Whoo! I have to put on my thinking cap because recalling every author I like is a stretch. Okay: H.P. Lovecraft (not all his stuff is super, but tales such as "At The Mountains of Madness," "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Shadow Out of Time" all give you that cosmic sense of creeping "oh wowness" that we love). Probably one of the best horror writers I've had the privilege to discover and read is British author Ramsey Campbell...when THAT dude is dialed in, no one writes creeping atmosphere like he does. See his short tales "Cold Print," "The Hands," "The Brood," "Down There" for a delectable sampling. I also like British horror fiction writer Brian Lumley, who, like Ramsey Campbell, was part of the old "Lovecraft group" tied to Weird Tales and Arkham House during August Derleth's years at the helm. Lumley's earlier Cthulhu Mythos tales are very good. But I think his single best "claim to fame" was his "Necroscope" series, which puts a really cool newer wrinkle in the traditional vampire "history." Another great old author is Robert Bloch. Best known for his novel "Psycho" that became a movie classic, Bloch also wrote early excellent tales in the Cthulhu Mythos. See the short story "The Mannikin" (sp?...God, I hate it when this happens, but I'm scribbling on-the-fly, "and the fly won't hold still"). Ooookay: moving right along: I own the Franklin Library leather bound classics and have read them, love J.R.R. Tolkein's "Rings" trilogy, love Dean Koontz who does a delightful job of balancing horror and humor in his characters (see the "Odd Thomas" books). And, Koontz can also "drop the other shoe" and get down and really dirty with deep horror on occasion as he did with his novel "Phantoms"...nada to giggle about in that puppy! David Morrell also deserves kudos, not only for his novel "The Totem," but for the excellent short story "Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity." I can't say enough about that short story other than to regard it as "one of the top ten tales I'd want to be stranded on a desert isle with" (FYI, others include SK's "The Mangler" and "Gray Matter," Shea's "The Autopsy," Algernon Blackwood's "The Wendigo" to name a few). Heh. Ten tales don't cut it. I could not get by with less than fifty, so a word to the wise: if you see yourself as a castaway anytime in the near future, make sure the plane or boat you're on is large enough for a very large, waterproof steamer trunk. Anyway, as you see from my author list, I'm more of an "old school of writing guy" who, for the most part, thinks that today's modern horror "train" is missing a few "cars," if you know what I mean. Of course, we still have Stevie and (God willing) will continue to do so.