Halloween goes hand-in-hand with great horror stories, so today I thought I might share the work of three of my own favorite scary scribes. While three listings just scratches the surface, I hope the stuff you see below spurs you to consider some of your own favorites. Feel free to share them in the comments section!
The Horror Stories Of Robert E. Howard / [editor, Rusty Burke] ; illustrated by Greg Staples — My two favorites from this collection include “The Touch of Death,” which I read at last year’s CLP Read to the People event to promote library awareness, and “Worms of the Earth,” a Bran Mak Morn tale that might just be the best thing Howard ever wrote.
Books Of Blood : Volumes One To Three / Clive Barker — English author Barker brings the pain in this collection of bloodcurdling tales, and “Midnight Meat Train” tops the list for this assemblage. As an avowed proponent and user of public transit, this one really unsettled me.
At The Mountains Of Madness / H.P. Lovecraft — No tale better illustrates Lovecraft’s storytelling powers quite like this one. The story is highlighted by this gorgeous Modern Library edition, whose cover features Michael Chabon’s ringing endorsement: “One of the greatest short novels in American literature, and a key text in my own understanding of what that literature can do.”
Now it’s your turn! List a favorite scary novel or short story in the comments section–share the fear!
Thanks for reading!
–Scott
Eleventh Stack 