10 of the most 1970s horror novels of the 1970s!

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[@arlenearmstrong8270]

Interesting as always, I think "The Stepford Wives" would have fitted in well with your themes.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I completely dropped the ball there! I did have it on my original list and then for some reason thought it was published in the 60s and crossed it off

[@Sabazinus]

One of the things I especially enjoy about Salem's Lot is the description of small town life in New England from a certain period of time. I grew up in a similar small town in Massachusetts, and many of his characters are echoes of the ones I grew up with.

[@carolinec3951]

The U.S. involvement in Vietnam was still going on in the 1970s. However, many very young men returned scarred by what they had seen and how they were treated when they came home. Your discussion made me wonder what impact that circumstance may have had on the horror genre.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I definitely think that had an impact on the horror movies of the 70s and 80s

[@dawn428]

I was born in 63. Horror fanatic both books & movies. I've read all of these 🙂 Pan book of horror stories are a favourite.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh yeah, the Pan horror collections were wonderful!

[@debbiestuckey2239]

I was born in 1970 I read the Amityville Horror when I was a teenager, I think age has a lot to do with what scares a person. That book freaked me out, I had to stop reading it once it was dark out. 😂 that is the only horror book I’ve ever read that actually scared me. Thank you for putting so much effort into your videos.

[@johnward5404]

Thanks for sharing. Cool story.

[@jameshendrix8217]

born in 70' as well, it also scared the hell out of me as a teenager.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah agree on age (and state of mind generally). So glad you enjoy the videos!

[@davidbrian6498]

Likewise, it really unsettled me when I was younger. It was a book that me and my mates loved. I gave it another go about five years ago, and was left really deflated.

[@lastofthe4horsemen279]

As a child something about the Amityville horror terrified me beyond words .The film l could barely watch.now its all laughable exept the actual horror of the crime.lt turns out humans are the real monsters after all.l was born in 69.

[@stephennootens916]

I often thought Salem's lot is also about sort of the destruction of the small town by rich powerful outside forces.

[@recynd77]

Nailed it. I was born in ‘68; my parents wouldn’t let us watch much TV or R-rated movies. Strangely, they didn’t limit what I could read. By the time I was eight or nine years old, my mother had signed a form at the local library (my favorite place), allowing me to check out any book I wanted, and I took full advantage. It’s hard to find a titillating or scary book published from the 60s-90s that I haven’t read…and waaay too young! 😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! That's brilliant. TBH my parents were very similar, books were always fair game

[@mariamason1919]

I just finished listening to the audiobook Let's Play at the Adams'. I have not cried over a book in a very long time. I did not perceive this to be a book so much about demonic or insane children as I did the loss of beauty and goodness in the world. The ending crushed me. I guess it had been out of print for a long time and was VERY expensive for awhile. I did find a used copy so I can (someday, after I get over it) read it rather than listen to it. It was still very pricey and I spent more than I normally would for a used copy of any book. I just really wanted to read it vs listening to the audio. It left me in the state you were in after reading 1974 by David Peace (which I wanted to thank you for the content warning.) This will sound terrible to many people but, I cannot read anything to do with animal abuse. I have always felt deeply about animals and the cruelty put upon them. I also relate to animals more than I do most people. But having said that, Let's Play at the Adams' was soul crushing for me. I had to listen to music I like and not read anything for a day or so. It wasn't the children's behavior that shocked me (as I did agree with the author) adults underestimate kids and how cruel they can be, but the feeling of the total loss of goodness and beauty described and written so intensely at the end of the book that wrecked me. Sad to say I want so badly to believe people will do what is right and compassionate but find myself constantly disappointed by human behavior. I love your channel and would love to join discord. I am disabled and finances are near impossible right now. I hope I will be able to join in the future. Great channel Olly and I do so enjoy every episode. Thanks for being you. You seem to have a big heart. My only problem is your voice is very soothing and I fall asleep at times listening to your reviews! Stay well everyone and perhaps the reason we read disturbing books is to try and understand why people CAN and ARE truly evil when the world is full of such beauty and so many chances to become better and more knowledgeable with every day we live. Sorry I rambled on. Again, thank you for your hard work and sharing your reading experiences with all of us. Stay well everyone.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Maria - I do completely agree about that sense of bleakness and hopelessness in Adams - it's an enormously powerful book. And thank you for your kind words about the channel! Sorry I sent to to sleep sometimes though :D

[@henrytjernlund]

"Soul crushing" is a very good phrase to describe Let's Go Play... As my own therapy I wrote several of my own alternative endings. I do need to reread it someday as I think I missed some important elements. Thanks for your comment.

