Red Dragon a prequel to Silence of the Lambs and was really good! I must have read it 30 years ago but the big reveal is really unforgettable and probably the scariest scenario anyone could think up. Thank goodness no one ever did a real life copycat of that book!!
Im reading House Of Leaves right now for spooky month. It's more than a reading experience. It transports itself into reality. (Sounds obvious but trust me it an accurate description)
I would recommend Books of Blood over Damnation Game for Clive Barker horror. Almost all of his more popular stories are there, the one exception being my second recommendation, The Hellbound Heart (which inspired Hellraiser.) It's also where he picked up his reputation for horror. Beyond that off the top of my head his works are more dark fantasy, outside of the sequel to Hellbound Heart, Scarlet Gospels, which has a noir detective character from Barker's other stories traveling to Hell and matching up with Pinhead. Imajica is fantasy, so is Weaveworld, and so is the Great and Secret Show - though all three books will have very dark and sometimes messed up scenes in them.
I think Clive Barker’s horror label comes from his BOOKS OF BLOOD, for the most part. Remember horror’s roots are short stories. Read the intro’s to THE DARK DESCENT and to AMERICAN SUPERNATURAL TALES.
I’ve only gotten to “The Hellbound Heart,” “The Thief of Always’” and the first few volumes of The Books of Blood, but I fully intend to eventually read everything Clive Barker has ever published…
Hey Mike, one of the genres I’ve been interested in exploring is historical fiction (I’ve learned that it can sometimes be even more fantastical than fantasy). I love you videos, and it would be interesting to watch a video of your “Top 10 Historical Fiction Books that You Still Want to Read”. I’m not sure if you’ve read a lot of historical fiction but it would be cool to see some light shined on the genre.
I know from what you've said in past videos that you're not a huge audiobook fan but, the narrator for The Ritual did a fantastic job in my opinion. He did an excellent job voicing different accents for the characters. It's one of the few books I've felt that was very much enhanced through the audio format.
My only advice would be that Silence of the Lambs is a sequel and the predecessor, Red Dragon, is brought up. Amazing book all the way though. Happy reading Mike!
Love this video. I've read some of these (The Rats and The Ritual) and enjoyed them mostly, and many others on here i also want to read. Just finished Skeleton Crew by SK (fantastic) and onto Frankenstein now for a classic Halloween read. Thanks for the vids Mike!
I loved House of Leaves! However, I never thought of it as horror. Also, at the time I was reading it from a Palm VX, which means it was translated to text by OCR software and probably the content was supposed to make sense, but in this format I always had to be careful to understand from the context which section of the page it was. So all the crazy shapes on the page were absent. And that ADDED to the experience. I always wanted to read it again in full PDF glory, but as you say, never found the time to invest in it. I hope you do read it and can't wait for a review.
Mike, Have you read Communion by Whitley Strieber? If not, you should! It's not classified as horror because it's supposedly based on his real abduction experiences. Having said that, it reads like a terrifying sci fi horror novel. His accounts have a lot of details about the Greys and what it's like inside their crafts. Strieber also does an amazing job of creating a sense of dread throughout.
I am glad you finally will read Ghost Story, it is my second favorite. My favorite is The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein, which i highly recommend. I think S. King also loved it when it came out. For haunted houses novels i would recommend Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco, Take care.
Read The Rats in the 90's as a teenager. Really enjoy James Herbert, recently read Others for spooky season! I adore Grady Hendrix! and I gave up on Ghost Story last night, wasn't for me was just bored reading. Look forward to seeing your opinions.
Mike: I think you'd really enjoy Grady Hendrix's book "We Sold Our Souls." Judging by your band t-shirts and love for horror, I believe you'd really enjoy the crossover between music and horror in that book. It's definitely not young adult though, so don't go into it thinking that. It also has awesome book covers.
Hannibal is my favorite villain of all time and the way he’s written makes him almost supernatural. I hope silence of the lambs gets you to read the whole series, I’ll be looking for the review!
Yes, The Hannibal books by Thomas Harris are good. I think you will enjoy them. As for Grady Hendrix, I would start with Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires instead. It is more adult in tone and it is insidiously horrifying. Blood on the Tracks is also good. Simple, but effective. I read Ghost Story at 17. I liked it, but it is a slower paced book and is more fiction with horror elements.
