Last week for FFB I reviewed Horror: 100 Best Books. You can find it here. Your response encouraged me to review the sequel, Horror: Another 100 Best Books. Friends had told me the sequel wasn’t as good as the original and I agree somewhat. Horror: Another 100 Best Books was published in 2005 (the first volume was published in 1988). This latest volume is mostly made up of 20th Century titles. The definition of “horror” is also elastic. I really don’t think of The Hound of the Baskervilles as a horror novel, but maybe the Sherlockians can persuade me it is. And I don’t think of Elizabeth Bowen as a horror writer. But those quibbles aside, I enjoyed Horror: Another 100 Best Books. I now have a list of books from this volume to find and read. If Stephen Jones and Kim Newman issue a third volume, I’ll buy it and read it. How many of these books have you read?
Table of Contents:
Forward by Peter Straub
Introduction: It Seemed Like a Simple Idea at the Time by Stephen Jones & Kim Newman
1. Robert Silverberg on The Revenger’s Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur (1607)
2. Chelsea Quinn Tarbro on Pikovaia Dama/The Queen of Spades by Aleksandr Pushkin (1834)
3. Elizabeth Hand on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843)
4. Doug Bradley on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)
5. Jay Lake on Rekopiz Znaleziony w Saragossie/The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan, Count Potocki (1847)
6. K. W. Jeter on New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)
7. David J. Skal on The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)
8. Les Edwards on The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1898)
9. Tony Richards on The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
10. Rick Hautala on The Boats of the “Glen Carrig” by William Hope Hodgson (1907
11. Jean-Marc Lafficier and Randy Lafficier on Le fantome de l’Opera/The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston LeRoux (1911)
12. Tim Lucas on Fantomas by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain (1911)
13. Christopher Wicking on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft (1927-1928)
14. Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden on They Return at Evening by H. R. Wakefield (1928)
15. Sydney J. Bounds on Creep, Shadow! by A. Merritt (1934)
16. Chaz Brenchley on The Trail of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1934)
17. Stephen Volk on The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley 1934)
18. Gahan Wilson on The Haunted Omnibus by Alexander Laing (1937)
19. Robert Weinberg on The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane (1939)
20. T. M. Wright on L’Etranger/The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)
21. David A. Sutton on Sleep No More: Twenty Masterpieces of Horror for the Connoisseur ed. by August Derleth (1944)
22. Storm Constantine on Lost Worlds by Clark Ashton Smith (1944)
23. Stefan Dziemianowicz on Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales by Henry S. Whitehead (1944)
24. Gwyneth Jones on Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural ed. by Herbert A. Wise and Phyllis Fraser (1944)
25. Joel Lane on The Opener of the Way by Robert Bloch (1945)
26. Christopher Fowler on Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (1946-1950)
27. Gary Gianni on Carnacki the Ghost-Finder by William Hope Hodgson (1947)
28. Randy Broecker on Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson (1948)
29. Tanith Lee on Tales of Horror and the Supernatural by Arthur Machen (1949)
30. Lucius Shepard on Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell (1949)
31. David Bischoff on House of Flesh by Bruno Fischer (1950)
32. Anne Billson on Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier (1951)
33. Nancy A. Collins on The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952)
34. Laurence Staig on The Third Ghost Book by Lady Cynthia Asquith (1955)
35. Andy Duncan on The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1955)
36. John Gordon on The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955)
37. Norman Partridge on The Hunger and Other Stories by Charles Beaumont (1957)
38. Robert Irwin on The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat (1957)
39. Mark Morris on The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (1957)
40. Howard Waldrop on A Scent of New-Mown Hay by John Blackburn (1958)
41. Ed Gorman on A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson (1958)
42. Muriel Gray on The Weirdstone of Brinsingamen by Alan Garner (1960)
43. Terry Dowling on Tales of Terror by Charles Higham (1961)
44. Peter Atkins on Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon (1961)
45. Jack Womack on We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962)
46. Darrell Schweitzer on The Case Against Satan by Ray Russell (1962)
