10 short horror books that left me shaken
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- My top 10 short horror novels or novellas that chilled or disturbed me. Let me know your most disturbing, scariest, creepiest horror books in the comments!
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For the book length thing, I've heard that publishers aren't that willing to publish overly long books from new authors. Each genre and age group has an average book length that new authors need to stick to. They don't want to risk the cost of publishing a long book from a new author and then not have it sell well. The more you publish the more likely they are to say yes to a long book. People are more willing to read a 500+ page book from an established author that they like vs from someone that they don't know who it is is the thinking.
Ah that’s really fascinating! It makes perfect sense economically and certainly seems to match reality. Thank you!
In the nineties, several authors told me publishers wanted "door stoppers and no short ones because there were fabrication costs (I don't remember the specifics) Besides, in the US, readers wanted long books. Robert Parker entered the best-sellers lists when he first wrote a book twice the side of his usual stuff…
@@pateris Fascinating!
@@CriminOllyBlog …Just call me Thomas. (A classic is NEVER outmoded !)
Interesting. I hadn't thought about it but it makes perfect sense. That would explain why most of the tomes I see out there are written by Stephen King. (He always said he had diarrhea of the word processor).
Sequel: Ten short horror novels that left me stirred.
hahaha very good!
@@CriminOllyBlog Mucho gracias.
😂 📚 📖
Carrie by Stephen King
Off Season by Jack Ketchum
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
The Hellbound Heart by Clive Baker
Deadhead by Shaun Hutson
The Collector by John Fowles
The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
Dead Laura by Gemma Amor
You've Lost A Lot Of Blood by Eric Larocca
What about James Herbert,s the rats.
Thank you for making this list. Its very helpful for OCD people who write down on paper.
Skeleton key by Stephen King. The Jaunt. Horrible....
Skeleton CREW. Agree there are so many good stories in that collection.@@petervitti9
Thank you!
Sir, your dedication and involvement in horror genre is exemplary. Your knowledge is astounding, certainly a Genius. I only
recommend one short story " The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins. It is one of most brilliant and profound stories I have ever read.
Thank you, that is incredibly kind of you to say. I do have a copy of The Yellow Wallpaper and aim to read it soon
In my mind, The Yellow Wallpaper was always a creepy story that stuck with me. Still does.
Off season is such a great book.
It's was a pretty hardcore experience reading it on middle school.
Ha! Wow I can imagine!
I also read The Collector years ago, and it is simply one of the scariest, most uncompromising books I've ever read.
Yeah it’s excellent.
I personally wouldn't classify the Collector as horror, but it's certainly a literary thriller and classic of the genre.
A horror story that truly creeped me out was HEX by Thomas Olde Heuveldt. He translated the original into English and moved the location to a small town in upstate New York. A 300 year old witch, eyes and mouth sewn shut and arms chained to her body, appears in various places in the town and even in homes. All townspeople have government provided phones with an app to report sightings and there are cameras everywhere that are monitored by a secret govt group. Oh yeah, and no one who lives in the town can leave for more than a few days without becoming suicidal. I read it 3 years ago and it still creeps me out.
I actually have that on my TBR for next month. I've heard so many great things about it
Uzumaki by Junji ito had that affect on me. It is truly a master piece.
So many people have recommended that to me lately!
Junji Ito is one of my favorite horror artists/authors and Uzumaki has made me hyperaware of the spiral shape for the past seven years
@@serenitymoon825 I can't wait to read it
@@CriminOllyBlog After you do, check out Hellstar Remina
@@serenitymoon825 will do!
I would strongly suggest reading "The Fisherman" by John Langan. fantastically creepy and haunting.
I loved that book! In fact there is a review of it somewhere on the channel
had to pause to say the collector is such a phenomenal story & something that has stuck with me as well! such a great list
It really is a great book!
Cabal by Clive Barker is a great short book. Was filmed as Nightbreed. Thanks for the list, wii definitely look for them.
That is a good one. I saw the film at the cinema and really enjoyed it. Cronenberg was great in it
I have only read the collector from this list and it still creeps me out when I think about it or if my eyes happen across it on my bookshelf. thanks for the list!
