10 short horror books that left me shaken

[@Mondomeyer]

Sequel: Ten short horror novels that left me stirred.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

hahaha very good!

[@Mondomeyer]

@@CriminOllyBlog Mucho gracias.

[@DKBiedron]

😂 📚 📖

[@Orasmis]

For the book length thing, I've heard that publishers aren't that willing to publish overly long books from new authors. Each genre and age group has an average book length that new authors need to stick to. They don't want to risk the cost of publishing a long book from a new author and then not have it sell well. The more you publish the more likely they are to say yes to a long book. People are more willing to read a 500+ page book from an established author that they like vs from someone that they don't know who it is is the thinking.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ah that’s really fascinating! It makes perfect sense economically and certainly seems to match reality. Thank you!

[@pateris]

In the nineties, several authors told me publishers wanted "door stoppers and no short ones because there were fabrication costs (I don't remember the specifics) Besides, in the US, readers wanted long books. Robert Parker entered the best-sellers lists when he first wrote a book twice the side of his usual stuff…

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@pateris Fascinating!

[@pateris]

@@CriminOllyBlog …Just call me Thomas. (A classic is NEVER outmoded !)

[@markwebb1040]

Interesting. I hadn't thought about it but it makes perfect sense. That would explain why most of the tomes I see out there are written by Stephen King. (He always said he had diarrhea of the word processor).

[@Ichigo-dh9rd]

Carrie by Stephen King Off Season by Jack Ketchum The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks The Hellbound Heart by Clive Baker Deadhead by Shaun Hutson The Collector by John Fowles The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin Dead Laura by Gemma Amor You've Lost A Lot Of Blood by Eric Larocca

[@sonerali3047]

What about James Herbert,s the rats.

[@rickhemsworth3526]

Thank you for making this list. Its very helpful for OCD people who write down on paper.

[@petervitti9]

Skeleton key by Stephen King. The Jaunt. Horrible....

[@angelwalker979]

Skeleton CREW. Agree there are so many good stories in that collection.​@@petervitti9

[@kathyorourke9273]

Thank you!

[@AmitSharma-nf5ed]

Sir, your dedication and involvement in horror genre is exemplary. Your knowledge is astounding, certainly a Genius. I only recommend one short story " The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins. It is one of most brilliant and profound stories I have ever read.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you, that is incredibly kind of you to say. I do have a copy of The Yellow Wallpaper and aim to read it soon

[@DreamJeanne1111]

In my mind, The Yellow Wallpaper was always a creepy story that stuck with me. Still does.

[@elenamazza9571]

I could listen to you speaking about books for hours! Glad I found your channel

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!

[@Freidenker2805]

Off season is such a great book. It's was a pretty hardcore experience reading it on middle school.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Wow I can imagine!

[@sunnyquinn3888]

I agree about advising the new aspiring King fan to start with "Carrie". When you want to get to know an author reading their books in the order they were written is often a good way to go about it.

[@deanwhite7970]

I also read The Collector years ago, and it is simply one of the scariest, most uncompromising books I've ever read.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it’s excellent.

[@kermitfrog593]

I personally wouldn't classify the Collector as horror, but it's certainly a literary thriller and classic of the genre.

[@jessicamoffitt2550]

I just stumbled across your channel and your handle kills me 😂 Looking forward to watching more of your content!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It still makes me chuckle after a year and a bit (although I am very easily amused). Hope you enjoy the channel!

[@mygolfclubs]

I have only read the collector from this list and it still creeps me out when I think about it or if my eyes happen across it on my bookshelf. thanks for the list!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Glad you found it useful! I really loved The Collector

[@MarissaMagn0lia]

had to pause to say the collector is such a phenomenal story & something that has stuck with me as well! such a great list

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It really is a great book!

[@kelst75]

Cabal by Clive Barker is a great short book. Was filmed as Nightbreed. Thanks for the list, wii definitely look for them.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That is a good one. I saw the film at the cinema and really enjoyed it. Cronenberg was great in it

[@johnbarton562]

Loved this list of new reading material you've given me - some I've read, others not yet. Like your videos - learning new things all the time.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying my videos

[@ursweetsab]

Uzumaki by Junji ito had that affect on me. It is truly a master piece.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

So many people have recommended that to me lately!