47. Peter Crowther on Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (1963)
48. Ian MacLeod on The Collector by John Fowles (1963)
49. Glen Hirshberg on Who Fears the Devil? by Manly Wade Wellman (1963)
50. Simon Clark on A Wrinkle in the Skin by John Christopher (1965)
51. Nancy Holder on Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (1967)
52. Ellen Datlow on The Playboy Book of Horror and the Supernatural selected by Editors of Playboy (1967)
53. Terry Lamsley on Pages From Cold Point by Paul Bowles (1968)
54. John Farris on Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy (1968)
55. Stephen Baxter on The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg (1971)
56. Elizabeth Massie on Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon ((1973)
57. P. N. Elrod on The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice (1973)
58. Michael Swanwick on Blood Sport by Robert F. Jones (1974)
59. Nicholas Royale on Nightshade by Derek Marlowe (1975)
60. Roz Kaveney on Peace by Gene Wolfe (1975)
61. David Drake on The Year of the Sex Olympics: Three TV Plays by Nigel Kneale (1976)
62. Marc Laidlaw on Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber (1977)
63. Paul McAuley on The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan (1978)
64. Jo Fletcher on Darkness Weaves with Many Shades by Karl Edward Wagner (1978)
65. Sir Christopher Frayling on The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (1979)
66. Thomas Ligotti on Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler (1979)
67. D. F. Lewis on The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen by Elizabeth Bowen (1980)
68. Christopher Golden on Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror ed. by Kirby McCauley (1980)
69. John Burke on Tales From the Nightside by Charles L. Grant (1981)
70. Yvonne Navarro on They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon (1981)
71. Poppy Z. Brite on The Face That Must Die by Ramsey Campbell (1983)
72. David Stuart Davies on The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1983)
73. Michael Marshall Smith on Pet Sematary by Stephen King (1983)
74. Anthony Timpone on Clive Barker’s Books of Blood Volumes One, Two and Three by Clive Barker (1984)
75. Nancy Kilpatrick on Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind (1986)
76. Bill Sheehan on Finishing Touches by Thomas Tessier (1986)
77. Kelly Link on Strange Toys by Patricia Geary (1987)
78. Allen Koszowski on The Dark Descent ed. by David G. Hartwell (1987)
79. Graham Joyce on Misery by Stephen King ((1987)
80. Frank M. Robinson on The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988)
81. Mark Chadbourn on Prime Evil ed. by Douglas E. Winter (1988)
82. Jay Russell on By Bizarre Hands: Stories by Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale (1989)
83. Peter H. Cannon on The Grotesque by Patrick McGrath (1989)
84. David Morrell on Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons )(1989)
85. Stephen R. Bissette on From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (1989-1999)
86. David McGillivray on American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
87. Brian Hodge on Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite ((1992)
88. China Mieville on The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison (1992)
89. Adam Simon on Flicker by Theodore Roszak ((1992)
90. Paul Di Filippo on X, Y by Michael Blumlein ((1993)
91. Caitlin R. Kiernan on Skin by Kathe Koja (1993)
92. Tananarive Due on Throat Sprockets: A Novel of Erotic Obsession by Tim Lucas (1994)
93. Simon R. Green on The Off Season: A Victorian Sequel by Jack Cady (1995)
94. S. T. Joshi on The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti (1996)
95. Roberta Lannes on A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell (1998)
96. Michael Shea on Reprisal by Mitchell Smith (1999)
97. John Pelan on A Haunting Beauty by Sir Charles Birkin (2000)
98. Jeff VanderMeer on House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)
99. Richard A. Lupoff on Feesters in the Lake and Other Stories by Bob Leman (2002)
100. Tm Lebbon on More Tomorrow and Other Stories by Michael Marshall Smith (2003)
Lists of Recommended Reading
Appendix I: Horror: 100 Best Books
Appendix II: Further Reading
Selected Webliography
About the Editors
Index to the Books, Authors, and Contributors
Acknowledgements
Well, I just bought the first volume on your say so George, so let me just say that this looks great! Thanks. Sergio
Bowen definitely wrote some horror…suspenseful ghost stories. BASKERVILLES was a Scooby-Doo, but at least verged on horror before all is revealed. More heavy hitters in the first volume, but I like them both just fine.
However, THE OPENER OF THE WAY is Not the Bloch I’d choose. Better than one or two of the late novels. That’s about it.
