Horror Aficionados discussion

Hello- this is my first post. I came here because my daughter is a very advanced reader and really enjoys horror. I have read a lot of the genre as well, but I am running out of suggestions for her! She enjoys Stephen King and Dean Koontz; the problem is, I have read all of these authors' books and now I can't remember if they had inappropriate scenes in them or not!

What do I consider appropriate? I don't want her reading about sex and drugs, mainly. Violence, I feel, comes with the territory and she can handle that.

She has read Cell, Duma Key and Dragon Tears... I just read oh,,, I can't remember the title- the new Dean Koontz one with the two golden retrievers?...but that had a couple of sex scenes I would not be comfortable with her reading.

Anybody have a "safe" Dean Koontz list for us? I almost feel pretty safe letting her read any S. King book- I don't remember him putting much sex in any of his novels...

PS she's read all the Twilight books...

Thank you!

-June

There's a lot of good YA horror out there. This seems like a good list: http://monsterlibrarian.com/horrorfic...

I second the YA recommendation. There is some really good stuff that I still enjoy as an adult!

Others:

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
I think Summer of Night, by Dan Simmons, should be fine
Our Lady of Darkness, Fritz Leiber
Pretty sure that Rosemary's Baby should be all right; if I recall correctly, the sex is not explicit at all
Ancient Images, Ramsey Campbell. Also Nazareth Hill.
Dracula, Bram Stoker
The Lady in Black, Susan Hill

Don't forget Frankenstein by Mary Shelley...

Um, there is sex in some of the King books - e.g. The Stand for sure, It, Salem's Lot - I really can't remember all of them, it tends to vary of course. Personally, I started reading King at a young age, and it didn't stunt my growth or anything - ;) But, if you're serious about screening, you may want to flip through the book before handing it over.

I second Dracula and Frankenstien.

Try some Gothic horror - it tend to stay away from sex and drugs and is quite enjoyable.

I was going to suggest Anne Rice - the Vampire series but I can't remember which books have sex in them - Interview with a Vampire is a good book and I can't remember there being any sex scenes in there. Some of her other books do contain some rather detailed sex scene's so you may be best reading them first.

I read Gerald's Game by King at the age of 14, though my mum didn't know and I'm a perfectly normal 24 year old.

I'd suggest the John Bellaris YA horror series. Especially " The House with a Clock in its Walls"

The Rice vampire books are full of sex, including Interview. I would have loved them when I was 13, though! I read plenty of stuff with sexual content around that age and it did me no harm.

Tony, A House with a Clock in Its Walls is still one of my favorite books. It's so, so good.

At her age, I read a lot of horror anthologies -- she might enjoy the completely sex-free short stories of M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Ray Bradbury, Sheridan LeFanu, T.E.D. Klein (his stories, NOT his novel, Dark Ceremonies -- way too disturbing), H.P. Lovecraft, and E.F. Benson.

I remember reading and loving Christopher Pike books as a YA, but she may be a little advanced for those. As far as "clean" Dean Koontz books, here are a few off the top of my head (if memory serves, someone please correct me if I am mistaken):

Tick Tock
Odd Thomas
Life Expectancy

re Koontz, I liked Fear Nothing and Seize the Night. I don't remember the main characters having time for sex -- too busy being chased.

Cathy maybe your right, I'll have to go back and have a re-read. I'm the same at the age of 13/14 I was reading Stephen King and Richard Laymon (probably the most graphic when it comes to sex scenes) and it did me no harm what so ever, though if my mum and dad had know I would have been in trouble.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! We have already used them to stock up at paperbackswap.com. I have several editions of Dracula (I'm a bit obsessed) and Frankenstein but she tried to read them and wasn't quite ready for those.

Like Hayley says, I'm sure reading about sex won't damage her, but as a parent I can't really hand her a sex-laden book and say "enjoy!" LOL

Thanks again!

Back in the 80's there was a YA horror series called 'Dark Forces' - nothing to do with the TV series.

All of the books featured teens as the main characters, no sex, but lots of horror - about possesion, witches, ghosts, etc. Some of the titles I remember include: The Game, The Doll, Playing with the Devil, Eyes of the Tarot.

You'll need to find them used (some are available on amazon), but they were a great deal of fun.

@Dena Dark Forces! I liked those, but I don't remember which ones I read.

Hi, Terry.
Yes, I loved that series. LOL - I made my mom buy me every one of them!

I used to love reading the Point Horror books, I think I read the majority of them - they where a fantastic series of books.