Glad you found it useful! I really loved The Collector
A bit OT but books which are criminally forgotten IMHO are John Pritchard's trilogy starting with "Night Sisters", "Angels of mourning" and "The Witching Hour"; A young nurse finds herself target of the Clinicians, medieval surgeons (much inspired by the band Fields oof the Nephilim) and a murderous sorceress. A mix of visceral horror, action, urban fantasy (before the term was coined), very British with a gothic vibe. I know them well, I translated those mothers ! The author seems to have disappeared after one last novel…
I don't think I'd heard of these, although I did just look up Night Sisters and the cover is vaguely familiar (although it does seem very much in the early 90s style). What language did you translate into?
@@CriminOllyBlog In French. Yes, it seems those went unnoticed…
Off Season was a crazy and grotesque ride but I loved it!
If you like exploring the demented minds of disturbed killers I'd highly recommend Exquisite Corpse.
I plan in reading the entire list!
Hope you enjoy them all! I bought Exquisite Corpse recently and will be reading it soon
@@CriminOllyBlog It's an excellent book.
I could listen to you speaking about books for hours! Glad I found your channel
Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!
This is right on time. Recently I don’t have much time to read long novels, this is just what I need!
Excellent! Hope you find some you enjoy!
And my very humble and very personal opinion is, for those super successful writers like Stephen King and many others, they got so successful that their editors (who tend to be younger and less experienced than the writers with time pass by) don’t dare to tell them that they need to cut their rambles lol.
@@jessicamou I 100% agree with that!
@@jessicamou In 'On Writing', which is great, King says you should omit needless words...
@@pelman5483 lol that book is on my TBR too
OMG Dear Laura sounds horrific! I definitely want to read that one! I've officially bought You've Lost a Lot of Blood and will be reading it in June!
Both are really good! Looking forward to hearing what you think of the LaRocca
You're in for a treat, Dear Laura is a great read! :)
if you liked Dear Laura, i think you might also enjoy Penpal by Dathan Auerbach. very similar vibes. while i read Dear Laura first and really liked it, i liked Penpal a little better and found it more scary (perhaps because it was also slightly longer, around 300-ish pages). thanks for the list though, it looks fantastic!
I've heard good things about Penpal, definitely need to check it out sometime! Thank you for watching!
I've read The Hellbound Heart, Carrie, and Off Season and I enjoyed them all. I will have to read the other books on this list eventually. So many books so little time
Hope you enjoy them all! Thanks for watching
Of these I have only read ‘The Wasp Factory’ and ‘Carrie’ but when you spoke about ‘The Collector’ it seemed very familiar. So I went to IMDB and I know that I have watched the 1965 movie based on the book starring Terrance Stamp. The movie was creepy and I remember it though I must have watched it in the 1970s/1980s. I will have to see if I can find both the movie and book and compared them.
Thanks be not seen the film, but I know it’s very well thought of. Interested to hear your thoughts of you do a comparison of them
They are pretty much identical, the only difference is the book has her diary entries but Terrance Stamp is such an amazing creep.
I absolutely love these lists!!! Thank you so much!! 😃
Thank you! Glad you find them useful
Loved this list of new reading material you've given me - some I've read, others not yet. Like your videos - learning new things all the time.
Thank you! Glad you're enjoying my videos
not too long ago i watched the film "cruising" with al pacino. i then read the book by gerald walker. the book has a different focus than the film. there are parallels between the 2 and they both enhanced the character of steve burns. when he said , "i want you to show me the world", horrified and kind of nauseated me. it was a creepy and unsettling experience. and if the script had been more developed it would have been a very good film.
I've not seen the film or read the book but I definitely need to. It's fascinating the different directions movie adaptations take sometimes
You are excellent at concise analyses. The Lonely sounds interesting.
Thank you! That’s very kind of you to say
The best short horror book Ive read this year is "Come Closer" by Sara Gran
That was a great one!
Great list and observations. I have only read The Hellbound Heart and Carrie, but have The Wasp Factory sitting beside me for when i have finished Mirror by Graham Masterton.
