Top 10 Best Horror from the '80s

Joined by my cat, Zvyezda, I count down my top 10 list of best horror books from the 1980s #bookstube #booktube #bookreview #bookrecommendations #horrortube #horrorstories #books #80s
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John Adams, Fellow Traveler
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[@JohnnyRecently]

Excellent list. I love your lists. Could you do a list of the top ten underrated 80s horror novels? I've read six of the novels on your list. I look forward to reading the remaining four novels.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Thank you Johnny. Yes, a list of underrated horror. That's a good idea. You can expect it in the coming weeks. Thanks.

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Great list my friend! Zvyezda is awesome in this video! I still need to read The Ceremonies. The Drive-In was a fun, insane ride for me, determined to read lots more Lansdale in future. I am trying to find a copy of Fevre Dream. OK, I will add Disturb not the Dream to my tbr. Clive Barker number 1, of course! 😀

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

I'm with youon Lansdale. I plan on reading more from him. I hear nothing but good things about his work.

[@rooroo8392]

Great list, Michael! I want to read The Drive-In, I've had it on my list since you first mentioned it, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Hi, Zvyezda!

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Hi Roo😽😽

[@lesliepowell-mccarty7067]

I haven't read The Drive-In yet but I am working my way through Lansdale's back list. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I've read from him. Little Miss Z is being exceptionally precious today. Adorable! 😻

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

😽Yes,I need to read more from him, definitely!

[@Paul_Bond.]

Interesting Michael, I never really thought of Blood Music as a horror novel, but from your criteria I would be forced to put much of Jeff Vandermeer's work into the same category, BioTech gone mad! Area X, Bourne, Dead Astronauts and Hummingbird Salamander all come highly recommended by me.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Thank you, Paul. I've had one Vandermeer experience before, and it was a good one with Annihilation. I've been meaning to continue on with that series. i still mean to... I've also been meaning to check out more from Greg Bear like The Infinity Concerto. So many great books I've been meaning to get to...

[@Paul_Bond.]

@@Michael_Wertenberg Greg Bear can be hit and miss I find but I do like his hard SF like The Forge of God, and you may appreciate Darwin's Radio which explores similar themes to Blood Music as does Queen of Angels although the later is more concerned with nanotechnology and the concept of the soul.

[@literarylove123]

Hello, Zvyezda and Michael! I own The Damnation Game but haven't read it yet. I haven't read any of the other books on the list, either. I'm adding all of them to my TBR now.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

😁Let me know if you get around to reading any of them and, if so, how they work on you😽

[@literarylove123]

@@Michael_Wertenberg I just borrowed Disturb Not the Dream from KU. I'm adding it to my September TBR.

[@Kritz_Reads]

hahahaa - the story behind disturb not the dream totally sold me! I must read that now. Fire up the pac man tabs. I'm currently reading flowers in the attic, so that helped. I was just a kid in the 80s, but it seems like such a fun time where nothing was taken seriously. Fun top 10! Also love the footage of Zviesvzvzta. Pretty sure I spelled that right

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Nailed it! 😻You're currently reading Flowers in the Attic! 😅I look forward to hearing your take on it. I'm sure I read it when I was a teen, but I don't remember much about it.

[@anthonyvictor3034]

Another 80s book by Martin I liked a lot was The Armageddon Rag. It’s particularly fun for those who loved the late 60s-early 70s music scene, since it riffs into the world of groups like Rolling Stones, The Doors, death of Jim Morrison, Woodstock-Altamont etc.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

I hadn't heard of it. Just looked it up. Demonism, mind control, and rock 'n roll! Sounds cool😀Thanks for the recommendation.

[@InfiniteQuest86]

Yeah good list. I've only read about half, but it sounds exciting to try some of the others!

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Thanks for the kind words!😁

[@cynderwolfstar7664]

Even as someone born in the year 2000, i’m still drawn to 80’s horror novels and movies. They just don’t make good horror like they used to. I enjoyed your list and will definitely be checking some out! I know it’s cliche, but my favorite horror novel is Pet Semetery! I’ve read it once and listened to the audiobook twice. It always keeps me on edge after Church dies

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Thank you for the kind words😀It's true there's a certain charm in not taking things too seriously, which '80s horror managed to do effectively.