[@serenitymoon825]

Junji Ito is one of my favorite horror artists/authors and Uzumaki has made me hyperaware of the spiral shape for the past seven years

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@serenitymoon825 I can't wait to read it

[@serenitymoon825]

@@CriminOllyBlog After you do, check out Hellstar Remina

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@serenitymoon825 will do!

[@hopefletcher7420]

A horror story that truly creeped me out was HEX by Thomas Olde Heuveldt. He translated the original into English and moved the location to a small town in upstate New York. A 300 year old witch, eyes and mouth sewn shut and arms chained to her body, appears in various places in the town and even in homes. All townspeople have government provided phones with an app to report sightings and there are cameras everywhere that are monitored by a secret govt group. Oh yeah, and no one who lives in the town can leave for more than a few days without becoming suicidal. I read it 3 years ago and it still creeps me out.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I actually have that on my TBR for next month. I've heard so many great things about it

[@rhahnabunaid]

Little bit of trivia for you: the word "heks" (pronounced "hex") is Dutch for "witch" (Olde Heuvelt is Dutch).

[@lindas5964]

Fantastic video thank you! One of my favorite authors is Patrick McGrath. I’ve had a hard time finding anything I love as much as his stuff. Psychological Horror without the gore.

[@alexaproffitt4640]

I absolutely love these lists!!! Thank you so much!! 😃

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you find them useful

[@sirotahaggen]

I'm curious about that John Fowles book. Also, that Library of America book beneath the copy of Autumn Gothic in the back - would that be Ulysses S Grant's civil war memoirs? If so, recommend?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Grant's memoirs isn't really my kind of thing lol It's the LOA David Goodis collection

[@stevecarter603]

I’ve been enjoying you videos and some of your recommendations. I watched John Dies in the End. I liked it. Question: Many of these books have been adapted to movies. What would you generally recommend first, the film or the book? Personally I feel that the reading experience is so much richer and able to be inside the characters than pictures shows can manage, plus I favor atmosphere over plot so I would say there is less disappointment in watching the movie first than the other way around. What do you think? 10:06

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Glad you're enjoying the channel. I'm a traditionalist, so I'll always go book before movie. I do get what you mean though. Psycho is a great example of a book that works really well after watching the movie.

[@Salixj]

I wonder if you could recommend psychological horror versus blood and gore horror. Think Ligotti, Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce and similar. I don't like a lot of blood and gore, but love the creepy, weird kind of horror.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

The Fisherman by John Langan is a great example of that. Also Michelle Paver (Dark Matter or Thin Air), Ramsey Campbell (The Doll Who Ate His Mother).

[@Salixj]

@@CriminOllyBlog thank you!

[@jessicataylor1871]

Fantastic and inspiring presentation. Yes, the shorter the book the greater the impact. The great classics like Frankenstein , Dracula and the Dystopian and disturbing. Lord of the Flies come to mind. There are many others too.Any great Horror anthologies ( short stories ) you can recommend? I think of the Pan Horror anthologies which were my basic diet growing up in the 1960s

[@ekata1261]

if you liked Dear Laura, i think you might also enjoy Penpal by Dathan Auerbach. very similar vibes. while i read Dear Laura first and really liked it, i liked Penpal a little better and found it more scary (perhaps because it was also slightly longer, around 300-ish pages). thanks for the list though, it looks fantastic!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I've heard good things about Penpal, definitely need to check it out sometime! Thank you for watching!

[@francistoo]

So glad you referenced 'Fever Dream' by Samanta Schweblin. I loved it and was baffled by it. Also, if you haven't read it, there's "The Grip of It' by Jac Jemc (no idea how to pronounce the name) which is a terrific psychological haunted house/possession narrative.

[@Priscilla_Bettis]

Great list. I've read a few of these and particularly liked You've Lost a Lot of Blood and Dear Laura.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you!

[@johnmendoza6345]

I love the watch recharging in the background. There’s something strangely satisfying watch it rotate. :)

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@fart_restoration]

Been trying to figure out what on earth that was...never would have guessed charger. Thanks!

[@blahyoubleep]

Great video! I’m diving into horror after circling the genre for the last twenty years. Was more of a sci fi guy but have been intrigued by surreal horror / dread in the recent years. Thanks for the commentary!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Alex, hope you find some good reads through my channel!