I would recommend Wet Work by Philip Nutman, a fairly short zombie apocalypse that has stayed in my head over the years. I would love to read Off Season but i highly doubt I'll find it in my 'back' neck of the woods.
Thanks Cliff! I’ve not read Wet Work so will see if I can track down a copy. Whereabouts are you? I was able to get Off Season from eBay in the UK quite affordably
@@CriminOllyBlog We live in South Africa so will have to import it at some time. Not an issue though, I have many books on my tbr list and a fairly well stocked second-hand bookstore in our village. I'll keep browsing the shelves.
@@CliffsDarkGems cool. Hope you chance across a copy!
@@CriminOllyBlog Just finished The Wasp Factory. Wow, really twisted,disturbing book- but so powerful.
j
@@CliffsDarkGems fantastic! Really glad you enjoyed it
Great video! I’m diving into horror after circling the genre for the last twenty years. Was more of a sci fi guy but have been intrigued by surreal horror / dread in the recent years. Thanks for the commentary!
Thanks Alex, hope you find some good reads through my channel!
I’ve read some of these and would totally agree on their lasting impressions. Need to check out the ones I haven’t read yet!
Glad you found it a useful list!
I hope you enjoy doing so. I wish more young people would put away their phones and discover the joy of paperbacks!
I love the watch recharging in the background. There’s something strangely satisfying watch it rotate. :)
Glad you enjoyed it 😊
Been trying to figure out what on earth that was...never would have guessed charger. Thanks!
“Things have gotten worse since we last spoke” by Eric Larocca is also very weird, short, and effective horror. I thought about it for weeks after.
I wasn’t a huge fan of that one. I really liked his book “You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood” though
Yes!! I wasn’t initially the biggest fan of “Things Have Gotten Worse” Right after I finished reading it, but it kept creeping back into my thoughts… fantastic
Excellent review. I've added a few of these to my list. I highly recommend The Other by Thomas Tryon. I read the first time as a teen and again as an adult and it really has stuck with me.
Thanks Michael. I’ve never read Tryon, but I’m conscious I need to
Have you read "Gone to see the river man"? ... that is a seriously disturbing novella
@@suzy8109 I haven't read it. The title sounds ominous.
Great list. I've read a few of these and particularly liked You've Lost a Lot of Blood and Dear Laura.
Thank you!
A terrific list and definitely some titles I must seek out and read. Many thanks.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Just found your channel looking for spooky read recommendations.. I love the way you talk about and explain books!!! Subscribed. 🥰
Aw, thanks, Meg! Really glad you like the channel!
@@CriminOllyBlog its refreshing to see someone talk about something other than the exact same 10-20 horror books every "Horror Recs Video!" recommend. 😆
@@MoodyMegReads sounds like you’d also enjoy my more recent video Ten of the best horror books you've never heard of!
ruclips.net/video/wkt_zMtYy7k/видео.html 😁
@@CriminOllyBlog heck yes!!!! I've been watching several of your videos today. Love it!!!!
There are four I haven’t read: Bleeding a Lot, Deadhead, Dear Laura, and The Loney. I might have to pick them up. The Collector is not traditionally classified as horror, but it is very chilling nonetheless.
Yeah I think the Collector is one of those books that critics like too much to call horror
I’m surprised Ligotti’s My Work is Not Yet Done isn’t on here.
I haven’t read it! So it can’t be. I am reading some Ligotti soon though!
I read The Collector last year and it absolutely chilled me.
It's great, isn't it!
I just stumbled across your channel and your handle kills me 😂 Looking forward to watching more of your content!
It still makes me chuckle after a year and a bit (although I am very easily amused). Hope you enjoy the channel!
I agree about advising the new aspiring King fan to start with "Carrie". When you want to get to know an author reading their books in the order they were written is often a good way to go about it.
Hmm. I was going about it as the last would have seen most improvement (rowling... casual vacancy... was worse)
There is a Novella by King called “in the Tall Grass” that is twisted, warped and deeply unsettling. But at the same time, completely fascinating. Most would have seen the movie Netflix made from it, but the book definitely deserves a mention.
