Any good psychological horror novels?
I finally started reading books fairly reguraly. I finished A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck and it was the most amazing thing I ever read. I'm currently reading Come Closer by Sara Gran and i'm enjoying it as well. I need suggestions from my favorite Lemmy librophiles. Thank you!
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. The horror is a planned murder, the psychological part is how the murderer goes slowly crazy once the guilt sets in.
I have a copy. I need to read that one still.
I'll do you one better and recommend Dostoevsky's The Double. Way more sinister and eerie, as it deals with schizophrenia.
I'm intrigued. Russian literature I find especially interesting.
I'll give that a shot. Thanks!
I read Carmilla this year and it was very good horror!
I was sold on lesbian vampires. Thank you!
By Le Fanu? I read a short story collection from him with Carmilla. It was really good. Le Fanu deserves more modern attention, I think.
The very one.
I really like Bret Easton Ellis's books, and a lot of them are horror. I'll recommend his newest book, The Shards. Other great ones from him are Less Than Zero and American Psycho.
I also enjoyed Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Possibly better known for it's filmizations, the book is a really good psychological horror story.
I also enjoyed Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.
The whole Hannibal trilogy is one of my favorite series of books. (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal; respectively.)
There's a fourth book, Hannibal Rising, that serves as a prequel/origin story for Hannibal Lecter. But it was written under duress by the author.
Thomas Harris didn't want to explain Hannibal's origin, as it removed the mystery surrounding his character. But Hannibal had become globally famous through the films, and Harris was basically told by the film producer, Dino De Laurentiis, that if he didn't write an origin story, someone else would. So in order to maintain some control over his own character, he begrudgingly wrote Hannibal Rising.
And it shows. The writing style of that book is very different from the other three. Unlike the trilogy, which has a way of weaving an intricate and mesmerizing story, Hannibal Rising just feels mechanical and methodical, like it's just checking boxes and getting to the point as quickly and efficiently as it can. It told a basic story, which was immediately pumped out as a low-budget B movie 2 months later.
If you get into the Hannibal books, I highly recommend skipping Hannibal Rising. It's poorly written and removes the mystique behind Hannibal Lecter.
Yeah, I've seen the film and it is properly terrible.
I you like psychological horror/thrillers then Sebastian Fitzek will keep you busy (and maybe awake at night)
I'll look into him. Which of his books would be best to start with in your view? Do you read it in German or an English translation?
I read his books in German, but there seem to be English translations and unless they're really bad it should not matter for enjoying his writing or the stories. I read Noah first, but as far as I remember it's a very good thriller, but not that psychological, at least in comparison. After that I just started his books chronologically. Does not matter though, there is no continuing story line or returning characters. But I can vouch for the psychological character of at least his first four books (Therapy, Amok, The Child, and The Soul Breaker).
I have two:
On the flip side, the sense of dread I had while reading this story was like nothing I had experience from a book.
I don't know if it technically classifies as psychological horror, but Wuthering Heights has surely some (light) horror elements. Great book, btw.
I don’t usually like horror, but a while ago I got sucked into Jason “David Wong” Pargin’s John dies at the end series.
The film adaptation had to leave out so much. The books really got me in the gizzard.
[off topic]
"A Night In the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny.
Thirty one chapters, starting on October 1. The narrator is a talking dog whose master has come to a small English village to play a Game. Other particiapnts include witches, grave robbers, vampires, mad scientists, and A Great Detective.
The last days by Brian Evenson is horrifying, funny and completely deranged.