12 Great Horror Novels I Want to Reread

[@amorfatiloveyourfate]

I listened to The Exorcist for the first time this year. I think the narration was excellent. I was talking to a friend who is a horror fan this evening, and I mentioned that I just finished the book, and she said she typically stays away from possession/demonic stories. I told her it was a lot more vague regarding actual possession versus mental illness than I assume the movie was (I've never seen the movie). I also thought it was interesting how late into the story the exorcist actually shows up. Overall I really enjoyed it. I also thought the characters were well fleshed out and believable.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

Great discussion, Greg! I remember my best friend buying Rosemary’s Baby the day I bought Stephen King’s first published novel, Carrie, back in 1974. It will be interesting to see how your impressions of these books change over time….

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

Thanks Pat

[@bookstalgic]

Great discussion and chat about each book, Greg. The only one I’ve read from this list is Interview With the Vampire, which I read in my teens and I loved. I would like to do a reread of that one someday. It is really interesting how our viewpoints can change so much as we get older. There are so many on your list that I would like to read, especially Rosemary’s Baby, IT and Swan Song. Enjoyed the video 😊.

[@andrewcrow1031]

Great list, Greg! I’ve read probably about half of them and the other half are going in my TBR notebook. The Relic got me hooked on the whole Pendergast series.

[@constancecampbell4610]

I loved reading Interview With the Vampire. The descriptive prose was so lush and I could feel the velvety pillows, etc. First time a book gave me that. I also loved The Vampire Lestat, but I agree with you completely about That Damned Queen. Such a waste of interesting characters, not to mention my time and money.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

Thanks Constance.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Not a fan of horror but that is what is great about books, something for everyone.

[@unstopitable]

I look forward to seeing how/if your opinions about some of these have changed, now that you've read so much more. I was surprised to see the McCammon novel. When I was a teenager, I got a lot of fun out of reading him. Never heard of Saurian or its author. A lot of the books on this list are inextricably knotted with my pre-teen and teen years. Never read Ruins; but I really enjoyed Scott Smith's first novel. The movie had some slight changes; but I enjoyed it, right up till the end. Cheers.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

@@unstopitable I read a bunch of McCammon in the 80s and 90s. He took a long writing break after Gone South and I never picked him up again after he returned to publishing.

[@unstopitable]

@@anotherbibliophilereads Oh, wow, you've read Gone South. Cool. I still have memories of that novel. He was a pretty good storyteller. Cheers!

[@GentleReader01]

About Barker: Weaveworld, Imajica, The Great and Secret Show, and Everville are all really good. The first two, I think, are great. I reread Damnation Game last year and really enjoyed it, but it has pacing problems his next couple of novels don’t. Still a first-rate read overall, though. I reread Song of Kali some years ago and was dismayed at how racist it becomes. A similar vein of venom mars the mostly brilliant Hyperion Cantos and eats Ilium. Then there are stories where it doesn’t show up at all. Bleah. I think Rice peaked with the first hundred pages of Lestat. Queen of the Damned certainly didn’t motivate me to want to read any further. But I want to reread Interview and Lestat sometime. I’d like to reread both of Smith’s books soon. His narrative style and plots are so good. Dead Sea! Yes! Just amazing. It’s like a Clive Cussler novel being possessed by Algernon Blackwood. I like a bunch of his others, too.

[@lamarschlabach3933]

Kali's swansong inside a week.

[@geslinam9703]

I have read books I love over and over, seeming to get something new each time. Agree with your opinion on Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. I waited expectantly for Queen of the Damned, even spent the big bucks on the hardback, and didn’t even finish it. I had one of the first copies of The Exorcist, it had been purchased by one of my parents when it came out. I don’t usually do this, but I got rid of it. I did not want it in my house. Re-read ‘Salems Lot last year, just as good as I remembered! Will have to check out a few others on your list. IT I did not like at all, wouldn’t read that one again if you paid me.

[@salty-walt]

A lot of the books you chose seem to be by movie adaptation / cultural saturation, and I think that's a great idea! Good luck Greg, I hope to hear the reviews of all of these.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I was only really thinking about movie adaptations of Rosemary’s Baby and the exorcist, but I guess there were others too.

[@salty-walt]

@@anotherbibliophilereads and those that weren't movies, many of them also had cultural saturation.

[@kemouse]

I've read Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Damnation Game, Swan Song, Song of Kali, It (didn't really like) and The Relic from this list. I couldn't get into Anne Rice but my wife has some. I've read a lot of Dan Simmons' early horror (The Terror and Drood too) as well as Clive Barker's and a lot of other stuff. Have to check out the others on this list. I've seen the movie of The Ruins but I did read A Simple Plan which was great.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

Yeah, Anne Rice does seem polarizing for some reason.

[@Cobaltdragon]

Rosemary’s baby was a good read 👍. The Exorcist, I’ve seen the movie but never read the book. Pea soup was never the same 🤣 interview with a vampire, I reread a couple of years ago 👍 lol, at least her vampires don’t twinkle ✨ 🤣🤣🤣 Interesting until recently the only novel of Dan Simmons I knew until recently is The Terror, great read 👍 Pennywise definitely memorable. I have been looking for a copy of Swan Song for awhile, so far no luck. Several I haven’t read, will have to check them out 👍

[@aroomforepsilon8567]

Regarding the scene in It, I believe it was out of place. One of the main themes of the book was growing up, and the scene was related to one aspect of changing from a child to an adult; although, again, I felt it wasn’t organic to the story.

[@stevegilhool8526]

I agree. I understand the arguments people make in favor of the scene, but I'm convinced it would be a better book without that scene.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

@@stevegilhool8526 I really need to reread the book before passing judgment.

[@badrad9226]

I would love to read IT by Stephen King in the new year . I do have the physical copy and it would be a great accomplishment to read a book like that due to all the pages.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

Let’s do an It buddy read. What about March?

[@badrad9226]

@@anotherbibliophilereads That’s a big yes from me! 🤡 March it is . 📖

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Excellent List Greg! 🤣🤣Yes, my wife did throw Ritual away I sincerely hope it was not the edition you mentioned. 🤣I have also not read Saurian, The Descent and Dead Sea. From your list, I found Song of Kali and The Ruins underwhelming, but I did enjoy the rest. I found the characters in The Ruins annoyed the hell out of me and this took me out of the story.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I can’t remember any of the characters from the Ruins.

[@arekkrolak6320]

Raegan is not a young girl, he is a former president of the USA :)

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

🤪