I really enjoyed the Hannibal Lecter series, I recommend starting with the first book, Silence of the Lambs is actually book 2, I enjoyed all 4 of the books
Hey Mike, You got Me to pick up 'Blood on the Tracks' so thanks for that! I read Fanatsy, Sci-Fi but also tons of Manga but hadn't heard of 'Blood..' until I saw This Video. Just got done with it and I thought the Storytelling was as close to perfect as it gets...BUT other than having some imagery with horror elements, it's not what you'd typically call horror or scary in the traditional way horror is....
Somehow missed this video yesterday. I hope you love Ronald Malfi. I just feel he's a solid storyteller. I would echo that come with me is more of thriller. And Rosemary's Baby is a personal favourite. I'm grateful I read it after being pregnant
Just wanted to say, I had a really, really good time reading Ghost Story last year. It was my first Straub read, and it was the most atmospheric read of spooky season! If I may say -- it does take its time, though. So I wouldn't read some crazy fast-paced thriller and then dive right into Ghost Story while your adrenaline is still pumping 😁
A book I don't see recommended enough is The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell - it's such a beautifully written horror book, and it not talked about nearly enough.
Question: can you give me a horror book recommendation from this list of things I like in the horror genre: My favorite horror book is the Shining I like Amittyville horror too I love it when horror books have a haunted house that goes into history of the haunted place My favorite Author is Stephen King I like it when horror books give a creepy atmosphere I like it when horror books have good characters and a good story I also like slashers movies like Halloween I love the Walking Dead comics So these are things I like about horror do you think you can give me a horror book recommendation based of these things I like about the genre?
The more Sci Fi and Horror I read, the more I think I need to be better read in the genre. I found Phillip K Dick this year and am obsessed! This spooky season I'm going to read The Terror and Summers of Night both by Dan Simmons. Super excited! They will be my first Dan Simmons and I'll probably try Hyperion in December if I like these two.
Mike, I am not a "content warning" guy but having finished Blood in the Tracks, I do have to warn that it is not for everyone. It's the most uncomfortable depiction of an abusive parent I've seen since Twin Peaks. One of my friends had to drop it because it was hitting too close to home for him. So your mileage may vary depending on how much you can take physical and mental abuse.
The Rats is a great book and you will definitely need to follow it on with Lair and Domain from the same series. I recently read Come With Me by Ronald Malfi . It was the first of his I've read but won't be the last .
I think u should definitely check out The Strain books Trilogy and check out the tv series after.ppl say it’s like Bram stoker meets Stephen king meets Michael Crichton which sounds 100% up ur alley haha.
I've read Rosemary's Baby, House of Leaves, The Ritual, Ghost Story and Come with Me and really liked them. Read Red Dragon by Thomas Harris for the first time this year and loved it. Gonna get to Silence of the Lambs too. Even though some it was from a FBI perspective it wasn't boring or dry. I care more about horror than fantasy so it was nice to see a horror video. =)
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris is probability my fav of those as a lot of comments are saying. Ghost Story is good, I enjoyed it. Straub has some good stuff. Im hoping to get to the Blue Rose books next year. Also Damnation Game is good. Looking at some of these classics is bringing me back in time. Those books were read when i was a teenager.
Come With Me by Ronald Malfi is good but I had a problem with some narrative choices, especially the ending. If you ever played Alan Wake, Come With Me definitely has those vibes. Kinda how you are with Adam Nevill, I want to read more Roland Malfi but Come With Me just wasn't the start I was expecting
Ghost Story has been on my TBR for a while now. And I have House of Leaves, but haven't read it yet. And I've read Ronald Malfi's Black Mouth, which is described as perfect for fans of Stephen King's IT. It didn't feel like it was in the vein of IT, but I did get flashes of King's, The Outsider. I'll be giving delving more into his bibliography soon.
Possibly someone else may have commented regarding this, but I don't think Herbert's The Fog has ever been adapted into a film - it's a very British horror (like the Rats) whereas the Fog movie I've seen, which was TERRIFYING, was very American and bares no relation to the Herbert book at all. We read The Fog at school when it came out... for the naughty bits, really, because we were kids. But it was more scary than horny, if I remember rightly.
I loved The Ritual book and really didn't like the movie, so itll be interesting to see what you think. Though i think it just depends which one you experience first, because it'll influence your expectations
Just recently finished SotL, you would love it! I pictured Hannibal a bit differently than the film, surprisingly after having seen it several times before reading the book.