That's one I've had on my kindle for ages but still haven't read
I saw the movie and loved it
I will seek it out. I loved the film.
one of my fav books
I wonder if you could recommend psychological horror versus blood and gore horror. Think Ligotti, Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce and similar. I don't like a lot of blood and gore, but love the creepy, weird kind of horror.
The Fisherman by John Langan is a great example of that. Also Michelle Paver (Dark Matter or Thin Air), Ramsey Campbell (The Doll Who Ate His Mother).
@@CriminOllyBlog thank you!
Another great list, buddy! ♥️
Thank you!
You're welcome, my friend!!
Some great stuff. Quite a few added to my list.
Hope you enjoy them!
"The Collector" was made into a movie! Samantha Eggar played the lady who was captured and imprisoned. I saw it way back in the 1970's
Yeah, I do want to watch that!
Love your channel. You have gave me so many booktips.
I thought I have read all horror worth reading.
Boy, was i wrong.
Thank you so much!
The Running Man by Richard Bachman (SK) always disturbed me. More so as the dystopian future it portrayed is seemingly coming true!
It was definitely prescient in some ways!
Thanks for the recommendations!
Jack Ketchum's novels always leave me feeling as tho someone placed a steel bucket over my head then hammered as hard as possible with a sledgehammer.🤣
Ha! That's a pretty good description
This was another great analysis--though I have not read most of these I enjoy hearing the analysis. I do remember reading Carrie, Salem's Lot and The Stand when I was young and they were quite memorable. It's well known here that Maine is the "South of the North" meaning you run into the "hick culture" in New England as well as the South. There is a long standing tension between rural and urban here particularly the more rural south and the more urban north which has changed over the decades but was a holdover from the Civil War.
I have been meaning to ask this question and it is just based on my casual observation...but why is it that Scottish writers produce (or seem to produce) such gruesome and/or violent type of works at what seems like a disproportionate rate...it just seems like something I have noticed and I might be totally off but I am wondering if there is some affinity there. Even the grotesque things like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or the weird medical experimentation by doctors on cadavers etc...it just seems like there is some weird vibe that comes out of that area. (I am both southern and lots of Scots background so I am not casting aspersions if any take umbrage). 🤓
Interesting! I never knew that about Maine, but it does fit with some of the books I’ve read set there. That rural/urban split seems to be quite a central part of the mood of America, playing out in politics a fair bit from what I can see as an outsider.
Interesting comment on Scots writers and it’s true there do seem to be a lot of (in particular) successful crime writers from up there. I think there’s a degree of honest bluntness to Scottish culture that probably suits writing about the darker side of life quite well
Another great and very informative list, Olly. When I watch one of your vids (I've been bingeing your channel lately) I always find out about at least one book I've never heard of but should really know (being a long-time horror fan), so thanks. Also - I've been boring people at parties for years telling anyone who will listen that the short novel is Stephen King's best 'canvas', so to speak. His short stories are often hit and miss, and his longest novels are always just a little too long (IT would be perfect with one or two characters less and a couple of sub-sub-plots trimmed a bit). But I can't think of a novella of King's I really dislike. And DIFFERENT SEASONS forever remains in my top ten King books of all time. What do you think? Am I crazy? 😁
Keep up the fine work.
Thanks Stephen, glad you’re enjoying the channel.
I think I’m of the opinion that King is capable of doing any length of book well, but also capable of messing any of them up 😂
Different Seasons is a masterpiece, imo…love Skeleton Crea also. King’s genius truly shines in many of his short stories.
@@alexaproffitt4640 Totally agree.
This was excellent! How did I miss this? Do you put out a video every day?! Who DOES that? Anyway, there are a bunch of books here I haven’t read yet and now I really want to.
I actually put out 8 videos last week in an attempt to be even more insane than you. I haven’t quite reached Steve D levels of insanity yet, but the men in white coats are standing by.