[@greeneyedmonsterreview3093]

Off Season was a crazy and grotesque ride but I loved it! If you like exploring the demented minds of disturbed killers I'd highly recommend Exquisite Corpse. I plan in reading the entire list!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you enjoy them all! I bought Exquisite Corpse recently and will be reading it soon

[@cleoldbagtraallsorts3380]

@@CriminOllyBlog It's an excellent book.

[@michaelbooker6142]

I've read The Hellbound Heart, Carrie, and Off Season and I enjoyed them all. I will have to read the other books on this list eventually. So many books so little time

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you enjoy them all! Thanks for watching

[@jessicamou]

This is right on time. Recently I don’t have much time to read long novels, this is just what I need!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Excellent! Hope you find some you enjoy!

[@jessicamou]

And my very humble and very personal opinion is, for those super successful writers like Stephen King and many others, they got so successful that their editors (who tend to be younger and less experienced than the writers with time pass by) don’t dare to tell them that they need to cut their rambles lol.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@jessicamou I 100% agree with that!

[@pelman5483]

@@jessicamou In 'On Writing', which is great, King says you should omit needless words...

[@jessicamou]

@@pelman5483 lol that book is on my TBR too

[@joukokulhelm6844]

Love your channel. You have gave me so many booktips. I thought I have read all horror worth reading. Boy, was i wrong.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you so much!

[@CestKevvie]

OMG Dear Laura sounds horrific! I definitely want to read that one! I've officially bought You've Lost a Lot of Blood and will be reading it in June!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Both are really good! Looking forward to hearing what you think of the LaRocca

[@ellagoreyshorrorstories7524]

You're in for a treat, Dear Laura is a great read! :)

[@pateris]

A bit OT but books which are criminally forgotten IMHO are John Pritchard's trilogy starting with "Night Sisters", "Angels of mourning" and "The Witching Hour"; A young nurse finds herself target of the Clinicians, medieval surgeons (much inspired by the band Fields oof the Nephilim) and a murderous sorceress. A mix of visceral horror, action, urban fantasy (before the term was coined), very British with a gothic vibe. I know them well, I translated those mothers ! The author seems to have disappeared after one last novel…

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I don't think I'd heard of these, although I did just look up Night Sisters and the cover is vaguely familiar (although it does seem very much in the early 90s style). What language did you translate into?

[@pateris]

@@CriminOllyBlog In French. Yes, it seems those went unnoticed…

[@AntheanCeilliers]

So glad for this list! I'm a PhD student so my 'for fun' reading time is pretty limited, but I want it to be impactful.

[@kellireadsalot]

You are excellent at concise analyses. The Lonely sounds interesting.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! That’s very kind of you to say

[@deadocmike1]

The best short horror book Ive read this year is "Come Closer" by Sara Gran

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That was a great one!

[@bartlett454]

A terrific list and definitely some titles I must seek out and read. Many thanks.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Great list and observations. I have only read The Hellbound Heart and Carrie, but have The Wasp Factory sitting beside me for when i have finished Mirror by Graham Masterton. I would recommend Wet Work by Philip Nutman, a fairly short zombie apocalypse that has stayed in my head over the years. I would love to read Off Season but i highly doubt I'll find it in my 'back' neck of the woods.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Cliff! I’ve not read Wet Work so will see if I can track down a copy. Whereabouts are you? I was able to get Off Season from eBay in the UK quite affordably

[@CliffsDarkGems]

@@CriminOllyBlog We live in South Africa so will have to import it at some time. Not an issue though, I have many books on my tbr list and a fairly well stocked second-hand bookstore in our village. I'll keep browsing the shelves.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@CliffsDarkGems cool. Hope you chance across a copy!

[@CliffsDarkGems]

@@CriminOllyBlog Just finished The Wasp Factory. Wow, really twisted,disturbing book- but so powerful. j

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@CliffsDarkGems fantastic! Really glad you enjoyed it

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

This was excellent! How did I miss this? Do you put out a video every day?! Who DOES that? Anyway, there are a bunch of books here I haven’t read yet and now I really want to.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I actually put out 8 videos last week in an attempt to be even more insane than you. I haven’t quite reached Steve D levels of insanity yet, but the men in white coats are standing by.