You'll enjoy The Rats by James Herbert. An old classic and I recently finished that myself the other week. I'd recommend The Fog by him also. I've not seen the film but apparently it differs greatly to the book. The book is creepy!!!
Hi Mike love your channel. Just wanted to point out Red Dragon is the first book in the Hannibal Lecter series. Silence of the Lambs is second. Both excellent
Added 6 books to my list thanks to this. House of Leaves is one that's been on my list for a few years now. Only one I read from your list was Hell House, I liked it better than the Haunting of Hill House.
I read "Rosemary's Baby" a few years ago and it was the best book I read that year. I've also read "Hell House" and "Silence of the Lambs" - no accolades for either of them.
Highly recommend The Ritual! It has differences from the movie but the tension in the book is insane and never lets up throughout. I honestly don't know which I liked more.
Omg!!! I love blood on tracks!! It is soo good! I just bought the newest volume 14. You should check out his earlier works too. Also check out PTSD radio by Maasaki Nakayama! Her work is awesome too!
Good list, Mike! I've got a few of these in my plans for 2024. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on Ghost Story. It's one of my absolute favorite horror novels, but many out there don't care for it.
I read Ghost Story a while back and honestly I was not a big fan. The slow burn thriller it was supposed to be was way too slow for me. I'd love to get your thoughts on it if you get around to reading it though.
I have only read Silence of the Lambs from the list which I loved. I also enjoyed Red Dragon but wasnt as keen on Hannible. I tried a James Herbert many years ago and didn't enjoy it but may try again now I'm older I may enjoy it more
Great video Mike!! You are the only other person besides myself that didn't care for The Talisman. I'm not really sure why. I just didn't think it was that good, and I'm a huge King fan. I did however like Ghost Story. I just thought the ending sucked. Silence Of The Lambs is a must read. It's a quick read as well. Red Dragon is also very good. What is the Dan Simmon's sci fi book that you like? I couldn't quite understand the title when you said it.
I would try out Parable of the Sower next! I started with Kindred as well and while I loved it, Parable is my favourite of hers. I’ve heard mixed views about Fledgling.
Have you read Dead Silence by SA Barnes or Blindsight by Peter Watts. I’m normally not much of a space fan, but I enjoyed these. There seems to be a shortage of good space horror out there.
@@mikesbookreviews You could also check out Library at Mount Char if you haven’t. It’s not like anything I’ve read before, and people have a hard time finding anything remotely similar.
I read all of Thomas Harris's books in that series. They're ok. I couldn't get on with Harris's writing style. There's something kind of dry about it. I tried to finish House of Leaves but lost interest in it midway through. I appreciate the idea of that book and it's all very creative and interesting, but reading it was kind of a slog. I enjoyed Damnation Game but I wouldn't recommend it to somebody who wasn't already a fan of Barker's brand of outlandish horror fantasy. Rosemary's Baby is really good. Ghost Story is slow paced, like a lot of Straub's books, but it's worth it the effort to get through it. That book in particular has a lot going for it. I haven't read any of the others you mentioned.
Yay!!! It's finally horror time! The Rats scared me to death when I read it 47 years ago at the age of 10. Ghost Story is wonderful and you need to watch the movie with Fred Astaire when you finish the book. The best Grady Hendrix book IMHO is The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Fantastic! 🧛♂️🧡👻🖤🎃
Wish you picked No One Gets Out Alive over The Ritual. Rosemary's Baby book is basically just like the movie. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Hell House. Sort of a different version of House on Haunted Hill by Shirley Jackson.
Black House is more of a police horror thriller, and it has connections to other SK novels. While the Talisman was more.like an adventure/coming of age tale. I suggest you read Black House iam sure you Will like it more than the first novel. I read somehwere not long algo that King is working on a final novel to complete the trilogy
I hope we see horror on this channel on a regular basis. I like the variety
Hoping to.
Red Dragon a prequel to Silence of the Lambs and was really good! I must have read it 30 years ago but the big reveal is really unforgettable and probably the scariest scenario anyone could think up. Thank goodness no one ever did a real life copycat of that book!!
Wow, that's cool to hear
Thomas Harris is excellent in general, but Red Dragon was perfect! Silence of the Lambs is awesome, as is the rest of the series.
Im reading House Of Leaves right now for spooky month.
It's more than a reading experience. It transports itself into reality. (Sounds obvious but trust me it an accurate description)
Yeah, House Of Leaves is an acid trip. What a strange book.