Carrie stuck with me since childhood as well. King does a great job of bringing out the indifferent cruelty of adolescence. I just finished “the Deep” by Nick Cutter and was pleasantly chilled all the way to the end, when it kinda fell apart. Do you have any suggestions for cosmic or space horror that evokes thalassophobia (or it’s outer space equivalent)? Also, have you read any of Ligotti’s short story collections?
I’ve got The Deep on my shelves but haven’t read it yet. I don’t think I can think of any books that need your request I’m afraid.
And have not read any Ligotti but really need to.
@@CriminOllyBlog The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti contains most of his best work. His short stories are a mix of Bruno Shultz, Edgar Allen Poe, & Lovecraft, with none of the over-writing.
A favorite short horror book of mine is The Woman In Black by Susan Hill, it really drew me in with the frightening events that occur and the twist ending, truly a great read
Agree, it’s an excellent book!
Is that the same book that the Daniel Radcliffe movie is based on?
@@josebro352 it is!
@@CriminOllyBlog Good movie. I'll definitely read that book. Great work on this video!!
@@josebro352 Hi Jose,yes it is,of course the movie changed the story a bit, I love the movie,it was scary but the book is more frightening and it starts on Christmas Eve, won't give away more than that...
My pick for a short(er) Stephen King is Salem’s Lot. One of the best vampire books I’ve read.
That is a good one!
Salem's Lot was the first SK novel I read. The man has an incredible imagination. He's also an author whose books make very good audio books. I'm currently listening to his After Sunset book of short stories.
I love The Collector, both the book and the movie. So glad you mentioned The Loney,don't enjoy many new authors but he is fantastic.
Thanks Christine - I definitely need to read more by Hurley
I'm reading The Collector now and love the prose! It reminds me of Lolita in the 'good guy' self-presentation of the protagonist
@@ellebannana yes! Great comparison!
Just adding some of the books mentioned to my Amazon wish list, and discovered that Fever Dream has been filmed by Netflix. Do I watch first, or read first? Lol
I always read first! Haven’t watched the adaptation yet though
@@CriminOllyBlog I agree, although it often leads to disappointment with the adaptation!
Fantastic video thank you! One of my favorite authors is Patrick McGrath. I’ve had a hard time finding anything I love as much as his stuff. Psychological Horror without the gore.
I first heard about The Collector from watching loads of documentaries about serial killers. Turned out to be a great read.(Leonard Lake was the loony I got the "tip" from I think)
Yeah, it's excellent. Although it's connection to killers definitely makes it disturbing
It was Leonard Lake,you are correct.
Yes me too !!!!!!I can't believe that happened what a crazy case that was,I watched the movie but never read the book I like the collector movies that were made by the jig saw. People too I know they are not the same but I like them
I've only read The Collector and agree, it's very good. Dear Laura sounds interesting. Great list.
Dear Laura is excellent, well worth a read
Thanks some interesting picks I might like to read.
Thank you for watching! Glad you found it useful.
“Tales from Essex County” by Matt DeCristo is great - its a collection of horror short stories 👻😱
Not that you're biased....
The rotating watch in the back tho
Not in the newer videos sadly, although it is still in the room
Great video!!!
Thanks Thomas!
Some of my favorites: "The Haunted and the Haunters, or, the House and the Brain," by Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It's the CLASSIC haunted house story. "The King in Yellow," by Robert Chambers. It's a book about a book called "The King King in Yellow," the reading of which makes one insane. "The Great God Pan," by Arthur Machen. After publishing it, the author was INVITED to join "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn." Normally, one had to prove oneself worthy, to be admitted into that occult society. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," by H.P. Lovecraft. Need I say more? : "Mind Ye Boy, raise up not that which Ye cannot put down!" "Who Goes There?" by John Campbell. "The Thing" movies were based on this. I think the title of the novella is more creepy, especially when you know what it means.
I really need to read Who Goes There! The King in Yellow is on my list to get to soon :)
A couple of short horror novels that I enjoyed are by Patrick McGrath. The Grotesque and Spider were great, short books. His short story collection Blood and Water is also great.