[@fadista7063]

This was another great analysis--though I have not read most of these I enjoy hearing the analysis. I do remember reading Carrie, Salem's Lot and The Stand when I was young and they were quite memorable. It's well known here that Maine is the "South of the North" meaning you run into the "hick culture" in New England as well as the South. There is a long standing tension between rural and urban here particularly the more rural south and the more urban north which has changed over the decades but was a holdover from the Civil War. I have been meaning to ask this question and it is just based on my casual observation...but why is it that Scottish writers produce (or seem to produce) such gruesome and/or violent type of works at what seems like a disproportionate rate...it just seems like something I have noticed and I might be totally off but I am wondering if there is some affinity there. Even the grotesque things like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or the weird medical experimentation by doctors on cadavers etc...it just seems like there is some weird vibe that comes out of that area. (I am both southern and lots of Scots background so I am not casting aspersions if any take umbrage). 🤓

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Interesting! I never knew that about Maine, but it does fit with some of the books I’ve read set there. That rural/urban split seems to be quite a central part of the mood of America, playing out in politics a fair bit from what I can see as an outsider. Interesting comment on Scots writers and it’s true there do seem to be a lot of (in particular) successful crime writers from up there. I think there’s a degree of honest bluntness to Scottish culture that probably suits writing about the darker side of life quite well

[@allgirlreview433]

I read The Collector last year and it absolutely chilled me.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It's great, isn't it!

[@Zozette27]

Of these I have only read ‘The Wasp Factory’ and ‘Carrie’ but when you spoke about ‘The Collector’ it seemed very familiar. So I went to IMDB and I know that I have watched the 1965 movie based on the book starring Terrance Stamp. The movie was creepy and I remember it though I must have watched it in the 1970s/1980s. I will have to see if I can find both the movie and book and compared them.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks be not seen the film, but I know it’s very well thought of. Interested to hear your thoughts of you do a comparison of them

[@christine7956]

They are pretty much identical, the only difference is the book has her diary entries but Terrance Stamp is such an amazing creep.

[@Demetri-bathwater]

I enjoy your work. Thanks for all you do. I enjoy writing shorts..

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you!

[@billcann5151]

I would strongly suggest reading "The Fisherman" by John Langan. fantastically creepy and haunting.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I loved that book! In fact there is a review of it somewhere on the channel

[@fiberartsyreads]

I’ve read some of these and would totally agree on their lasting impressions. Need to check out the ones I haven’t read yet!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Glad you found it a useful list!

[@j.d.thompson3505]

I hope you enjoy doing so. I wish more young people would put away their phones and discover the joy of paperbacks!

[@MichaelRomeoTalksBooks]

Excellent review. I've added a few of these to my list. I highly recommend The Other by Thomas Tryon. I read the first time as a teen and again as an adult and it really has stuck with me.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Michael. I’ve never read Tryon, but I’m conscious I need to

[@suzy8109]

Have you read "Gone to see the river man"? ... that is a seriously disturbing novella

[@MichaelRomeoTalksBooks]

@@suzy8109 I haven't read it. The title sounds ominous.

[@BookBuds]

I also love short books. Longer ones usually have so much unnecessary info that just bores me. Great video.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Mi-yc3oy]

The Loney! 👍🏻 Although I actually preferred Starve Acre 😉

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I’ve yet to read that one 😊

[@cleoldbagtraallsorts3380]

Starveacre is the best but the other 2 are good.

[@dianecohen8876]

not too long ago i watched the film "cruising" with al pacino. i then read the book by gerald walker. the book has a different focus than the film. there are parallels between the 2 and they both enhanced the character of steve burns. when he said , "i want you to show me the world", horrified and kind of nauseated me. it was a creepy and unsettling experience. and if the script had been more developed it would have been a very good film.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I've not seen the film or read the book but I definitely need to. It's fascinating the different directions movie adaptations take sometimes

[@stephenwalker2924]

Another great and very informative list, Olly. When I watch one of your vids (I've been bingeing your channel lately) I always find out about at least one book I've never heard of but should really know (being a long-time horror fan), so thanks. Also - I've been boring people at parties for years telling anyone who will listen that the short novel is Stephen King's best 'canvas', so to speak. His short stories are often hit and miss, and his longest novels are always just a little too long (IT would be perfect with one or two characters less and a couple of sub-sub-plots trimmed a bit). But I can't think of a novella of King's I really dislike. And DIFFERENT SEASONS forever remains in my top ten King books of all time. What do you think? Am I crazy? 😁 Keep up the fine work.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Stephen, glad you’re enjoying the channel. I think I’m of the opinion that King is capable of doing any length of book well, but also capable of messing any of them up 😂

[@alexaproffitt4640]

Different Seasons is a masterpiece, imo…love Skeleton Crea also. King’s genius truly shines in many of his short stories.