An unforgettable experience
That's why I want to take my time with it.
I would recommend Books of Blood over Damnation Game for Clive Barker horror. Almost all of his more popular stories are there, the one exception being my second recommendation, The Hellbound Heart (which inspired Hellraiser.) It's also where he picked up his reputation for horror. Beyond that off the top of my head his works are more dark fantasy, outside of the sequel to Hellbound Heart, Scarlet Gospels, which has a noir detective character from Barker's other stories traveling to Hell and matching up with Pinhead. Imajica is fantasy, so is Weaveworld, and so is the Great and Secret Show - though all three books will have very dark and sometimes messed up scenes in them.
The Books of the Art are definitely dark fantasy, or surrealist fantasy. LOVED Everville
I do want to read BoB, I just wanted a novel for this list.
The Great and Secret Show is a mindfuck.
Midnight meat train is also in Books of Blood - volume 3 if I'm not mistaken
I clicked this link so damn fast
The Rats was so horrifying!! That is such a good pick for your first James Herbert experience!!!
This makes 2 of us 🤣🤣
Also going to read John Dies at the End that you sent me.
@@mikesbookreviews Yes!!! Can’t wait to hear what you think!!!
Silence of the Lambs, is one of my all-time favorite books. The movie was very true to the novel. Thomas Harris is great!
Great!
The Rats was filmed as Deadly Eyes, the film The Fog isn’t based on the James Herbert novel they just share the same title.
Whoops.
I think Clive Barker’s horror label comes from his BOOKS OF BLOOD, for the most part. Remember horror’s roots are short stories. Read the intro’s to THE DARK DESCENT and to AMERICAN SUPERNATURAL TALES.
Great point.
I’ve only gotten to “The Hellbound Heart,” “The Thief of Always’” and the first few volumes of The Books of Blood, but I fully intend to eventually read everything Clive Barker has ever published…
I've only read Weaveworld but he's very good in that.
Clive Barker is one of my all-time favorites, along with King and Straub.
Finally! Horror gets some attention!
Tis the season.
Hey Mike, one of the genres I’ve been interested in exploring is historical fiction (I’ve learned that it can sometimes be even more fantastical than fantasy). I love you videos, and it would be interesting to watch a video of your “Top 10 Historical Fiction Books that You Still Want to Read”. I’m not sure if you’ve read a lot of historical fiction but it would be cool to see some light shined on the genre.
I know from what you've said in past videos that you're not a huge audiobook fan but, the narrator for The Ritual did a fantastic job in my opinion. He did an excellent job voicing different accents for the characters. It's one of the few books I've felt that was very much enhanced through the audio format.
Always important. I'd bet a bad narrator could kill even a good book.
Blood on the Tracks is awesome, each volume takes about half an hour to read, you can feel the dread there so well.
My only advice would be that Silence of the Lambs is a sequel and the predecessor, Red Dragon, is brought up. Amazing book all the way though. Happy reading Mike!
How to sell a haunted house by Grady Hendrix is great. Also “My Heart is a Chainsaw” by Stephen Graham Jones…. Great!
I keep getting recommended SGJ
@mikesbookreviews SGJ is one of my all time favorites. I try to grab everything he puts out but he jams out works so quickly it's ridiculous
Love this video. I've read some of these (The Rats and The Ritual) and enjoyed them mostly, and many others on here i also want to read. Just finished Skeleton Crew by SK (fantastic) and onto Frankenstein now for a classic Halloween read. Thanks for the vids Mike!
Skeleton Crew was my first SK book! I still love it!
I love this. Horror should be read and talked about all year!
Indeed.
You haven’t seen the movie of “The Fog.” Carpenter’s movie is entirely unrelated to Herbert’s book. Dennis Echison wrote a novelisation of the movie.
Yeah, that's my mistake.
I loved House of Leaves! However, I never thought of it as horror. Also, at the time I was reading it from a Palm VX, which means it was translated to text by OCR software and probably the content was supposed to make sense, but in this format I always had to be careful to understand from the context which section of the page it was. So all the crazy shapes on the page were absent. And that ADDED to the experience. I always wanted to read it again in full PDF glory, but as you say, never found the time to invest in it. I hope you do read it and can't wait for a review.