The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll is advanced horror and I do not recall any sex scene. Maybe a bit of cursing. The Land of Laughs A Novel

Ya know, I am almost done with Bentley Little's THE SUMMONING right now (40 pages to go) and to my amazement there really hasn't been any sex or anything in it. It's a unique twist on the vampire themes also.
Oh, there is a quick scene in the ending area between the main girl and her brother, but it lasts for maybe a half page.
...wait...remembering another bit between a main character and is wife...still, fairly tame. I read PSYCHO 2 when I was 12 or so...so I might not be the right one for this...
M.R. James is a good one for everybody of every age. Spooky and fairly easy to get into, especially for the era he wrote in. Most of the older guys (Lovecraft, Blackwood, Hodgson, etc.) can be a little difficult to understand, but James is pretty easy.

Don't know if anyone mentioned Darren Shan, his "cirque du freak" and "demonata" series are great. Emma Bull's "War for the oaks" and "Territory" are great. A series by Holly Block "Tithe", "Valiant" and "Ironsids" are good. Tamora Pierce is ok, Scott Westerfelds "Uglies", "Pretties" "Special" and "Extras", as well as "Peeps" "Last Day(s)" and his midnighters series. also, ellen hopkins books; crank, burn, impulse, glass and identical. and mary janice davidsons series about teen weredragons,"the ancient furnace and so on...

deleted user wrote: "Hello- this is my first post. I came here because my daughter is a very advanced reader and really enjoys horror. I have read a lot of the genre as well, but I am running out of suggestions for h..."

Kim Harrison's YA "Once dead, twice shy", Kelley Armstrongs YA "the summoning", and "the awakening" are wonderful. all if these authors' books are great, the Kelly Armstrong "women of the otherworld" series are great, very little sex, nothing graphic. and Rosemary Clement Moore Hell series (highway to hell, hell week, prom dates from hell)

Looks like the original poster has vacated the premises, but anyway...

If your child is 13 and an "advanced reader," then...just let her read. I think it's silly to analyze every book for content like those christian websites do with movies, counting instances of the f-word and so on. No one was ever harmed by a book. I'd be willing to bet most of us had some adult book that we peeked at when no one was looking--I hear it all the time when people talk about their early reading experiences. I myself read The Exorcist when I was 13 (will full parental awareness) and I lived.

Kids and teens will automatically read at their level. If they come to something they don't like, or aren't comfortable with, they'll put it back and go to something else. If they keep reading, it probably means they're ready for it anyway.

I generally agree, but the OP did say that she felt there was a difference between her daughter choosing a book with that content, versus her mother giving it to her and sort of endorsing it as something she SHOULD read, which makes sense to me.

I read all kinds of stuff, but I was choosing it on my own.

Now that I think about it, not one single person when I was growing up ever suggested I read a book or a certain genre (not talking about required reading for school). Not my parents, not my teachers, not my friends. I come from a looooong line of non-readers so I don't even know why I hunger for books. It's always been a puzzle to me.

Scott wrote: "Looks like the original poster has vacated the premises, but anyway...

If your child is 13 and an "advanced reader," then...just let her read. I think it's silly to analyze every book for content..."

Yeah, if my kids pick up a book with too much sex (in their words) they will just put it down again. my 13yo son just read all of the christopher moore books; lamb, fluke, bloodsucking fiends and fool among them. I thought "fool" had a looot of sex and "dirty" stuff, wanking off etc., but he wasn't emarassed, so i won't worry. he did almost fall off the cough laughing a few times!

That's great!

Is it weird that I would rather my kids read sex and violence than see it? I'm pretty much fine with them reading whatever, but I am fairly strict about what they can watch. I would probably have a fit if I walked in and saw my son watching SUSPIRIA, but wouldn't lose it nearly as bad if I saw my kid reading THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.

Carl, no you're not weird. I think I feel the same way. There's just something about visuals...

I don't think it's weird. Words although "powerful" are still just words. Seeing something is a far more visceral experience. Hearing about someone getting their arm ripped off is not quite the same as seeing it happen (even if it's just F/X).

Of course words, if the writer is good, can be far more effective than a visual display...but that's different.

Oh, I loved the Thief of Always. Abarat is another good Clive Barker for teens, a fairly dark fantasy story illustrated by Barker's beautiful paintings.

Most of Ramsey Campbell novels are good, there's this one, The Face That Must Die, about a serial killer from the serial killer's perceptive. It has pictures and the ending is really scary. The Face That Must Die

Robert Bloch's collection, Final Reckoning and Bitter Ends are very masterful in terror and no sex.

As a teenager I also loved Ramsey Campbell's The Hungry Moon and Ancient Images, as well as his short stories.