Horror Aficionados discussion

Hello, all.

I know Char already knows how great this guy’s books are, but thought he may well be unknown to many others.

IMO, even his worst are better than most out there.

I’ve read all of the horror novels he wrote before he died.

Toplin may be my favorite, but it’s a very strange story, and would definitely not appeal to everyone. It takes you inside the mind of someone who isn’t right in the head. Think Psycho or Ratman’s Notebooks but … better (just my opinion).

Anyway, that’s just one. The Elementals, the Blackwater Saga, Cold Moon Over Babylon …

Interesting Michael McDowell trivia: he co-wrote the screenplay for Beetlejuice :)

Toplin was so wild and different from the rest of his stuff!

Do you have any favorite McDowells? It is really hard to choose, because as you said, they were all so good.
My answer could change on any given day, but I really loved Blackwater, The Elementals, Gilded Needles and Katie.
(I think Katie might have been based on this Kansas family named Bender.)

So far, I've only read The Elementals by him and really, really loved it! I've got the Blackwater series lined up to read with my big, personal Gothic TBR but I wanna go through more of the standalone novels I've got there first.
There's also one of his books that was posthumously finished by Tabitha King (Stephen King's wife) that really piques my interest.

“Candles Burning” is the book he’d only had a basic manuscript finished for when he died, and which Tabitha King finished.

I haven’t read it because a friend who had told me that it didn’t read like a Michael McDowell book … but maybe I *will* give it a shot. It’s 515 pages, though. Daunting for me. I typically haven’t cared for books that are more than, say, 350-400 pages. Maybe “Carrion Comfort” is an exception. I recall that being a rather long book, and it’s an all-time favorite.

My favorites by Michael McDowell are Toplin, The Elementals, and The Blackwater Saga. I love all of them, however. I truly feel that all of his horror books, including those he wrote under the pen name “Axel Young,” are better than most out there. I was sooooo bummed when I found out that he’d died. :(

I've heard of his Blackwater Saga and always get reminded of it as I believe there's a video on here at the bottom for it??? Also I've heard of Cold Moon Over Babylon.