[@GentleReader01]

I vaguely remember not likening Brainchild at the time, but so vaguely I have no clue now why. I should take another look at some point. Blood Music is a delight. I’ve reread it several times and feel it holds up well. My very line may be the bit to the effect of “He talked for thirty minutes. ‘How does any of that lead to intelligent cells?’ ‘I’m not sure.’” I also continue to love The Ceremonies. “The Events at Poroth Farm” is tighter, but the extra elements in the novel are fun. Haven’t read Dearest. Adding it to the list to check out. Lansdale rocks. You should read his Hap & Leonard books, which are his version of the Saint, the Equalizer, etc. Love me some Great & Secret Show. That opening section is so cool. Imajica is my favorite Barker novel, but it is very worthy. The Damnation Game is also great. The vision of the cherry tree foreshadows Ligotti. Fevre Dream remains one of my favorite Martin novels, for all the reasons you saw. Disturb Not The Dream isn’t ringing any bells with me, but your description intrigues me. List, added, etc. I love love love The Hellbound Heart. I still want to see some further storytelling with *this* mythos, as opposed to the movies. They’re fine, but this is epic. “She knew he was telling the truth, the kind of unsavory truth that only monsters were at liberty to tell. He had no need to flatter or cajole; he had no philosophy to debate, or sermon to deliver. His awful nakedness was a kind of sophistication. Past the lies of faith, and into purer realms.” Some worthy additions: Pet Semetary, Stephen King. It works as well as Miss Z does. The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice. Specifically the first hundred or so pages, “Downtown Saturday Night in the Twentieth Century”. Lestat became a vampire before the French Revolution, went into torpor in the 1920s, and revives in the 1980s. And he’s in love with it. His perspective and entry into the world make up the best thing ever wrote, gothic prose, character, and story aligning perfectly. The Werewolves of London, Brian Stableford, and sequels The Carnival of Destruction and The Angel of Pain. Utterly unique, combining history and physics as illusions, being who remember stages of existence before the illusions, and Stableford’s very deeply informed love of scientific romances. Realistically, very few people will ever read these now as they’ve sunk without trace, but *wow* are they good.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

I'm ashamed to admit that I've yet to read Anne Rice!😞And I've been wanting to have another weewolf experience. I'll check those out. Thanks for the recommendations!😃

[@BookwormAdventureGirl]

Loved the 80’s. Haven’t read any of these books though. Disturb Not The Dream sounds interesting. 😊💙

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

It's beautiful and repulsive😀IMO

[@christine7956]

I've read all 3 of the Clive Barker books.I recently read John Dollar from 1988. It was quite strange. Lord of the Flies but with girls.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

That's a new one for me. Just read the synopsis on Goodreads. Definitely intriguing. Thanks for letting me know about it!

[@fiberartsyreads]

Well I’ve only read two books off this list. I’ve got some work to do. Blood Music is on my shelf so maybe that one first!

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Blood Music on the Shelf, sounds like a '70s prog-rock album. 🙃Let me know what you think, should you check it out.😃

[@Tetsujin-28]

Zvyezda is not amused. Psychological /Horror/Thriller: Tampa (Alissa Nutting). Very funny. Great quotes by our main character Celeste Price . Julia (Sandra Newman). Bleak. I've already mentioned Strange Sally Diamond and The First Day of Spring.

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Yes! I've heard good things about Tampa and Julia. They are both on my radar (not quite TBR because that stresses me out). So many books...

[@angelwalker979]

Z 😂😂🤣🤣 I had a cat that used to sleep at the foot of the bed and every night she would attack and bite my feet through the covers lol. Other than that she was sweet. I read Disturb not the dream a long time ago, i wish i still had it, that's one I'd love to re read. xx🐱

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

😂Zvyezda was a toe-biter as a kitten, but now she's graduated to hand-biting. It's impressive how she manages to hold on strong without actually hurting me.😻

[@angelwalker979]

@Michael_Wertenberg no, with my cat Pepper, (she was a tabby too), it would hurt! I think she was playing, but the last thing I'd say almost every night was 'Pepper, STOP IT!'. It was a nightly ritual.😂🤦‍♀️