Ah yes I've read Spider and agree it's great
I read Off Season and enjoyed it immensely. Then I read the sequel Offspring. And I was blown away by it. I found it to be more satisfying. Both books are among my very favorite horror stories. There is another book making it a trilogy, which I think is called The Woman. What I've read about it, because I can't find it anywhere, is deeply disturbing. And I think the theme of the civilized becoming primitive is fully realized here, and I think Ketchum shows the dark side of that shift.
Yeah Ketchum really is a genius at digging into the darkest parts of the human soul
I'm very glad to have found your channel. best wishes from south Florida🏖
Thank you so much! Really glad you’re enjoying it. 😊
I also love short books. Longer ones usually have so much unnecessary info that just bores me. Great video.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Do you read every weekend? Im in Sydney and would love to catch a session
This weekend is actually my first time doing sprints, but I might well start doing them more regularly
I’ve been enjoying you videos and some of your recommendations. I watched John Dies in the End. I liked it.
Question: Many of these books have been adapted to movies. What would you generally recommend first, the film or the book? Personally I feel that the reading experience is so much richer and able to be inside the characters than pictures shows can manage, plus I favor atmosphere over plot so I would say there is less disappointment in watching the movie first than the other way around. What do you think?
Stephen King's son, Joe Hill, tweeted about a book called "The Troop" by Nick Cutter. What an amazing horror story. Super creepy and gross. Lots of tension. Couldn't put it down and kept thinking about it long afterwards. "The Deep" is also another good one by Nick Cutter.
Yeah The Troop was a fun one. I have The Deep too but haven't got to it yet
I can't read The Troop because of the animal stuff 😿 but I have The Deep and excited to read it this summer. Love Ocean horror in general.
@@the_eerie_faerie_tales there were 2 scenes of animal cruelty that were super shocking. I skipped them the second time I read the book. So gross and sad
James Herbert's Haunted has some delightful spooky moments and comes in at about 230 pages. Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe is also a good short one as well, at about 200 pages. Valley of Lights by Stephen Gallagher, which predated the film Fallen, is a real gripper of a book, again only a couple hundred pages long.
I need to read Naomi's Room - definitely agree on the other two
Hellbound Heart…one of my favorites
It is great!
I have about a dozen anthologies of supernatural stories…so many good short stories and novellas….I can’t possibly remember all the great ones off the top of my head. Personally, I think some of the best were written in Victorian times/early 20th century. I prefer ghost stories over slasher/violent horror. EF Benson’s “Mrs Amsworth” is a good one, a vampire story (I have always wondered if this story inspired King’s “‘Salem’s Lot”) and the very short “Graveyard Shift” by Richard Matheson.
Some of those old anthologies are really excellent
@@CriminOllyBlog yes! The best are Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, and Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural. The latter no longer in print, I’ve seen it going for close to $200 USD…..though I doubt anyone would want to buy my tattered, well worn old copy (not that I’d ever give it up) Also Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories is a good one.
@@geslinam9703 I'll have to look out for those!
The girl next door by Jack Ketchum is very unsettling and stuck with me for a long time.
Yeah that’s a very disturbing book
I'd recommend Sawbones by Stuart McBride to add to another such list. All of McBride's work is darkly awful and funny, but Sawbones is a short. It's genuinely horrific and amusing in equal measure. His novel Half Head is dystopian horror and utterly unique. Highly recommend both.
Thank you! I'll look into those
Carrie is just a mean, flaming, propulsive machine. Truly the birth of the King. You've Lost a Lot of Blood sounds like it owes a bit of debt to Dennis Cooper. And maybe Poppy Z. Brite's Exquisite Corpse? Which probably means it's not for me, but I've seen enough people snapping it up recently that I'm sure it's doing just fine without me.
I’ve not read Cooper or Brite, but from what I understand of their work I think that LaRocca’s book is different. It’s definitely graphic, but in quite a fantastical way rather than being gruelling
I just read The Collector - so good! I remember in school it was referred to as on of the first psychological horror/thrillers.
Ah fantastic! Glad you enjoyed it.
A good short horror book I really enjoy is "Nothing But Blackened Teeth". I really liked this video! I now have some new books on my tbr list!