[@AnaMoShoshin]

I think Jaws is very 70s as well, bc it has so much to do with a small town, the townspeople, and tourism's effect on quiet family life. The encroachment of modern ideals on small town life but the growing reliance on tourism to live. Symbolizing less stability to making a living?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

True! The importance of profit in the decision making process feels very 70s

[@karopi]

I love your channel. As a person that is over 40 years old is a pleasure to see this kind of channels and I have been following it for a long time. But I want to say that this is one of the most interesting videos I have seen. The background of the 70's and recommendations. Amazing!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you so much! Really glad you’re enjoying the channel

[@backrowbrighton]

Great stuff Olly. I was a young adult in the 1970s and am pleased to report that during that period I read all of the books you refer to. At the time books were often advertised on London's Capital Radio and The Amityville Horror arrived with quite a bit of hype. Another 'true' story that received similar attention at the time was 'The Ghost of Flight 401' by John G Fuller.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think I remember seeing that Fuller book in charity shops back in the day. Might need to track down a copy

[@chrisgomes5048]

Very nice list. I grew up in the 1970s so I wasn't a reader yet, but I remember the movies well. One author, who I think is representative of the 1970s, is Ira Levin. I realize that Rosemary's Baby is an iconic 1960s novel, but he wrote The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil in the 1970s. Still this is a great list and you did a great job of representing the 1970s. Thank you for your content.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah Stepford Wives should definitely have been in this list

[@benskelly8892]

I would recommend Thomas Tryon’s The Other over Harvest Home, both book and movie. Another big entry in the “evil child” genre.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Cheers

[@fiberartsyreads]

Great list! You could definitely feel the change in the 70s I think. Look back on the time period things got darker for sure.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah they really did

[@charlottelay8220]

I want the best novels too! Thank you for this

[@FullyBookedMelissa]

Love thinking about how a certain era's events and culture seep into stories and entertainment. I hope you plan on continuing this series through the decades!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'll certainly do the 80s

[@kevinsbookcase59]

I remember going to see the movie "Jaws" and then saw the novel in the store. My parents bought it for me. I remember sitting outside on the chaise lounge and reading it...nonstop...till I finished it. I guess that's when my reading books went down hill from there!!! 😂 I read horror till Star Trek movie came out in '79...then I read all the books that came out. Throwing in a Stephen King when he had a new one. I'm with you though...I was born in '59...but the 80s was the decade for me. TV, movies, books were the bomb. I spent the next 2 decades rereading stuff going back to the 50s...and now I'm into Extreme Horror more than I was. I'm doomed!!! 😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Doomed, but what a way to go!

[@kevinsbookcase59]

@@CriminOllyBlog 😂

[@Jesterdoggie]

Loved this video as the 70s are my decade so to speak and your inclusion of Harvest Home brought a smile. I truly thought it was a forgotten book. That and Tryon's The Other. I loved Harvest Home back then and to see the film MidSommer which is a direct rip off of it. Anyway thanks for the peak back to my era of horror, although I have to say I've never considered Jaws a horror book or film.

[@michellerever3564]

There was a 2 part TV movie of it with Bette Davis.

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

Love this video idea. A series in the making.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Will definitely do the 80s

[@henrytjernlund]

Very insightful and analysis of books from decades past. I recently read Let's Go Play... it very much disturbed me as having grown up at that time I can see it being plausible. When kids in a rural setting take control how easily their juvenile games can take them down a slippery slope into horror. I wrote my own personal alternative endings to take the sting out of how the book left me. Thank you for this. I think some modern fans can't understand how this story unfolds.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it does feel like kids in the 70s had a lot more freedom, sometimes that was a good thing but not always!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Magnificent video! It was funny to see this pop up because I was just preparing a 70s Sword & Sorcery video. What a cool decade for awesome books. You made excellent choices. Really look forward to seeing the 80s one.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Cheers Michael!