[@stephenwalker2924]

@@alexaproffitt4640 Totally agree.

[@francissookraj3202]

Good review on the book A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. I read it in 1995, and I was hooked from page 1 to the end because it was so suspenseful and I wanted to know what's going to happen. I could not put it down, and it's one of the best thrillers I ever read. There was a movie that was from the book, which is very faithful to the book and it was just as good. I tried to read more of Scott Smith books but he wrote one more . Do you if he's written anymore novels?

[@mlynch7622]

James Herbert's Haunted has some delightful spooky moments and comes in at about 230 pages. Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe is also a good short one as well, at about 200 pages. Valley of Lights by Stephen Gallagher, which predated the film Fallen, is a real gripper of a book, again only a couple hundred pages long.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I need to read Naomi's Room - definitely agree on the other two

[@stevecarter603]

I’ve been enjoying you videos and some of your recommendations. I watched John Dies in the End. I liked it. Question: Many of these books have been adapted to movies. What would you generally recommend first, the film or the book? Personally I feel that the reading experience is so much richer and able to be inside the characters than pictures shows can manage, plus I favor atmosphere over plot so I would say there is less disappointment in watching the movie first than the other way around. What do you think?

[@spencergregory8049]

The Running Man by Richard Bachman (SK) always disturbed me. More so as the dystopian future it portrayed is seemingly coming true!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It was definitely prescient in some ways!

[@VulcanDeathGrip44]

My pick for a short(er) Stephen King is Salem’s Lot. One of the best vampire books I’ve read.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That is a good one!

[@hopefletcher7420]

Salem's Lot was the first SK novel I read. The man has an incredible imagination. He's also an author whose books make very good audio books. I'm currently listening to his After Sunset book of short stories.

[@donaldfinney7218]

I really enjoyed Carrie and the Wasp Factory. I think your list has shorter fiction I may want to check out. The only disagreement personally is that I've never got on with Clive Barker. Thanks for this run through of some short horror highlights.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you found it useful!

[@younglivingmargo]

Do you read every weekend? Im in Sydney and would love to catch a session

[@CriminOllyBlog]

This weekend is actually my first time doing sprints, but I might well start doing them more regularly

[@WeAreVenom40]

This video was much appreciated! Can’t wait to start The Loney.

[@JessicaSzempruch]

There is a Novella by King called “in the Tall Grass” that is twisted, warped and deeply unsettling. But at the same time, completely fascinating. Most would have seen the movie Netflix made from it, but the book definitely deserves a mention.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That's one I've had on my kindle for ages but still haven't read

[@artsyaeollaaria5821]

I saw the movie and loved it

[@cleoldbagtraallsorts3380]

I will seek it out. I loved the film.

[@saadsEscape]

one of my fav books

[@jodie82]

“Things have gotten worse since we last spoke” by Eric Larocca is also very weird, short, and effective horror. I thought about it for weeks after.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I wasn’t a huge fan of that one. I really liked his book “You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood” though

[@casey4415]

Yes!! I wasn’t initially the biggest fan of “Things Have Gotten Worse” Right after I finished reading it, but it kept creeping back into my thoughts… fantastic

[@trishbirchard1270]

Loved that you included John Fowle’s “ The Collecter,” Read and reread this one so many times as a sixteen - year- old- 😎

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think that’s about the time I read it too

[@ralphmarrone3130]

A couple of short horror novels that I enjoyed are by Patrick McGrath. The Grotesque and Spider were great, short books. His short story collection Blood and Water is also great.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ah yes I've read Spider and agree it's great

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

There are four I haven’t read: Bleeding a Lot, Deadhead, Dear Laura, and The Loney. I might have to pick them up. The Collector is not traditionally classified as horror, but it is very chilling nonetheless.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I think the Collector is one of those books that critics like too much to call horror

[@Pootycat8359]

Some of my favorites: "The Haunted and the Haunters, or, the House and the Brain," by Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It's the CLASSIC haunted house story. "The King in Yellow," by Robert Chambers. It's a book about a book called "The King King in Yellow," the reading of which makes one insane. "The Great God Pan," by Arthur Machen. After publishing it, the author was INVITED to join "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn." Normally, one had to prove oneself worthy, to be admitted into that occult society. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," by H.P. Lovecraft. Need I say more? : "Mind Ye Boy, raise up not that which Ye cannot put down!" "Who Goes There?" by John Campbell. "The Thing" movies were based on this. I think the title of the novella is more creepy, especially when you know what it means.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I really need to read Who Goes There! The King in Yellow is on my list to get to soon :)