Mike,
Have you read Communion by Whitley Strieber? If not, you should! It's not classified as horror because it's supposedly based on his real abduction experiences. Having said that, it reads like a terrifying sci fi horror novel. His accounts have a lot of details about the Greys and what it's like inside their crafts. Strieber also does an amazing job of creating a sense of dread throughout.
I am glad you finally will read Ghost Story, it is my second favorite. My favorite is The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein, which i highly recommend. I think S. King also loved it when it came out. For haunted houses novels i would recommend Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco, Take care.
I'll check it out!
Read The Rats in the 90's as a teenager. Really enjoy James Herbert, recently read Others for spooky season! I adore Grady Hendrix! and I gave up on Ghost Story last night, wasn't for me was just bored reading. Look forward to seeing your opinions.
Mike: I think you'd really enjoy Grady Hendrix's book "We Sold Our Souls." Judging by your band t-shirts and love for horror, I believe you'd really enjoy the crossover between music and horror in that book. It's definitely not young adult though, so don't go into it thinking that. It also has awesome book covers.
That sounds great!
Hannibal is my favorite villain of all time and the way he’s written makes him almost supernatural. I hope silence of the lambs gets you to read the whole series, I’ll be looking for the review!
I love to listen to you talk about all genres but very happy to see more horror from you.
Thanks for The Ritual rec. Me and my husband watched it and we really, really enjoyed it.
Yes, The Hannibal books by Thomas Harris are good. I think you will enjoy them. As for Grady Hendrix, I would start with Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires instead. It is more adult in tone and it is insidiously horrifying. Blood on the Tracks is also good. Simple, but effective. I read Ghost Story at 17. I liked it, but it is a slower paced book and is more fiction with horror elements.
I'll check out more of Hendrix's stuff.
With Carrion Confort I think you should read Summer Of Night first if you haven't. They're in the same universe and some characters come back.
SoN was kind of a miss for me. I never could get attached to those characters. Which is a shame since everyone expected me to love it.
I love James Herbert books and a cool fact is that he wrote all his novels in longhand.
Thats why his writing can be a little bit different.
Gotta respect that.
I really enjoyed the Hannibal Lecter series, I recommend starting with the first book, Silence of the Lambs is actually book 2, I enjoyed all 4 of the books
I am currently reading The Troop, as per your last year spooktober. I am loving it.
It's so good!
Hey Mike,
You got Me to pick up 'Blood on the Tracks' so thanks for that! I read Fanatsy, Sci-Fi but also tons of Manga but hadn't heard of 'Blood..' until I saw This Video. Just got done with it and I thought the Storytelling was as close to perfect as it gets...BUT other than having some imagery with horror elements, it's not what you'd typically call horror or scary in the traditional way horror is....
Read The Rats last year and really enjoyed it. Felt a bit random in places but was definitely chilling. Well worth the read
Glad to hear it!
Somehow missed this video yesterday. I hope you love Ronald Malfi. I just feel he's a solid storyteller. I would echo that come with me is more of thriller. And Rosemary's Baby is a personal favourite. I'm grateful I read it after being pregnant
You were right on Last Days, so hoping you are also correct on Malfi.
@@mikesbookreviews oh I'm always correct 😜
Just wanted to say, I had a really, really good time reading Ghost Story last year. It was my first Straub read, and it was the most atmospheric read of spooky season!
If I may say -- it does take its time, though. So I wouldn't read some crazy fast-paced thriller and then dive right into Ghost Story while your adrenaline is still pumping 😁
One of the scariest books ever..& it just keeps going & going.
However , lots of people dislike it...
I couldn't read it though. The spirit of that book put the whole house in a bad mood. Went back to a Dean Koontz book.
I'm fine with a slow burn as long as it is going somewhere and spending that time on the characters.
A book I don't see recommended enough is The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell - it's such a beautifully written horror book, and it not talked about nearly enough.
Question: can you give me a horror book recommendation from this list of things I like in the horror genre:
My favorite horror book is the Shining I like Amittyville horror too
I love it when horror books have a haunted house that goes into history of the haunted place
My favorite Author is Stephen King
I like it when horror books give a creepy atmosphere
I like it when horror books have good characters and a good story
I also like slashers movies like Halloween
I love the Walking Dead comics
So these are things I like about horror do you think you can give me a horror book recommendation based of these things I like about the genre?
Just read Galilee by Clive Barker. Really liked it and will def read more of his work. Had a nice 90s vibe for me.
I really do need to read more of his works.