Todd, THE OPENER OF THE WAY is really the work of a teenager. Bloch’s more mature work is much much better.
Todd, this volume focuses mostly on 20th Century titles. I have another list of books I’ll be buying because of this book.
Yes, the only weak later Blochs that come to mind for which the cheerfully derivative work in OPENER is preferable are STRANGE EONS (oddly enough, since that was Bloch’s attempt to put an end of sorts to derivative Lovecraftian fiction) and PSYCHO HOUSE (where the weariness with the Bates saga was way too apparent). Though such work as SNEAK PREVIEW isn’t what I’d start someone with.
Sergio, I couldn’t stop with just the first volume so I had to check out this sequel. Great stuff!
I’ve read 19-but mostly those I would not consider truly of the “Horror” genre. I mean, in what alternate universe does Jane Eyre qualify as horror? There are a number of titles like that on this list.
Deb, I had the same reaction when I saw JANE EYRE listed. The definition of “Horror” seems very elastic in this volume.
The Hound scared me when I was a kid. I’ve read a good many of the others, and there are some that I consider borderline horror, at best.
Bill, you’re right about a lot of these titles being on the borderline.
I was going to say the same as Deb. JANE EYRE? I don’t think so.
I’ve read about 28-30.
Jeff, I’ve read 43, but I want to read several more after reading the commentaries in HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS.
52 for me, maybe a few more — I’d have to check on a few of the collections. BASKERVILLES is often classified as horror; I don’t agree but what do I know? JANE EYRE is considered a gothic by many and on that basis may be considered. A number of the fantasy and crime novels listed [IMHO] probably should not have made the cut but all are certainly worth reading. One man’s meat…
Jerry, some of the choices in HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS can be considered “reaches.” But there are plenty of titles here I want to read.
And, frankly, if a suspense novel such as PSYCHO qualifies, it isn’t much more of stretch to include THE STRANGER…but, for me, it’s a matter of artistic success (or lack of it) that would disqualify the likes of AMERICAN PSYCHO.
Todd, I’m with you on AMERICAN PSYCHO (which someone is planning to re-make!).
OK, you sold me. I ordered a copy.
Jeff, you’ll find plenty to like in HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS.
Of course, it’s the editors’ and some contributors/ intention to have the widest possible remit, and start conversations. Those who insist that Horror Is An Emotion rather than a form fiction can take do water down the usefulness of the horror label (for me, horror means fantasticated fiction that deals head-on with extinction…contrasted with suspense fiction, other sorts of fantasy and most adventure fiction, and black humor and absurdism, all of which it overlaps with).
George, my wife had the same view about JANE EYRE, a rather surprising inclusion. I haven’t read it yet but she says it doesn’t classify as horror as we know it; perhaps, scary. I do want to read Peter Straub’s Foreword to this volume.
Prashant, you’ll enjoy Peter Straub’s INTRODUCTION. Your wife is right: JANE EYRE might be scary but it’s not horror in my book.
I’ve only read 29 from this second list. Oddly, in this group I own more of the titles than I’ve actually read. Part of the curse of the habitual collector/amasser of books of a certain genre and era. Once you hit 1990 not only don’t know the titles I barely recognize a single writer’s name! I’ll be looking for The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner, both title and author are new to me. Not so keen of contemporary horror. For example, I’ve tried Ramsey Campbell and I’m not impressed. Maybe I picked the wrong one, but I’m not bothering to sample any more by him. But Jack Cady I just discovered recently and he’s damn good! Valancourt Books reprinted his excellent haunted house novel The Well and his short stories are often even better.
John, I like Jack Cady’s work, too! And Alan Garner’s THE WEIRDSTONE OF BRISINGOMEN is terrific!
Actually, John, most of the writers of the later work discussed in the book weren’t too new when they published it…Leman, Ligotti, Roszak not kids when they wrote their works (and all are worthy writers). Kathe Koja worth your attention as well (she’s also at least a friendly acquaintance of Patti’s, and collaborated on a series of stories with Barry Malzberg back when).
I tend to prefer Ramsey Campbell’s short fiction, but I like the novels I’ve read…including FACE…
Todd, I prefer Ramsey Campbell’s work from the 1990s.