[@geslinam9703]

I have about a dozen anthologies of supernatural stories…so many good short stories and novellas….I can’t possibly remember all the great ones off the top of my head. Personally, I think some of the best were written in Victorian times/early 20th century. I prefer ghost stories over slasher/violent horror. EF Benson’s “Mrs Amsworth” is a good one, a vampire story (I have always wondered if this story inspired King’s “‘Salem’s Lot”) and the very short “Graveyard Shift” by Richard Matheson.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Some of those old anthologies are really excellent

[@geslinam9703]

@@CriminOllyBlog yes! The best are Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, and Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural. The latter no longer in print, I’ve seen it going for close to $200 USD…..though I doubt anyone would want to buy my tattered, well worn old copy (not that I’d ever give it up) Also Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories is a good one.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@geslinam9703 I'll have to look out for those!

[@harrysbookcafe]

Thanks, Olly. just brought Off Season. can't wait to read it.

[@christine7956]

I love The Collector, both the book and the movie. So glad you mentioned The Loney,don't enjoy many new authors but he is fantastic.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Christine - I definitely need to read more by Hurley

[@ellebannana]

I'm reading The Collector now and love the prose! It reminds me of Lolita in the 'good guy' self-presentation of the protagonist

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@ellebannana yes! Great comparison!

[@angusorvid8840]

What a terrific video! I'm a writer who writes horror, sci fi and fantasy and I prefer writing short novels and novellas, short stories and the occasional novelette. All of these forms have their purpose. I would rather write ten 150-page novellas than a thousand-page behemoth. I realized a long time ago that I produce my best work in this form. I think the same goes for Stephen King, although he can still pop out a thousand-page whopper that justifies its wordcount. My favorite horror writer these days is Ramsey Campbell. He tends to write short to medium length novels and excellent short stories.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Agree that Campbell is great. I can never decide what my favourite length of King book is. I think he's produced both great and mediocre work at every page count

[@angusorvid8840]

@@CriminOllyBlog Some of King's best work are his novellas. He excels at novellas like The Mist, The Body (Stand By Me) and other works including in Different Seasons including Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, etc. Cycle of the Werewolf, a novella with excellent graphic illustrations, was adapted as the film Silver Bullet in 1985. One of the best Kind adaptions. If you haven't read it and seen the movie I recommend doing both as soon as possible.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@angusorvid8840 I do think his shorter books have tended to make the best movies. I've read Cycle of the Werewolf but never seen the movie!

[@MoodyMegReads]

Just found your channel looking for spooky read recommendations.. I love the way you talk about and explain books!!! Subscribed. 🥰

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Aw, thanks, Meg! Really glad you like the channel!

[@MoodyMegReads]

@@CriminOllyBlog its refreshing to see someone talk about something other than the exact same 10-20 horror books every "Horror Recs Video!" recommend. 😆

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@MoodyMegReads sounds like you’d also enjoy my more recent video Ten of the best horror books you've never heard of! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZzXkK2Dqb6sbc0 😁

[@MoodyMegReads]

@@CriminOllyBlog heck yes!!!! I've been watching several of your videos today. Love it!!!!

[@mimi31268]

I'm very glad to have found your channel. best wishes from south Florida🏖

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you so much! Really glad you’re enjoying it. 😊

[@darkangelkate3950]

Thank you Olly for that list. I have read Carrie and The Collector which I also enjoyed. The others I shall be searching for.. Have you read Margaret Atwood s The Handmaid's Tale. It and Salem's Lot are two books that truly disturbed me. Take care 🧙

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Kate! I have read The Handmaid's Tale and loved it. The Testaments I didn't like so much

[@bdwon]

"The Collector" was made into a movie! Samantha Eggar played the lady who was captured and imprisoned. I saw it way back in the 1970's

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah, I do want to watch that!

[@DDB168]

I've only read The Collector and agree, it's very good. Dear Laura sounds interesting. Great list.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Dear Laura is excellent, well worth a read

[@cas6566]

A good short horror book I really enjoy is "Nothing But Blackened Teeth". I really liked this video! I now have some new books on my tbr list!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I liked that one a lot! Hope you enjoy the books you read from the list

[@l.-._.-._.-._.-._.-.l]

Summer, Fireworks and My Corpse is a short story from the pov of the dead body, pretty cool perspective. If you buy the paperback it has two other short stories by the Japanese author Otsuichi.

