelization of a horrific murder of an entire family in Kansas circa 1959. Based on true events and real people it is the only novel i can recall that gave me chills and goosebumps. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up for two reasons: First, the recounting of the senseless and brutal killing of a blameless and innocent family, and the subsequent tragic consequences for all, including Truman himself and second, the exquisitely tight prose that vibrates with tension.

Offline Mandy21

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2009, 07:16:34 am »
Great topic, Amanda.  And very timely.

I use my memory of "The Tell-Tale Heart" every time that I can't sleep.  I picture a murderer standing over the side of my bed just waiting to see if my breath gets faster, or stays calm.  If I stay calm, I won't have known he was there, so he can just choose to walk away, but if I start breathing heavy, he'll know for sure that I'm going to turn him in, so he might as well hack me to death.  That forces me to breathe calmly, which in turn, leads to sleep.

Sick, I know.

I blame my parents for not monitoring my reading and viewing habits as a child.  Being given free rein can be a dangerous thing.   :o
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2009, 09:07:12 am »
I use my memory of "The Tell-Tale Heart" every time that I can't sleep.  I picture a murderer standing over the side of my bed just waiting to see if my breath gets faster, or stays calm.  If I stay calm, I won't have known he was there, so he can just choose to walk away, but if I start breathing heavy, he'll know for sure that I'm going to turn him in, so he might as well hack me to death.  That forces me to breathe calmly, which in turn, leads to sleep.

Hmm. Have you tried counting sheep?

Kidding, but it doesn't sound like the most soothing sleep ritual. :laugh:

When I was a kid, I loved collections of ... what would you call them, not exactly horror, more like suspense, I guess. Collections of stories from "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock" and things like that. At one point in grade school, someone gave me a book called "Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries" in which people would get killed or kids get kidnapped, and the stories were salted with clues to solve the crime. I don't think I solved any, because they were really hard, though I read them over and over. I can still remember some of the clues! Like, a British millionaire is murdered and his last words are, "I suspect mice!" but in the end they figure out that he was saying, "I suspect my solicitor."


Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2009, 10:14:40 am »
Hmm. Have you tried counting sheep?

There are over a thousand of 'em. At least you could try to get the count right. ...  ;)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline delalluvia

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2009, 12:27:31 pm »
Hmm. Have you tried counting sheep?

Supposed to guard the sheep, not count 'em.

Offline Shasta542

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #20 on: October 30, 2009, 09:06:13 pm »
The scariest and most horrifying novel I've ever read is "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. Not a horror story but a novelization of a horrific murder of an entire family in Kansas circa 1959. Based on true events and real people it is the only novel i can recall that gave me chills and goosebumps. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up for two reasons: First, the recounting of the senseless and brutal killing of a blameless and innocent family, and the subsequent tragic consequences for all, including Truman himself and second, the exquisitely tight prose that vibrates with tension.

That was a terrifying story. Isn't the movie "Capote" about the TC interviewing one of the murderers as part of the research for the book? I think so.
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Offline Shasta542

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #21 on: October 30, 2009, 09:13:35 pm »
I voted "other".

John Saul. I've read about half of his books, but the first 6 were the scariest. The first one...Suffer the Children gets the gold tho.
  :o

Suffer the Children (1977)
Punish the Sinners (1978)
Cry For the Strangers (1979)
Comes the Blind Fury (1980)
When the Wind Blows (1981)
God Project, the (1982)
Nathaniel (1984)
Brain Child (1985)
Hellfire (1986)
Unwanted, the (1987)
Unloved, the (1988)
Creature (1989)
Second Child (1990)
Sleepwalk (1991)
Darkness (1991)
Shadows (1992)
Guardian (1993)
Homing, the (1994)
Black Lightning (1995)
Presence, the (1998)
Right Hand of Evil, the (1999)
Nightshade (2000)
Manhattan Hunt Club, the (2001)
Midnight Voices (2002)
Black Creek Crossing (2004)
Perfect Nightmare (2005)
In the Dark of the Night (2006)
Devil's Labyrinth, the (2007)
Faces of Fear (2008)
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Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #22 on: October 30, 2009, 10:15:13 pm »
I was all set to do a write-in vote for Shirley Jackson, but you had her on the list, A!  When I was about 9 or so I read this big thick compilation of all her works.  Some of them were light-hearted and really funny.  Some were really scary.  Very confusing.

I also voted for Ira Levin (Rosemary's Baby, Boys From Brazil, This Perfect Day, and more), and Edgar Allan Poe.  Although now when I think of his stories, my mind is overtaken by Bart Simpson saying, "Quoth the raven, 'Eat my shorts.'"


Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #23 on: October 30, 2009, 10:19:41 pm »
I was all set to do a write-in vote for Shirley Jackson, but you had her on the list, A!  When I was about 9 or so I read this big thick compilation of all her works.  Some of them were light-hearted and really funny.  Some were really scary.  Very confusing.


 :D  I'm a huge Shirley Jackson fan.  Have you read The Haunting, or seen the movie (I mean the good one from the early 1960s)?  Totally awesome.

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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #24 on: October 31, 2009, 04:41:54 pm »
I loved "Harvest Home," by Thomas Tryon!


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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #25 on: October 31, 2009, 06:13:14 pm »
That was a terrifying story. Isn't the movie "Capote" about the TC interviewing one of the murderers as part of the research for the book? I think so.

Yes, the movies "Capote" and "Infamous" (which is arguably the better film) were both filmed the same year and cover the period in Truman's life when he came up with the idea of novelizing a true story, researching  it and how it ultimately destroyed him personally and artistically.

Offline delalluvia

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #26 on: November 03, 2009, 12:02:31 pm »
I loved "Harvest Home," by Thomas Tryon!

Just read the synopsis on this book.  Wow, that's some serious 'alternative' stuff going on.

Offline mariez

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #27 on: November 03, 2009, 03:26:57 pm »
I loved "Harvest Home," by Thomas Tryon!



Oh, now, there's a blast from the past!  I'd totally forgotten about that book.  Now I remember reading this in high school - and staying up all night to finish it. 
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #28 on: November 03, 2009, 11:45:27 pm »
Oh, now, there's a blast from the past!  I'd totally forgotten about that book.  Now I remember reading this in high school - and staying up all night to finish it. 

I'm glad you remember it, too, Marie! That book actually sparked my interest in ancient pagan harvest rituals. Years later, this led to interests in witchcraft, Wicca, Halloween origins, the European witch burnings ... I'm not pagan or Wiccan and I can't pretend to be deeply knowledgeable about this stuff, but I've always had a soft spot for it and have written a little bit about it -- all thanks to "Harvest Home"!

Oddly enough,  Thomas Tryon is better known for "The Other," and although I think I read that one first, I don't remember a thing about it.


Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #29 on: November 04, 2009, 09:45:29 am »
I'm glad you remember it, too, Marie! That book actually sparked my interest in ancient pagan harvest rituals. Years later, this led to interests in witchcraft, Wicca, Halloween origins, the European witch burnings ... I'm not pagan or Wiccan and I can't pretend to be deeply knowledgeable about this stuff, but I've always had a soft spot for it and have written a little bit about it -- all thanks to "Harvest Home"!

Oddly enough,  Thomas Tryon is better known for "The Other," and although I think I read that one first, I don't remember a thing about it.

Of course you all know that Thomas Tryon the author was first known as Tom Tryon, the actor? Quite handsome, too. If I knew that he died in 1991, I had forgotten it.  :(

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874502/

Maybe I should read Harvest Home some day.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #30 on: November 04, 2009, 05:09:56 pm »
Of course you all know that Thomas Tryon the author was first known as Tom Tryon, the actor? Quite handsome, too. If I knew that he died in 1991, I had forgotten it.  :(

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874502/

Maybe I should read Harvest Home some day.

I didn't know that, until I googled him a couple of days ago.

BTW, if anyone googles "Harvest Home" and arrives at Wikipedia, be forewarned that their entry describes the entire plot, start to finish, including tons of  spoilers. Reading it was fun for me, as it brought back memories, but anyone who plans to ever read it should avoid Wikipedia.


Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #31 on: November 04, 2009, 07:21:24 pm »
I didn't know that, until I googled him a couple of days ago.

BTW, if anyone googles "Harvest Home" and arrives at Wikipedia, be forewarned that their entry describes the entire plot, start to finish, including tons of  spoilers. Reading it was fun for me, as it brought back memories, but anyone who plans to ever read it should avoid Wikipedia.

Sounds like the Cliff's Notes version of Harvest Home.  ;D
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Offline Sason

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #32 on: November 05, 2009, 02:41:45 pm »

Oddly enough,  Thomas Tryon is better known for "The Other," and although I think I read that one first, I don't remember a thing about it.



I remember reading a book called the equivalent of "The Other", waaaaaay back when. About two twin boys. Is that the one?

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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #33 on: November 05, 2009, 02:46:16 pm »
I remember reading a book called the equivalent of "The Other", waaaaaay back when. About two twin boys. Is that the one?

Yes, I believe so.


Offline Sason

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Re: Favorite Horror, Scary, Spooky or Ghost Story Writers
« Reply #34 on: November 05, 2009, 02:57:11 pm »
As I remember it, that was a very good and very scary book. In a psychological sense.

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