[@paulcampbell6003]

I would also nominate "The Face That Must Die" (1979) by Ramsey Campbell. It's obvious that this book was highly influential on writers in the '80s who wrote about serial killers. Although none of them did it with the hallucinatory intensity of Campbell!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That is one I really want to read!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

“Even more disturbing than ‘Lord of the Flies’.”? That’s saying something.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It really is!

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Interesting selection. I might have chosen the Rats as more representative of James Herbert than The Spear. Ghost Story by Peter Straub was also a landmark horror novel of the seventies.

[@susanjohnson5824]

Good list I was a young adult in the 70's and your list is a good cross section of the ideas and changes in society that happened.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Omg I remember reading the summary of ‘The Stand’ and it was just so eerie in its clairvoyance. Also, Stephen King knew (alongside so many scientists) that there’d be a major airborne disease in the future.

[@happyhauntslibrary]

This video was right up my alley with using history to understand and analyze the horror genre 😍 Thanks, Olly! I gotta get to the Omen asap

[@marktoth3965]

"Flowers in the Attic" by VC Andrews and "Coma" by Robin Cook (wherein Genevieve Bujold was a sensation in the very influential TV two-parter) both qualify along with some of these for being both highly 70s and not nearly a "best of" (Amityville is much like this) in their coarse and necessary pleasure.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Flowers in the Attic is a great shout - I definitely should have included that

[@our99centgarden]

When I was 13 I read this novel called The Mephisto Waltz . It was probably written in the 60's ? But I didn't discover it till the 70's. There was also a film made from it starring Alan Alda. The story was about a satanic cult as i remember. Really good book .

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ah yes I’ve heard of that movie. I’ll have to check the book out. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@swankscares]

Fabulous presentation! Loved the books you picked. I've read all but 3. I really look forward to your videos. TTFN, Swank. 🦈

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying them

[@Shaiyene]

My husband is your age, and i was born a decade later in the 80s, and I thought your synopsis was spot on. Thank you for your videos! You’ve enhanced my own reading universe and my own love of literature, particularly horror and transgressional fiction

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That’s wonderful! So glad you’re enjoying the channel

[@lawrenceflater3300]

The Auctioneer by Joan Samson is a 70s (slow) horror must-read!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

A few people have recommended that one!

[@morebirdsandroses]

I read almost all of these and was a pig in clover with all the rethought of tropes and style. Stephen King one of my favorites of all time still! Wish I had known about Frank Herbert sooner: I don't think it was until sometime in the 80's and I was crushed I hadn't heard of him sooner. Harvest Home is still one of my great shockers, and Bette Davis was all too perfect in what I think was a TV movie. Great contextualizing by you too!

[@bucephalas67]

James Herbert. I recommend starting with The Fog or The Dark . But all good and very English horror.

[@morebirdsandroses]

@@bucephalas67 thanks! Some of the best is his almost slyly horrible horrors! I'll get on it and probably reread too.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I do need to see that Harvest Home movie

[@cherylstevens9665]

Great selections. I remember most of these. Thanks

[@javelin60]

I really enjoyed this upload and I was quite pleased to see that with the exception of Amity Ville, I read them all, but the one that truly freaked me out was Salem's Lot. I still remember the feeling of unease even today.

[@sethball2475]

I was born in 1968, and was reading Horror novels by 1978, although nothing that sophisticated. The earliest Horror books I remember reading, around 1978-1979, were: Killer Crabs, by Guy N. Smith The Rats, by James Herbert Gator, by George Ford All thin novels, with animals on the attack. Beyond this, I remember seeing the film Damien: Omen II when it came out in theatres (I guess kids could get in, in Toronto, because I saw it). I had been a little young when the original Omen film came out, but the sequel was not too bad, and I remember reading The Omen by David Seltzer around 1979 - I vividly recall reading it in the back of a family camper van on a long drive to a camping trip. The Stand was my first Stephen King novel, but I don't think I tackled it until 1980 or 1981. I had my own paperback copy, but whiled away hours with it at the local library. I loved it, but have not the urge to read any expanded editions. I feel I got a complete tale, at the mere 1000 pages or whatever. I've read all the books you mentioned, except for Amityville Horror (saw the film, didn't really like it much), and the one about the kids and the babysitter (probably not my thing, these days). But I got to them much later than the 1970s. Many are on "Best of" Horror reading guides I was loyal to, and I was happy to read them. Harvest Home emerged as a particular favourite of mine, and I'm glad you listed it.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Love both Killer Crabs and The Rats!