[@ericrawlins8444]

I always thought it interesting that (and interviewers never asked why) in the movie, Clive Barker changed Kirsty from Larry's mistress to his daughter; I guess to keep the lines of innocent/whom-we're-rooting-for vs. guilty/rooted-against clearer? I kind of preferred the way the events in the book just kind of pushed Kirsty to the side, and she's left standing outside the house at the end, out of the loop and completely baffled by what has transpired, a stranger looking in through the (very proper English) windows....

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah that is a notable difference. I think both approaches work but it is interesting he made the switch

[@doridoo5715]

I read Off Season in 1985 and it's stuck with me ever since.....that author is twisted!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it's not even his most disturbing book!

[@andrewmacgibbon4246]

The girl next door by Jack Ketchum is very unsettling and stuck with me for a long time.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah that’s a very disturbing book

[@deanwhite7970]

I read Off Season and enjoyed it immensely. Then I read the sequel Offspring. And I was blown away by it. I found it to be more satisfying. Both books are among my very favorite horror stories. There is another book making it a trilogy, which I think is called The Woman. What I've read about it, because I can't find it anywhere, is deeply disturbing. And I think the theme of the civilized becoming primitive is fully realized here, and I think Ketchum shows the dark side of that shift.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah Ketchum really is a genius at digging into the darkest parts of the human soul

[@BigDog366]

I'd recommend Sawbones by Stuart McBride to add to another such list. All of McBride's work is darkly awful and funny, but Sawbones is a short. It's genuinely horrific and amusing in equal measure. His novel Half Head is dystopian horror and utterly unique. Highly recommend both.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! I'll look into those

[@71simonforrester]

Just adding some of the books mentioned to my Amazon wish list, and discovered that Fever Dream has been filmed by Netflix. Do I watch first, or read first? Lol

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I always read first! Haven’t watched the adaptation yet though

[@71simonforrester]

@@CriminOllyBlog I agree, although it often leads to disappointment with the adaptation!

[@johnoleary5293]

I don’t mean to push Stephen King, but another favourite for me is ‘The Mist’, more of a novella, I suppose. And then there’s ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption’, which is more ‘horrible’ than ‘horror’ in its concept, but with a wonderfully satisfying ending. The film makers dropped ‘Rita Hayworth’ from the title because they thought people would think it was a biographical film about Rita Hayworth. 😂😂😂

[@sid1gen]

Ah, forgot to add: I haven't read any of the books you mentioned here, but I made a short list so I can buy four them and read five: Off Season, The Wasp Factory, Deadhead, The Collector (I have that exact edition you showed), and The Loney. The others did not interest me. Thanks for saying what the blurbs leave out on books, particularly that one about the dream/nightmare/kid in the hospital: one of my pet peeves is to reach the end of a book and realize that there is no "ending", no resolution; no answers (good or bad) to reward my time spent in the book. When this happens, I see it as time wasted and I tend to cross off the author. Therefore, whatever her name is, I'm not buying, borrowing, reading anything by that author. Thanks for saving me the aggravation. I would recommend Frankenstein (annotated) and Dracula (annotated) as short, classic horror in English. If you feel adventurous, I strongly recommend Horacio Quiroga (Uruguayan), a short-story writer who can still send chills down your spine (go for The Decapitated Chicken). His collection of stories is available in English. Word of caution: different culture, different "exotic" settings, original Spanish language, he straddles the 19th and 20th centuries. A sad, tragic life, and a way to express the conflict between humans and nature unique to him. Guy de Maupassant wrote The Horla, a longish horror short story, and he has several stories that, if not entirely horror, border it. If you like cosmic horror, I would not recommend H.P., because you've read him (he's excellent, btw). But I would recommend William Sloane's To Walk the Night, and The Edge of Running Water, two novellas collected in one volume by the New York Review Books (nyrb) publishing house under the title "The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror." It's not expensive, it has a great cover and,for me at least, the first novella (To Walk the Night) is worth the price of admission. Well, okay, that's it now. Thanks for the video.

