Horror Aficionados discussion

Hi everybody, I was just wondering which author first got you into reading horror? Are there any authors you discovered later that made you think, "why I haven't I read this author's work before!"?

Richard Laymon got me started which was quickly followed by Dean Koontz, Shaun Hutson & Clive Barker. I couldn't believe it took me so long to read any Graham Masterton or Robert McCammon!

I read Stephen King waaaaay back when his best novels first came out... but I would say it was reading Dan Simmons' Summer of Night that really kicked off my horror novel addiction and got me looking to see what else was out there.

Ruby Jean Jenson first got me hooked (it was her book about the carnival, I can't recall the title right now), and also Stephen King's Carrie.

Adam Nevill , Ania Ahlborn, and Michael McDowell are authors I've read in the past year that make me think maybe I should read nothing but horror, ha ha!

Stephen King will always, lovingly, be my first! Then came John Farris, Graham Masterton, Dean Koontz, and every other horror author.

I hadn't read any H.P. Lovecraft until I started playing "Call of Cthulhu" in the early 80's, and I couldn't believe I'd never heard of him before that. Such a great author!

I feel like I've been reading horror in some vein my entire reading life. I was first introduced to Dracula and Frankenstein via graphic novels that had been mis-shelved in the children's section when I was 5 or 6. I was hooked by the pictures and creepy atmoshphere, even though I didn't really understand the meat of the stories. I was the only like kid I knew who was actively searching for creepy books. I loved John Bellairs, Mary Downing Hahn (Wait till Helen Comes), as I got a bit older I made my way through Christopher Pike, R. L. Stine (pre-Goosebumps books).

Once I hit 13, my parents released age restrictions on my books (my mom worked at the library and knew what I was checking out) and I finally got my hands on Stephen King, Dean Koontz (not a fan), Robert McCammon, Anne Rice, and so many more.

Kelly B, Summer of Night is still one of my favorite books to re-read :)

I started with RL Stine and Christopher Pike. They got me hooked into horror at a young age. I then went to Ruby Jean Jensen, VC Andrews (gothic) and Andrew Neiderman.

Lovecraft in the 3rd grade. Then in high school it was Stephen King (Dean Koontz was a joke--I couldn't get into his stuff). That led to Peter Straub--unfortunately, Ghost Story was the only worthwhile thing he wrote, so I dropped him quickly. Laymon came later in HS and college.

I grew up in a religious home, so horror was taboo. My introduction came much later via the X Files TV series, then Stephen King's The Mist. This was followed by The Green Mile, Part 1: The Two Dead Girls and the rest of the series as they were published. I've been dabbling ever since and am hoping you fellow Aficionados can help me further my 'horror education'..

I loved Summer of Night too. Dan Simmons is an amazing author.

Not a specific author (and I'm seriously dating myself here), but when I was 8-9 years old I started reading the "Dark Forces" and "Twilight- Where Darkness Begins" lines of YA horror. I've been addicted to scary stories every since!

By the time I was 11-12 years old I graduated to Stephen King and VC Andrews- I'd say they were the first two specific horror writers I loved.

I was always interested in horror stories. My parents weren't thrilled, because they gave me nightmares. I also remember reading Wait til Helen comes. And the Bunnicula series, if you can call that horror, and some other James Howe stuff
I hate to admit that Anne Rice started me on vampire stuff when I was a teen. I got obsessed with vampires. I'm still a bit burnt out on them at the moment, unless it's done really well.
I don't know for sure who started my most recent horror, other than the fact that I got a kindle and started finding cheap, good stuff. Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn were pretty early in there.

Caro, I loved those books (Dark Forces and Twilight) when I was a kid too!! I actually found a few that I own now lol. Glad to know I wasn't the only one.

Mine was Jay Anson. The Amityville Horror movie had come and gone and there was a 0% chance of my parents letting my middle school butt see it. I got my hands on the novel and followed that up shortly thereafter with Anson's 666...and hooked.

Jennifer, that's so funny because I've been thinking of buying some old Dark Forces or Twilight books too, just for old times' sake.

They terrified me as a kid! I remember staying up late reading them, staying still as possible in case I disturbed some lurking demon hiding in my closet or under the bed, thus alerting them to my presence, lol.

I loved the Dark Forces books too! After reading The Doll, I started collecting porcelain dolls...which doesn't make any sense, I realize...

Kelly B wrote: "Ruby Jean Jenson first got me hooked (it was her book about the carnival, I can't recall the title right now), and also Stephen King's Carrie.

Adam Nevill , Ania Ahlborn, and Michael McDowell are ..."

I have to admit to being ignorant of Ruby Jean Jenson. Looking through her titles, those look like some solid 80's cheesy horror novels. I'm interested!

My first taste of horror (albeit very juvenile), was The Haunted Mansion: Read Along. My mum purchased this for me when I was three years old. The second story (on the flip-side of the record) had some pretty creepy sound effects.

When I was a kid, it was R.L. Stine.

When I first read horror it was Stephen King that got me started and he was all that I would read for awhile, but I finally ventured out and started reading John Saul, Dean Koontz. Then as time went on I ventured out more with Bentley Little, Peter Straub, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Now I have a whole slew of horror authors since being on GR and joining HA. :)

Some very early influences include the Robert Arthur story, “The Believers”, Bram Stoker’s “The Judge’s House”, and John Kendrick Bangs’ “The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall”. In a more general way, I recall being drawn to the earlier issues of that old Warren Publishing mag, Creepy, i.e., the ones edited by Archie Goodwin.

The first "horror" book I can remember reading was:

The stories and the artwork hooked me into the genre and I started actively looking for more horror books, which led me to Stephen King...it's been all downhill from there!

James Herbert was an early influence, along with King. I was also hooked as a youngster on all those crazy mutant bugs and killer animal novels from the early eighties. I believe it was Signet that published most of them.

I was reading horror in some form for as long as I can remember. The "masters" such as H.P. Lovecraft, M.R. James, E.F. Benson, E.A. Poe always come to mind. As for "modern" writers, I began with Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night, then moved on to John Saul and Stephen King. After that, I just started searching bookstores/libraries for anything horror related. :)

I love John Saul

R.L. Stine and Alvin Schwartz (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) when I was a kid. Poppy Z. Brite and Anne Rice as a teen. Then on to Stephen King, which is what really got me addicted to reading horror. His more realistic horror (Dolores Claiborne, Misery, etc) really creeps me out.

Sonya wrote: "I love John Saul"

After I had read his back-log, I remember counting down the days until his next release, and begging my mom to take me to the bookstore to buy it. I still have just about everything he ever published in the horror genre.

I got hooked on horror early on. As a kid. And my favourite autor was Paul van Loon (he's a dutch writer). He had this series: 'De griezelbus' (it's not really translatable, not well at least, but "horrorbus" or "fright-bus" comes close). It was about a group of schoolchildren who had a trip in this bus and the driver (no, not him, some guide guy) told them scary stories (you read those stories as well). All the sequels also followed this bus, but a different group of children, and the main story was always interrupted by these short other scary stories.
I still think they're great! Good horror is simple.