@@mikesbookreviews I highly recommend Galilee. It kind of had Anne Rice vibes… a little supernatural, old families, sex, mythology.
I picked up "John dies at the end" it's coming today, can't wait to read this book as it sounds pretty damn interesting, it's a horror series.
That book is great …If you like it you’ll like all his stuff
I have that one in my plans, too
@@mikesbookreviews I'll be looking forward to the review on it😎
I love that cover on "My Best Friends Exorcism" I grew up on VHS movies.
It's so cool
Have you read Summer of Night by Dan Simmons? I think you would enjoy that one!!
You need to read The Wanderers by Chuck Wendig and the sequel Wayward. So freaking good and a fresh take.
I've only read his Star Wars books thus far.
The more Sci Fi and Horror I read, the more I think I need to be better read in the genre. I found Phillip K Dick this year and am obsessed! This spooky season I'm going to read The Terror and Summers of Night both by Dan Simmons. Super excited! They will be my first Dan Simmons and I'll probably try Hyperion in December if I like these two.
I first read Hyperion this past spring and it is the only book to ever make me cry like a baby at certain points. Cannot recommend it enough.
If you guys like Hyperion, try David Zindel's " Neverness " ( + Requiem for Homo Sapiens trilogy ) . Most similar vibe & feel of the universe.
@@holydissolution85 thank you for the rec!
Same here. I definitely need to read more of both.
Mike, I am not a "content warning" guy but having finished Blood in the Tracks, I do have to warn that it is not for everyone. It's the most uncomfortable depiction of an abusive parent I've seen since Twin Peaks. One of my friends had to drop it because it was hitting too close to home for him. So your mileage may vary depending on how much you can take physical and mental abuse.
This just makes me more interested ha ha
@@mikesbookreviews The I hope you enjoy! It's a very unique manga. There's entire chapters with no dialogue so it's a fast read
Great mix, I have My Best Friends Exorcism and The Damnation Game on the shelf unread too 🙈
Excellent! Will probably read the Hendrix one this Spring.
The Rats is a great book and you will definitely need to follow it on with Lair and Domain from the same series. I recently read Come With Me by Ronald Malfi . It was the first of his I've read but won't be the last .
Good to know!
Wow. I’ve read every single one of these and absolutely loved them. You’re in for a great time!
I hope so!
Love hearing you discuss horror.
Thanks! I love talking about it.
Surprised it took you that long to get to Grady Hendrix. I’ve been reading him for a while and have his Paperbacks signed
Horror fans seem to be sparse in my audience so I think the word of mouth just took a little longer.
Imajica by Clive Barker is not horror. It's well into the fantasy genre. Very good (would highly recommend) but not horror.
Gotcha.
I wasn't a fan of Fledgling, but Octavia Butler has some amazing Sci-Fi works
I just finished My Best Friend's Exorcism and it was really fun! Next I'll read Carmilla...
I read Hell House last October, and it was incredible. Hope you get to it soon!
Great to hear!
I think u should definitely check out The Strain books Trilogy and check out the tv series after.ppl say it’s like Bram stoker meets Stephen king meets Michael Crichton which sounds 100% up ur alley haha.
I've read Rosemary's Baby, House of Leaves, The Ritual, Ghost Story and Come with Me and really liked them. Read Red Dragon by Thomas Harris for the first time this year and loved it. Gonna get to Silence of the Lambs too. Even though some it was from a FBI perspective it wasn't boring or dry. I care more about horror than fantasy so it was nice to see a horror video. =)
Thanks for checking it out!
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris is probability my fav of those as a lot of comments are saying. Ghost Story is good, I enjoyed it. Straub has some good stuff. Im hoping to get to the Blue Rose books next year. Also Damnation Game is good. Looking at some of these classics is bringing me back in time. Those books were read when i was a teenager.
Good to know!
Can’t see any misses on this list!
Well, that's good news.
Come With Me by Ronald Malfi is good but I had a problem with some narrative choices, especially the ending. If you ever played Alan Wake, Come With Me definitely has those vibes. Kinda how you are with Adam Nevill, I want to read more Roland Malfi but Come With Me just wasn't the start I was expecting
The Rats trilogy are some of my all time favourite books.
Ghost Story has been on my TBR for a while now. And I have House of Leaves, but haven't read it yet. And I've read Ronald Malfi's Black Mouth, which is described as perfect for fans of Stephen King's IT. It didn't feel like it was in the vein of IT, but I did get flashes of King's, The Outsider. I'll be giving delving more into his bibliography soon.