[@mzcyberbat]

In respect to page umbers. Many publishers simply won't publish books over a certain page count by new authors. Scott sigler didn't publish nocturnal very early on in his career because of this.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ah that's interesting and doesn't surprise me

[@josephdromboski180]

I’m surprised Ligotti’s My Work is Not Yet Done isn’t on here.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I haven’t read it! So it can’t be. I am reading some Ligotti soon though!

[@IreneSmith]

I received "Carrie" as a birthday gift the year it came out. It was the first Stephen King book I read and I remember staying up all night reading it. I also saw the movie in theaters when it came out but I prefer the book because there's much more character development in the book.

[@matt1023]

“Tales from Essex County” by Matt DeCristo is great - its a collection of horror short stories 👻😱

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Not that you're biased....

[@joefitzgerald7660]

The collector 1965 is a chilling film with terence stamp thats worth checking out

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I do need to watch that

[@louiserowson5658]

the collector was a recent read, loved it.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I owe it a reread I think

[@Mephhistopheless]

Thank you so much!! ❤

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Enjoy!

[@Pootycat8359]

6:08 Apparently, Ketchum portrayed rural Maine, much as Lovecraft described rural Massachusetts, with its inbred Wately family.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Interesting - thank you!

[@ITCamefromthePage]

Some great stuff. Quite a few added to my list.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you enjoy them!

[@lynnlovesyou887]

Another great list, buddy! ♥️

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you!

[@lynnlovesyou887]

You're welcome, my friend!!

[@WordUnheard]

Thank you for the recommendations. Stephen King has always been my go-to author, and I kind of fell into that safe zone in which his books were all I would read. So it's nice to hear about authors and books I'd most likely leave this world never have discovered on my own. Have you ever read any books by Robert McCammon? Swan Song is his The Stand. Very similar in plot structure (the end of the world, good vs evil), but told in a way that doesn't make you think that McCammon is ripping King off in any way. He's a very visual author. I'd remember parts of his novels years later, and the memory of certain chapters were as vivid as stand-out scenes in actual movies. Boy's Life, Mystery Walk, Baal, and Mine are a few great McCammon novels, as well as his book of short stories, called Blue World.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I have read McCammon but I definitely need to read more. Loved A Boy's Life and Swan Song (in fact there's a review of that one on the channel). Thanks for watching!

[@pateris]

…Also "Usher's passing". I loved "The Wolf's Hour" at the time, but it must have aged badly…

[@praxismobius6037]

I love the content, but as an aside: love the Doxa as well.

[@isomeme]

A successful author's later books tend to be longer because editors become more afraid to edit them.

[@JefoneChiu]

Years ago I read Dean M Drinkel tres liborium prohibitorum series. Now cant remember each individual shorts stories but I still remember the cover arts shuddered me. Google them you shall know what I meant. I am wondering if you knew any other authors write similarly?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I see what you mean about the covers!

[@susansanchez4794]

A favorite short horror book of mine is The Woman In Black by Susan Hill, it really drew me in with the frightening events that occur and the twist ending, truly a great read

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Agree, it’s an excellent book!

[@josebro352]

Is that the same book that the Daniel Radcliffe movie is based on?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@josebro352 it is!

[@josebro352]

@@CriminOllyBlog Good movie. I'll definitely read that book. Great work on this video!!

[@susansanchez4794]

@@josebro352 Hi Jose,yes it is,of course the movie changed the story a bit, I love the movie,it was scary but the book is more frightening and it starts on Christmas Eve, won't give away more than that...

[@brandenmccarney5065]

Stephen King's son, Joe Hill, tweeted about a book called "The Troop" by Nick Cutter. What an amazing horror story. Super creepy and gross. Lots of tension. Couldn't put it down and kept thinking about it long afterwards. "The Deep" is also another good one by Nick Cutter.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah The Troop was a fun one. I have The Deep too but haven't got to it yet

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

I can't read The Troop because of the animal stuff 😿 but I have The Deep and excited to read it this summer. Love Ocean horror in general.

[@brandenmccarney5065]

@@the_eerie_faerie_tales there were 2 scenes of animal cruelty that were super shocking. I skipped them the second time I read the book. So gross and sad

[@RoGameReview]

The rotating watch in the back tho

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Not in the newer videos sadly, although it is still in the room

[@patrickkilpatrick1536]

I just read The Collector - so good! I remember in school it was referred to as on of the first psychological horror/thrillers.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ah fantastic! Glad you enjoyed it.