[@justinecooper9575]

Not horror but very much a novel of the seventies is "The Boys from Brazil" (1976) by Ira Levin.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Great suggestion, I need to reread that!

[@geraldmartin7703]

Thomas Tryon (Harvest Home) also had a successful career as a Hollywood actor. I remember him best for "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (1958), which is better than it sounds. Ira Levin's The Boys from Brazil (1976), about the multiple clonings of Adolph Hitler, is worth a mention. I'm embarrassed to admit I can't remember if I read the book or not; but I saw the movie and thought it was hilarious. My Jewish friend, however, wasn't amused and said it was upsetting.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I did read Boys from Brazil years ago and it definitely captures that 70s vibe

[@aleidadiaz2261]

I’d add Boys From Brazil, but I don’t remember if it was published in the 60s or 70s. But definitely representative of the continued discussion of WW2.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It is the 70s I think - Levin is definitely an interesting author of the period

[@interestedobserver1853]

"The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane", published in 1974 would have been one I would have included. As well as "The House of the Brandersons." Once you've read that one, it stays with you.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh, not heard of the Brandersons - I'll check that out. I haven't read The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane either, but I did like the movie

[@interestedobserver1853]

@@CriminOllyBlog (TLGWLDtL)-The book was much better than the film, though to be fair, it wasn't bad. Like you content.

[@interestedobserver1853]

@@CriminOllyBlog PS. Raymond Rudorff is the author, of "The House of the Brandersons" pub in 1973

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@interestedobserver1853 Thank you!

[@LettersfromLou]

This was such an interesting video Olly. I think you’re right , there was so much change happening in the 70s in so many ways and this was reflected in horror by exploring those fears of change through art. I think also how we approached mental health was changing and the concept of whether nature or nurture played a role in child development- can we be born evil??? I’d love to see your top ten favourite horror films! 😊

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh great shout on mental health. I might do my top 10 movies!

[@DeviousKnitter70]

I graduated from high school in 1970, and read every Horror novel I could get my hands on. The two stand outs were Salem's Lot, and The Stand, for what I consider the 2 best novels of the 1970's.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Both great!

[@paulfillingham2958]

Very interesting. I was born in 1951 and thus at Uni in the early 70’s. I’m not sure if the themes that you pointed out are the things I took from that decade. Certainly the world started changing after the war. The 50’s were a period of profound austerity as a baby even I had a Ration Book. The greater changes began in my early teenage years in the 60’s and evolved in the 70’s. I’m not sure the books you selected are those that were prevalent influences to people of my age at that time. I didn’t start reading Stephen King until the 80’s but I was reading James Herbert at the time. King wasn’t really relevant as England and the USA were profoundly different in the 70’s even more so than today. Even so I was listening to more American music and reading American novels just not American horror novels. Globalisation was only just starting as was technology we take for granted today. Todays children would not believe what it was like then. Only 2 tv channels both black and white, no personal tech (i.e. mobile phones,lap tops , tablets etc.). Saying that I would go back there in a shot (even back to the 60’s) I preferred the world more then than I do now.

[@anotherbooktubechannel]

I gave The Amityville Horror a shot last year and I ended up DNF'ing it because I absolutely hated it. I felt like Anson had absolutely zero tact in his writing and the scares were the cheapest imaginable. Also kinda fun fact: I spent a lovely evening in the actual Amityville Horror house back in college. My roommate at the time was friends with the then-owners, and they had us over on Halloween for dinner and a house tour. Wonderful night.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh wow - that's pretty cool!

[@recynd77]

I read it as a tween (I was born in ‘68) and loved it. I doubt I would as an adult.