Any King comparisons will always get me to try an author. Whole reason I discovered McCammon.
Lots of solid choices. I loved Ghost Story and The Damnation Game.
Most seem to adore GS
Silence of the Lambs is amazing. Hannibal Lector is a top tier horror icon
Would love to hear what you think of House of Leaves. I’m not sure it would be for you but it is an unforgettable experience.
Only one way to find out!
Possibly someone else may have commented regarding this, but I don't think Herbert's The Fog has ever been adapted into a film - it's a very British horror (like the Rats) whereas the Fog movie I've seen, which was TERRIFYING, was very American and bares no relation to the Herbert book at all. We read The Fog at school when it came out... for the naughty bits, really, because we were kids. But it was more scary than horny, if I remember rightly.
I should add we read The Fog amongst ourselves - I've made it sound like it was on the curriculum. Probably is now, lol.
Yeah, that was my mistake.
Philip Fracassi is my new found gem of a horror author. Definitely the best in this genre at the moment.
I concur!
Yes!! Just finished C A with Strangers over the weekend, and that was SUCH a great read!
I also concur - Boys in the Valley and Child Alone With Strangers were both brilliant
He’s great
I have Boys int he Valley in my plans.
I loved The Ritual book and really didn't like the movie, so itll be interesting to see what you think. Though i think it just depends which one you experience first, because it'll influence your expectations
You will love Ghost Story. It kind of has Salem's Lot vibes with the small town and a little bit The Breathing Method.
That sounds great!
James Herbert's The Fog is amazing as well as The Rats!
I look forward to it!
I love Rosemary’s baby Mike, hope you enjoyed it. I also want to read Boys in the Valley by Fracassi many people have recommended to me.
I have BitV in my plans.
Just recently finished SotL, you would love it! I pictured Hannibal a bit differently than the film, surprisingly after having seen it several times before reading the book.
Yeah doing it this way will be impossible for me to picture anyone else.
The Books of Blood short stories are amazing. It has legendary stories like Candyman (The Forbidden is the name of the story).
You'll enjoy The Rats by James Herbert. An old classic and I recently finished that myself the other week. I'd recommend The Fog by him also. I've not seen the film but apparently it differs greatly to the book. The book is creepy!!!
I didn't learn until after this video that the move of The Fog is not based on his book.
Hi Mike love your channel. Just wanted to point out Red Dragon is the first book in the Hannibal Lecter series. Silence of the Lambs is second. Both excellent
I'm aware. But I'd still probably start with SotL just due to the popularity.
Added 6 books to my list thanks to this. House of Leaves is one that's been on my list for a few years now. Only one I read from your list was Hell House, I liked it better than the Haunting of Hill House.
Hope you enjoy it!
Great list. A book that I would recommend to you is 'Home Before Dark' by Riley Sager. Super popular, and a fun read.
Thanks for the tip!
The novel The Fog by James Herbert is not related to the John Carpenter film The Fog. The James Herbert novel has never been adapted as far as I know.
Yeah I learned that after the fact. Whoops!
I read "Rosemary's Baby" a few years ago and it was the best book I read that year. I've also read "Hell House" and "Silence of the Lambs" - no accolades for either of them.
I look forward to it.
Carrion Comfort is a great book! I think you will like it.
Hope so!
Highly recommend The Ritual! It has differences from the movie but the tension in the book is insane and never lets up throughout. I honestly don't know which I liked more.
Great to hear!
Omg!!! I love blood on tracks!! It is soo good! I just bought the newest volume 14. You should check out his earlier works too. Also check out PTSD radio by Maasaki Nakayama! Her work is awesome too!
I've heard it is quite unsettling.
@@mikesbookreviews yes blood on tracks is quite unsettling.. to the point where I question myself.. hahaha have fun reading Mike! 🙂
Good list, Mike! I've got a few of these in my plans for 2024. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on Ghost Story. It's one of my absolute favorite horror novels, but many out there don't care for it.
I've heard about 99% positive things. Just a few "I thought it was boring" comments.
@@mikesbookreviews It's a slow burn, but it never felt boring to me at all.
I read Ghost Story a while back and honestly I was not a big fan. The slow burn thriller it was supposed to be was way too slow for me. I'd love to get your thoughts on it if you get around to reading it though.
Good to know.
