SK or NOT , Your favorite horror novel

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

CrimsonKingAH

LOVE & PEACE
Jun 8, 2015
5,539
17,003
East Texas
I have kind of a weird relationship with horror, and particularly Stephen King (but reading some of the other comments, I see that others have similar issues).

My favourite novel is "'Salem's Lot". (The book that brought me back to King.)
I think his best is "It". (The weaving of the timelines is magical.)
I think his scariest is "Pet Sematery" (Then again, I have a thing about zombies...)

Horror is a strange genre, in that the more we read, the more resistant we become to its charms. I think part of Mr. King's long term success within the genre is because he writes a good story first, and it just happens to concern horrific events. I read in another of the forums a comment about authors writing horror that seems "to be written to become a bad movie", and I agree.

Bad horror tries too hard for the scares, without earning them. Sure, vampires can be scary, but what makes "'Salem's Lot" so fun is that Mr. King spends a good portion of the book building up his town (and making you care for the town), only to tear it down piece by piece. In my opinion, good horror gets under your skin, even before things go wrong. You get the feeling "Hey! This was labeled as horror! Everything can't be as good as it seems." You start to look for horror in the shadows, before it even arrives. I rarely get scared by horror anymore, but when I do, it's of this sort.

Long days and pleasant nights.
I agree.. SK is the best because he does set the stage so to speak.. you get to know the character in depth and the enviroment.. he puts YOU there!! and I love it!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Neesy

stacy270

Keep On Floatin' On
Aug 2, 2006
1,013
7,848
Maine
I'm going to have to go with favorite book across any and all genres....The Stand.The whole scenario is/was horrifying because I think it's only a matter of time before something similiar actually happens in the real world.
 

Aericanwizard

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2011
218
306
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
I am Legend also has the distinction of having not one, not two, but three film adaptations ("The Last Man on Earth", starring Vincent Price, "The Omega Man", starring Charlton Heston, and "I am Legend", starring Will Smith) of variable quality that all somehow completely miss the point of the novel.

The novel is definitely worth reading. It's not just "last man on the planet hunts vampires by day", which seems to be all that Hollywood has understood.
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
I am Legend also has the distinction of having not one, not two, but three film adaptations ("The Last Man on Earth", starring Vincent Price, "The Omega Man", starring Charlton Heston, and "I am Legend", starring Will Smith) of variable quality that all somehow completely miss the point of the novel.

The novel is definitely worth reading. It's not just "last man on the planet hunts vampires by day", which seems to be all that Hollywood has understood.
The Body Snatchers by jack Finney has had 4 adaptions. The best is probably the first Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Don Siegel (Made Dirty Harry later on) with Kevin McvCarthy and Dana Wynter from 1956. The second is from 78 with Donald Sutherland in the lead. A rather bad remake by Philip Kaufman,. The third was body snatchers from 93 by Abel Ferrara,(havent seen that one) and the fourth the Invasion by Oliver Hirschbiegelk with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. That was actually good. It was made in 2007. The book was influential but as a novel it is not as good as I am Legend, far from it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CrimsonKingAH

goathunter

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2008
310
495
The Body Snatchers by jack Finney has had 4 adaptions. The best is probably the first Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Don Siegel (Made Dirty Harry later on) with Kevin McvCarthy and Dana Wynter from 1956. The second is from 78 with Donald Sutherland in the lead. A rather bad remake by Philip Kaufman,.

??? The 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers is well-regarded by many people. I think it's just as good and scarier than the original.

Hunter