Yeah I liked that one a lot! Hope you enjoy the books you read from the list
I always thought it interesting that (and interviewers never asked why) in the movie, Clive Barker changed Kirsty from Larry's mistress to his daughter; I guess to keep the lines of innocent/whom-we're-rooting-for vs. guilty/rooted-against clearer? I kind of preferred the way the events in the book just kind of pushed Kirsty to the side, and she's left standing outside the house at the end, out of the loop and completely baffled by what has transpired, a stranger looking in through the (very proper English) windows....
Yeah that is a notable difference. I think both approaches work but it is interesting he made the switch
What a terrific video! I'm a writer who writes horror, sci fi and fantasy and I prefer writing short novels and novellas, short stories and the occasional novelette. All of these forms have their purpose. I would rather write ten 150-page novellas than a thousand-page behemoth. I realized a long time ago that I produce my best work in this form. I think the same goes for Stephen King, although he can still pop out a thousand-page whopper that justifies its wordcount. My favorite horror writer these days is Ramsey Campbell. He tends to write short to medium length novels and excellent short stories.
Thank you! Agree that Campbell is great. I can never decide what my favourite length of King book is. I think he's produced both great and mediocre work at every page count
@@CriminOllyBlog Some of King's best work are his novellas. He excels at novellas like The Mist, The Body (Stand By Me) and other works including in Different Seasons including Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, etc. Cycle of the Werewolf, a novella with excellent graphic illustrations, was adapted as the film Silver Bullet in 1985. One of the best Kind adaptions. If you haven't read it and seen the movie I recommend doing both as soon as possible.
@@angusorvid8840 I do think his shorter books have tended to make the best movies. I've read Cycle of the Werewolf but never seen the movie!
People Live Still in Cashtown Corners, by Canadian author Tony Burgess (no, not Anthony Burgess who wrote A Clockwork Orange). He also wrote Pontypool. Brilliant stuff.
I’ve not heard of that one! Will have to check it out.
Thank you for the recommendations. Stephen King has always been my go-to author, and I kind of fell into that safe zone in which his books were all I would read. So it's nice to hear about authors and books I'd most likely leave this world never have discovered on my own. Have you ever read any books by Robert McCammon? Swan Song is his The Stand. Very similar in plot structure (the end of the world, good vs evil), but told in a way that doesn't make you think that McCammon is ripping King off in any way. He's a very visual author. I'd remember parts of his novels years later, and the memory of certain chapters were as vivid as stand-out scenes in actual movies. Boy's Life, Mystery Walk, Baal, and Mine are a few great McCammon novels, as well as his book of short stories, called Blue World.
I have read McCammon but I definitely need to read more. Loved A Boy's Life and Swan Song (in fact there's a review of that one on the channel). Thanks for watching!
…Also "Usher's passing". I loved "The Wolf's Hour" at the time, but it must have aged badly…
I'm curious about that John Fowles book. Also, that Library of America book beneath the copy of Autumn Gothic in the back - would that be Ulysses S Grant's civil war memoirs? If so, recommend?
Grant's memoirs isn't really my kind of thing lol
It's the LOA David Goodis collection
The Loney! 👍🏻
Although I actually preferred Starve Acre 😉
I’ve yet to read that one 😊
Starveacre is the best but the other 2 are good.
Carrie is a great book. I love it so much. I love the movie, too, but just wait 'till you see how much more there is in the book. Carrie's childhood history is sooo good. And the narrative style, with newspaper clippings, interviews, etc, just works so damn well. READ IT. It's super short and easy!
Completely agree, excellent book
@@CriminOllyBlog Yeah, I know you agree. I watched your video! 🤣
I will add, though, that I've been a King fan since 1984 (age 14) when I read The Dead Zone. I picked up Firestarter next, then Nightshift, Christine, Different Seasons, and on and on -- everything he's published up to now. But I never bothered with Carrie until just a few years ago because I had always been afraid it would let me down. I especially love King's early work, but I feared that Carrie, being his first published novel, might come off as amateurish relative to all that came after, and I didn't want to see that.