[@johnnythepillpopper1974]

This is my favorite era of horror. Great video

[@jameshendrix8217]

the Amityville Horror freaked me out when I read it as a teenager, I plan on doing a reread this year. I wonder if it'll hold now that I'm much older.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'm fairly sure it won't

[@MriInterocitor]

The Amityville Horror scared the bejeezus out of me when I was 10 or so, then made me really angry when I learned it’s a bunch of lies. Later I reread enough of it to find out badly it’s written, and stopped. Can’t deny it’s been memorable, but then flesh-eating or leprosy would have been, too. I’d add to your list something in a techno horror line, like The Stepford Wives, Westworld, etc. but great roundup.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Someone else suggested The Stepford Wives - it was on my original list and then for some reason I thought it was written in the 60s and crossed it off!

[@Toracube]

The 70s gave us the disaster genre… floods tidal waves, airplane s crashing, earthquakes. The films were blockbusters and I supposed the books sold well. Each movie had an amazing soundtrack. Towering inferno being a fav. I remember seeing the book everywhere when the movie came out.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think Towering Inferno was based on two different books!

[@eriebeverly]

Fun genre tour. For me when I think of the 70s it's the Bermuda Triangle, King Tut/mummies, UFOs, and swarms of bugs, worms or spiders.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh damn, how did I miss the Bermuda Triangle!

[@schoolofholly5317]

This is such an interesting video! Thanks for making it!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ingwerschwensen8115]

You're quite right that the Second World War was still casting a dark shadow over the silly seventies, at least in Germany; their explosion of cheap hilarious humor being in itself a testament to that. Among other things I remember watching BBC's "The World at War" series on German television (1975 onwards) which did impress itself very much on me as a twelve year old boy sitting transfixed in front of the tv screen. So, in my biographical memory this shadow of WW2 - not of the Holocaust, of course, on the contrary - was only lifted during the 1980s, just as you said, also the decade you were, more or less, starting to consciously absorb the signs of the times as a teenager (obviously I was born ten years earlier than you). Just a small piece in your introduction, albeit an important one. So, good catch! Also, your whole socio-cultural overview of the 70s was done very well concerning the small space you had to present only a fragmentary selection of trends and developments. Finished the vid now - moving on to your follow-up. Great, thanks.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Fascinating to hear about the German experience as well

[@justinecooper9575]

"The Howling" (1977) by Gary Brandner. Another novel about city people fleeing to the countryside and encountering a very different rural or small town environment than what they expected. Along with that novel is "The Wolfen" (1978) by Whitley Strieber, both of which changed the depiction of the werewolf from that presented in the early Universal films.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Great suggestions! I read The Howling quite recently

[@thepaperbackfanatic1]

Great video Olly. Difficult to argue against the choices. I wonder if The Rats might have been a better choice than The Spear. The Rats, or even The Fog are very angry books, and featured working class heroes, so were part of the zeitgeist which fed into punk. Although the whole rise of the Far Right in The Spear was happening here with the NF, so maybe you are right?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I nearly included The Rats. - do agree that it feels like a very punk book

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I’m here for the niche KZbin content. It’s the specificity for me 🔥 P.S. I really liked the context building before you started discussing the books.

[@kerilowman9257]

Love this topic!

[@henrytjernlund]

This is going to be a strange comment but all the talk of the 70s reminded me of this. We lived in the country and about every month or so went into the nearest city to a very well stocked store which had several isles of magazines. I think there was a boom in the magazine industry then. One genre of magazines were the true crime detective ones. There must have been at least dozen different publications. The competition must have been fierce because the covers were scandalous. Pictures of women in peril often with extreme bondage and usually being menaced by a guy with a gun or knife. And they were displayed openly! I walked past and saw all of them on my way to where MAD magazine and other humor periodicals were. I now wonder if that was an influence in the books like like Let's Go Play... Some of the cover art for Let's Go Play... shows a young woman, partly undressed, tied to a chair and gagged. Only just made that connection now in reading the comments here. Weird.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah some of those True Crime magazines were pretty extreme and salacious!

[@heidifogelberg3544]

I think it's interesting that 4 of these books were probably MUCH better known - at least initially, and at least over here - as films. Amityville, Exorcist, Jaws, and Omen. Interview too, but that came later, and the book was more of an independent sensation, I think. And yeah, I know 'Salem's Lot got filmed, but ... least said there. One title I might include, which was also a fairly big film, was The Sentinel, by Jeffrey Konvitz. Published in 1974. NOT a great book. But evocative, and the film does a decent job with it.

