Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In the past year I have been a King fanatic, but now I'm looking for something new. What other good authors are out there that deal with macabre or supernatural themes?
I've read Damnation Game and The Great and Secret Show. I like Barker's imagination and ambition, but his characterization leaves a lot to be desired and he sometimes has trouble maintaining a tight and focused narrative. Though I still plan to read Imajica,lol.
Peter Straub has worked with King, and is an author in his own right. There's the classic H.P. Lovecraft. There's Richard Dean Matheson. I had gotten some ideas on horror authors from King's own Danse Macabre. He actually seems to like British authors.
I'm not sure if John Sandford qualifies. Or maybe I'm thinking of John Saul? Hmm.
Phillip K. Dick, although considered science fiction, wrote some thrillers. A number of them have actually been made into hit movies, years after the fact. Blade Runner, Total Recall (based on "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale"), A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau. Not sure you're going in that direction though.
Peter Straub has worked with King, and is an author in his own right. There's the classic H.P. Lovecraft. There's Richard Dean Matheson. I had gotten some ideas on horror authors from King's own Danse Macabre. He actually seems to like British authors.
I'm not sure if John Sandford qualifies. Or maybe I'm thinking of John Saul? Hmm.
Phillip K. Dick, although considered science fiction, wrote some thrillers. A number of them have actually been made into hit movies, years after the fact. Blade Runner, Total Recall (based on "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale"), A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau. Not sure you're going in that direction though.
I've heard quite a bit about Matheson. I'm thinking about checking him out soon for sure. I am also interested in King's son, Joe Hill.
However, as a black person, I refuse to read Lovecraft.
I'm not sure if John Sandford qualifies. Or maybe I'm thinking of John Saul? Hmm.
Sandford writes what are generally referred to as thrillers. John Saul is horror, but I've never read him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TKramar
Phillip K. Dick, although considered science fiction, wrote some thrillers. A number of them have actually been made into hit movies, years after the fact. Blade Runner, Total Recall (based on "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale"), A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau. Not sure you're going in that direction though.
The only one of his stories I've ever read was "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (the story on which Blade Runner was based), and it was TERRIBLE.
I've heard quite a bit about Matheson. I'm thinking about checking him out soon for sure. I am also interested in King's son, Joe Hill.
Matheson is great. I haven't read Joe Hill's novels, but his comic series Locke & Key is fantastic. Soon to be a TV series, I understand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by UTHORNS96
However, as a black person, I refuse to read Lovecraft.
Lovecraft is perhaps the most over-rated writer in all of genre fiction. He was a master of mood. But characterization isn't even thick enough to be called paper thin. His characters would have to grow a dimension to even qualify as one dimensional. His plots are shoddy and tend to wander, and he is the king of monster ex machina to end a story. And yeah, he was a pretty ugly racist. Some apologists try to excuse it as simply being tpical attitude of his time, but Lovecraft's racism went way beyond the general attitudes of the time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A very scary man. 