I have only read Silence of the Lambs from the list which I loved. I also enjoyed Red Dragon but wasnt as keen on Hannible.
I tried a James Herbert many years ago and didn't enjoy it but may try again now I'm older I may enjoy it more
If the book is like the movie Hannibal...ugh.
Great video Mike!! You are the only other person besides myself that didn't care for The Talisman. I'm not really sure why. I just didn't think it was that good, and I'm a huge King fan. I did however like Ghost Story. I just thought the ending sucked. Silence Of The Lambs is a must read. It's a quick read as well. Red Dragon is also very good. What is the Dan Simmon's sci fi book that you like? I couldn't quite understand the title when you said it.
It did not excel at the slice of life/coming of age stuff like King solo works usually do.
I've only read Kindred by Octavia Butler and loved it. I'm eager to try some of her other works, especially if they're considered as horror.
I would try out Parable of the Sower next! I started with Kindred as well and while I loved it, Parable is my favourite of hers. I’ve heard mixed views about Fledgling.
Thanks for the recommendation 👍🏻
I believe this one is about vampires, but I'm not sure.
I actually liked The Stepford Wives better than Rosemary's baby, but you can't go wrong with Ira Levin.
Will add that one if/when I like RB.
Have you read Dead Silence by SA Barnes or Blindsight by Peter Watts. I’m normally not much of a space fan, but I enjoyed these. There seems to be a shortage of good space horror out there.
I haven't, but I'll look them up.
@@mikesbookreviews You could also check out Library at Mount Char if you haven’t. It’s not like anything I’ve read before, and people have a hard time finding anything remotely similar.
I’m currently about 2/5 the way through Hell House, enjoying it so far. It’s my first horror novel.
Excellent!
I read The Talisman a month ago and did not enjoy it as much as other SK books. Currently reading The Black House and I'm loving it!
Great news
I read all of Thomas Harris's books in that series. They're ok. I couldn't get on with Harris's writing style. There's something kind of dry about it. I tried to finish House of Leaves but lost interest in it midway through. I appreciate the idea of that book and it's all very creative and interesting, but reading it was kind of a slog. I enjoyed Damnation Game but I wouldn't recommend it to somebody who wasn't already a fan of Barker's brand of outlandish horror fantasy. Rosemary's Baby is really good. Ghost Story is slow paced, like a lot of Straub's books, but it's worth it the effort to get through it. That book in particular has a lot going for it. I haven't read any of the others you mentioned.
I feel that way about a lot of detective/crime/thriller novels.
My ten year old daughter and I read Small Spaces by Katherin Arden I believe. It was a cute horror story for kids.
Love the horror videos. Keep them coming!
Yay!!! It's finally horror time! The Rats scared me to death when I read it 47 years ago at the age of 10. Ghost Story is wonderful and you need to watch the movie with Fred Astaire when you finish the book. The best Grady Hendrix book IMHO is The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Fantastic! 🧛♂️🧡👻🖤🎃
Fred Astaire did other movies besides dancing ones???!! And southern vampires good but he had other better ones
@@philippburnett6045 Yes, Fred was in non-dance movies! He was quite good in Ghost Story too.
Fred Astaire did horror movies? I had no idea.
@@mikesbookreviews It's a great movie!
I’ve only read one of his books so far, but Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians is really great!
I own that one but haven't gotten to it yet.
I haven't read any of the ones on your list, but I would recommend Robin Cook for medical horror/thriller and John Saul.
I'll look them up.
@@mikesbookreviews My personal favorite for Robin Cook is called "Mortal Fear" and for John Saul, I recommend "The God Project".
OMG Mike mentioned Octavia E Butler! My life is complete
I'm excited! She's a legend.
Wish you picked No One Gets Out Alive over The Ritual. Rosemary's Baby book is basically just like the movie. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Hell House. Sort of a different version of House on Haunted Hill by Shirley Jackson.
I still will probably read NOGOA first ha ha
The damnation game is great. But the books of blood are some of the best horror stories ever written.
Black House is more of a police horror thriller, and it has connections to other SK novels. While the Talisman was more.like an adventure/coming of age tale. I suggest you read Black House iam sure you Will like it more than the first novel. I read somehwere not long algo that King is working on a final novel to complete the trilogy
Another recommendation would be Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don’t Fear the Reaper
Meta Slasher / coming of age
I do intend to read some of him eventually. I own Only Good Indians.