[@troytradup]

Hey, Olly. I agree, those are pretty 1970s titles. But I think you're going too far back for some of the influences. Two of the major touchstones filtering through 1970s fiction were the Vietnam War and Watergate, both feeding directly into distrust of the government and the traditional values of Christian America. This is especially true of King and comes straight to the forefront with The Stand and, in 1980, Firestarter. The counter-culture movement also played into all the demonic children books -- parents from the 50s trying to figure out what happened to their sweet little kids who were now out dropping acid, burning their draft cards (and bras), and listening to that devil rock 'n' roll. Paranoia is a big key to the 1970s. Completely justified in retrospect. The one book I'd add for sure would be The Stepford Wives, because it plays so deliciously with the response of certain factions to the Women's Movement.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I genuinely don’t know how I missed Vietnam and Watergate! Although I guess they are maybe things that had less of an impact in the UK. Stepford Wives was actually on my original list, but I checked and it came out in the 60s (just)

[@troytradup]

@@CriminOllyBlog Weird, Wikipedia shows 1972 for Stepford Wives. How could anything on the internet possibly be wrong?! 😵‍💫

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@troytradup maybe I’m wrong!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@troytradup you’re right! Dammit I would have included it 😂

[@troytradup]

@@CriminOllyBlog Maybe you were thinking of Rosemary's Baby? Your 10 books are very 70s regardless. Rock on!

[@sophiaisabelle0227]

We appreciate your effort and hard work, Olly. God bless you.

[@melanieripke7141]

The Amityville Horror was the first horror book I ever read. I was in 5th grade. It never scared me, and I distinctly remember thinking that the story was totally made up and not real. The author couldn't fool a 5th grader!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LOL!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

15:08 Before anyone says anything, vampires are the most queer elements in literature and majorly misunderstood. Also, Matt Baume has done a great video essay on the legacy of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ and Anne Rice (RIP Queer Ally).

[@Zoebakerolive]

I think the only one would have added would have been Ira Levin’s Stepford wives SUCH a 70’s novel in terms of feminism breaking through the previously male dominated eras of post-war etc

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I did have that ine on my list at first, and then somehow got it in my head it was a 60s book

[@inanimatecarbongod]

I've read that Trevor Ravenscroft book you mentioned and, well, calling it "non-fiction" is a stretch. About 25 years ago, back in the days when I had a website of my very own, I had an essay on there about the book and my reading thereof, and I actually got an email as a result from someone who claimed to have known Ravenscroft in the 70s... he reckoned my characterisation of the latter as coming across like a paranoid schizophrenic was actually pretty close to the truth, apparently Ravenscroft was convinced he was being pursued by the Shah of Iran at the time. For what it may be worth.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I do actually have a copy of it somewhere, should probably give it a go at some point. That kind of weird pseudo science nonsense was a big deal back then.

[@readandre-read]

I was hitting middle school when a lot of these books came out. It was a golden age of freaky reading. Your examination of how they reflect the societal anxieties of the 70s is very interesting!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks!

[@carlrenzi]

What about "Rosemary's Baby"?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Late 60s! It would definitely fit otherwise though

[@user-rr5lq9vz6g]

I love the movies Amityville Horror my favorite horror story about haunted house i need to read the Amityville Horror book

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you enjoy it

[@oliverbehegan]

If you've a thing about exclamation marks, give Brian Lumley a wide berth!!!

[@stews9]

First, I demur. Amityville Horror by Anson isn't a great book by any means but it's not a bad book. Just good fun schlock or pulp horror. The Exorcist by Blatty is as much about anti-homosexual prejudice in the church and guilt about it in the priest who ends up sacrificing himself as it is about possession, and therein lies the concordances. Strong dual themes that comment on each other. Jaws by Benchley used a great white shark as a stand-in for the traditional supernatural monster, thus rooting it in nature and making it terrifying because it was possible. Harvest Home by Tryon brought tradition into the present, to terrifying effect. A favorite of mine. Interview with the Vampire by Rice is a book of its time and evoked aspects of vampire and horror as filtered through romance and sexuality, which resonated strongly. The Omen by Seltzer is a better book than movie. The Stand by King is Roman Catholic, yes, good versus evil, the end times, blah blah, as is the Dark Tower series. Jake Chambers, JC ... uh-huh.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That's interesting about The Exorcist - I need to reread it with that lens

[@DDB168]

Gosh, I haven't read any of these 🙃

[@jackthereader]

You saucy boy, you used a laser to read my thoughts and find out what exact video I wanted, didn’t you?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I don't think I did, but who knows!