My mistake.
But at least I had something from his old stuff to read for the first time! What fun it was for me, because, of course, his writing has developed into something different of late, I think you'll agree. I'll just pretend I tossed it into a time capsule so I could open it up in the ( _future..._ _future..._ _future..._ ) 2010s for some retro fun!
TLDR? That's what happens when you reply to me. Sorry!
@@danwilliams1920 LOL - sorry sometimes I forget what I said in which video!
my first King novel was MISERY and since then he is my favorite author. i have yet to read all of his books, however. i haven't read CARRIE, CUJO, TOMMYKNOCKERS and a few of his other classics.
I just reread Cujo and I really loved it!
@@CriminOllyBlog ok ok i'll read it!!😆
@@ZombiesAteMyFace1 🐶
Side note, several American serial killers were known to be obsessed with The Collector. Leonard Lake and Charles Ng in particular, but there were others as well.
That definitely makes it even creepier
I’ve been enjoying you videos and some of your recommendations. I watched John Dies in the End. I liked it.
Question: Many of these books have been adapted to movies. What would you generally recommend first, the film or the book? Personally I feel that the reading experience is so much richer and able to be inside the characters than pictures shows can manage, plus I favor atmosphere over plot so I would say there is less disappointment in watching the movie first than the other way around. What do you think? 10:06
Glad you're enjoying the channel. I'm a traditionalist, so I'll always go book before movie. I do get what you mean though. Psycho is a great example of a book that works really well after watching the movie.
The Collector was made into a major Hollywood movie in 1965.
Yeah I've not see than but I would like to
This video was much appreciated! Can’t wait to start The Loney.
I really enjoyed Carrie and the Wasp Factory. I think your list has shorter fiction I may want to check out. The only disagreement personally is that I've never got on with Clive Barker. Thanks for this run through of some short horror highlights.
Thank you! Glad you found it useful!
the collector was a recent read, loved it.
I owe it a reread I think
I don’t mean to push Stephen King, but another favourite for me is ‘The Mist’, more of a novella, I suppose. And then there’s ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption’, which is more ‘horrible’ than ‘horror’ in its concept, but with a wonderfully satisfying ending. The film makers dropped ‘Rita Hayworth’ from the title because they thought people would think it was a biographical film about Rita Hayworth. 😂😂😂
Yeah The Wasp Factory was slammed by snobby critics when it first came out, but that didn't stop me from reading & enjoying it - & J.G. Ballard praised it, which was good enough for me to pick it up, despite what almost everybody else said about it. Anyway the author had the last laugh, because his book is still in print, at a time when most other mainstream novels are long forgotten.
If you like shorter type horror, may I recommend a novelette called "The White People" by Arthur Machen if you haven't already read it.
.......if you stay patient you're right "The White People" is a truly creepy read !
Interesting choices. I've read seven, including early Shaun Hudson. I'm definitely going to read, You've Lost a Lot of Blood.
It’s a really interesting book - hope you enjoy it.
I’d like to read Off Season and Wasp factory but they’re still not on kindle :/
That's annoying - Wasp Factory is on Kindle in the UK
Thanks, Olly. just brought Off Season. can't wait to read it.
Off season is so scary. Jack Ketchem is something else, lol.
Yeah, he really is!
'The Dumb House' by John Burnside.
A merging of horror elements with psychological elements. Very disturbing, but brilliant writing indeed.
Loved the Wasp Factory, Hellbound Heart and Carrie, and have The Collector on my enormous TBR, but will definitely check out these others, especially drawn to The Loney and Fevre Dream.
Hope you enjoy them! I’ll have to look at the Burnside book!
In relation to fever dream: we do know what happened. But this is a clear example that countries like US and UK are not aware what happened in developing countries. You can search about the consequences of glyphosate fumigation in people. For me was logical what happened since the beginning but I come from a country that is still forced to do that
Wow, that's awful. It's definitely not something that is widely known about over here
@@CriminOllyBlog neither there or in US... That is why I mention. The book has a completely different perspective once you know about it. Still is a great book. I read it already 3 times and I may read it more times!