[@ITCamefromthePage]

RATS will be somewhere on here...I'm calling it NOW.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

You called it WRONG

[@ITCamefromthePage]

@@CriminOllyBlog This is why I typed it out and posted it to keep myself accountable if I was wrong LOL. You at least referenced The Rats lol...how can you get sued for using elements from a non-fiction book lol? Very strange. Jaws is a book that lead to the mass murder of sharks so it LED to a deeper exploration of the impacts of fiction (although the burden can be more placed on the film than the book even though neither piece of work tells you to murder dem sharks). Fuck yeah...novelization has made it in. Now The Stand is an interesting one because that 1970s version of The Stand is almost completely lost to time. You can track down the original version but not easily so it's almost lost its identity as a 70s novel because of this. Great video.

[@StElna]

Definitely King and Herbert. I'll add a couple myself. The Ninth Configuration, a psychological thriller, by William Peter Blatty is a fantastic book. Anyone who liked Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane needs to check this one out. Demon Seed by Dean Koontz is a good book about an aware psychotic computer program, who terrorizes a woman trapped in her smart house. It was re-written in the 90s, but it's not as good Apart from all of Stephen King's 70s books I haven't read anywhere near as many 70s horror books as 80s horror books.

[@stephennootens916]

I must have read the re written version of Demon Seed because I remember being unimpressed by it.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Cheers! Demon Seed is one I always kind of fancied

[@StElna]

@@CriminOllyBlog You're welcome. It's a short book and worth a read. There are some really good scenes.

[@paulaj7860]

Fascinating! I was born in 1970 and I remember the latter part of the decade well. Not my favorite.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah, there have been better decades!

[@krisprepolec5616]

I was also born in 1973. I recently listened to the audiobook of Rosemary’s Baby, narrated by Mia Farrow. The book came out in 1972, and the movie a year later. I think that Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen, and The Exorcist are very representative of the decade to me. Strange that they are all about the devil/demons. Must be the reaction to increasing secularism.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yep agreed

[@michellerever3564]

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King goes pretty deep on discussing religion and Rosemary's Baby.

[@R_A_M_9_1]

How did you choose what early Stephen King book ended up on your list?

[@wendyvilla2904]

🖤💚

[@johannus777]

children of the corn, horrific children. Not sure if there was a book.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

There was! It's a Stephen King short story

[@pearcegreatesteverleftback03]

Great video😎👍🏻 One question, totally irrelevant to this video content and probably an obvious answer but… How easy is it to set up your own merchandise shop here?😎

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It's not too hard - KZbin allows you to integrate with some of the big merch sites (like Spring). I think there is a subscriber threshold you need to pass to do it though

[@pearcegreatesteverleftback03]

@@CriminOllyBlog Yeah. Just found out, need 1000 subs!! Oh well. Thanks for the info 😎👍🏻

[@heidifogelberg3544]

Oh - you included it here! But the Burial Ground ... OK, pause for research. Not exactly a burial ground, but a story about a "site" where the sick, dying, and incompetent were abandoned to their fates. Vigorously disputed by local tribes, btw, who claim no such history.

[@aleidadiaz2261]

What would you recommend from Herbert?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

The Rats and The Fog :)

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I can’t wait for the ‘80s video where we get some fun nuggets of information. Also, missed opportunity to dress up in the most ‘70s outfit ever.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LOL - yeah dressing up wasn't going to happen

[@warrenh]

BURNT OFFERINGS!!!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I do need to read that one

[@warrenh]

@@CriminOllyBlog Great slow burn haunted house(kinda) story. Great atmosphere and mounting tension. You'll love it.