My Favorite Horror Story

bendk

bendk

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I have an entertaining book that is called My Favorite Horror Story. It was published by DAW Books in 2000. The editors asked fifteen contemporary horror authors what their favorite horror story was. The story was then prefaced by a brief reason why the author liked the story.This book is similar to Horror 100 Best Books except it deals with the short story. This is the contents page:

Sweets to the Sweet by Robert Bloch Chosen by Stephen King
The Father-Thing by Philip K. Dick Chosen by Ed Gorman
The Distributor by Richard Matheson Chosen by F. Paul Wilson
A Warning to the Curious by M.R. James Chosen by Ramsey Campbell
Opening the Door by Arthur Machen Chosen by Peter Adkins
The Colour Out of Space by HPL Chosen by Richard Laymon
The Inner Room by Robert Aickman Chosen by Peter Straub
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne Chosen by Rick Hautala
The Rats in the Walls by HPL Chosen by Michael Slade
The Dog Park by Dennis Etchison Chosen by Richard Christian Matheson
The Animal Fair by Robert Bloch Chosen by Joe R. Lansdale
The Pattern by Ramsey Campbell Chosen by Poppy Z. Brite
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe Chosen by Joyce Carol Oates
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce Chosen by Dennis Etchison
The Human Chair by Edigawa Rampo Chosen by Harlan Ellison

A number of Poe and Ligotti stories are among my favorites. Also a couple of Lovecraft's. Maybe M.R. Jame's "Count Magnus" or "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, or "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, or T.E.D. Klein's "Nadelman's God." But I think I will go with the paranoid animal fable "The Burrow" by Franz Kafka. This story is essentially about the futility of trying to fend off death. A mole-like creature is plagued with dread imaginings of being torn to shreds. It sees enemies everywhere. All of the animal's thought and energy is focused on strengthening the fortifications of its burrow. Its thoughts become incoherent due to the unmitigated anxiety of trying to defend itself from predators, both real and imagined. As with most of Kafka's stories, it is very funny too.


What is your favorite horror story?
 
I was completely done in by the claustrophobia of "The Graveyard Rats" by Henry Kuttner. "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W. Chambers has left me feeling tainted since I first encountered it many years ago...
 
'The Upper Berth' and 'The Dead Smile' both by F Marion Crawford.

And if it can been seen as a separate story (as I think it can be), the second chapter of 'The Beetle' by Richard Marsh.
 
I remember reading and liking both "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W.Chambers and "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford. I'll have to track down "The Dead Smile." I know Necronomicon Press published a chapbook of this one in their Lovecraft's Favorite Stories series.

I have had a copy of Richard Marsh's The Beetle for ages, but I haven't gotten around to readng it yet.

I read "The Graveyard Rats" last night. I was blown away! Thanks GSC. That is as gruesome as any EC Comic that I have ever read. I bet Poe would have loved it.

"Belated fears were beginning to crawl, maggot-like, within his mind, but greed urged him on."
Henry Kuttner - "The Graveyard Rats"
 
OK, so far everyone has mentioned tales I also would have listed, for the most part.

I'll add E. F. Benson's "Caterpillers", Chamber's "The Repairer of Reputations", and a story entitled "What Was It?", whose author's name eludes me for the moment.

If we are counting stories beyond shorts, I must forward William Hope Hodgson's THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND.

-Aether
 
You are correct, sir. O'Brien it is. Thanks for the memory-jog, DF.

For your prize, I would reward you with your very own Star Vampire, but I see you already have your own...

_Aether
 
Sorry, I've just realised that while skimming through the posts, in the last of them I took the title of the story to be a part of the sentence. Never mind... back to bed...
 
Thanks for reminding me of 'The Diamond Lens', Yhaze!

I've looked all over - even via the eponymous lens - but can find no star vampire.
des
 
I just found out that Aetherwing also recommended Kuttner's "Graveyard Rats" on the Cthulhu Mythos Story thread some time ago. Thanks, Aether, I must have missed it. That is probably why I bought The Book of Iod a while back. Unfortunately, neither Rats nor "Return of the Witch" is in that volume. I did manage to track down and read a couple of the stories you mentioned, and I would definitely add them to the top of my favorite horror stories list:

"Notebook Found in a Deserted House" by Robert Bloch
"The River of Night's Dreaming" & "Sticks" Karl Edward Wagner

I liked the first half of House on the Borderland more than the second half, but I read it under less than ideal circumstances, so that may have taken something away from the story. I have the Caroll & Graf pb edition from 1983. It has great cover art by R. Courtney. This was made into a nice graphic novel as well.

I remember liking E. F. Benson's "Caterpillers" and Chamber's "The Repairer of Reputations" but it has been ages since I read them. I think they are due for a reread.

I have never read anything by Fitz-James O'Brien but I have heard good things about "The Wondersmith." I have that story in the anthology Terror by Gaslight edited by Hugh Lamb.

Here is a link I found on Mr. O'Brien:

http://www.violetbooks.com/fitzjames.html
 
DF Lewis";p="5106 said:
Thanks for reminding me of 'The Diamond Lens', Yhaze!

I've looked all over - even via the eponymous lens - but can find no star vampire.
des
Click to expand...

The Star Vampire I refer to is not a story, but the image you use as your avatar. Forgive me if I was being vague. The creature depicted in that picture, however, features Robert Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars", and is a fun horror story in its own right.
 
I am glad you enjoyed the KEW tales and "Notebook", Ben. It is alway a pleasure to share great stories with one's own kind, so to speak!

"What Was It?" is the only F-J O'Brien story I have read. I first read it when I was in sixth grade (many moons ago...), and the IDEA of what happens to the protaganist of the story kept me in dread more than once while lying in my bed.

I should also mention M.R. James' "Oh Whistle and I'll Come To You, My Lad". What an astounding title! Of course, I might hesitate to blow an ancient Roman whistle bearing that inscription if I should stumble upon it...

-Aether
 
"Caterpillars" was horrifying. Also in the volume Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (just as great as the title states) is Robert Hitchens' "How Love Came to Professor Guildea", which insofar is quite repulsive.
 
I must add at least one more "traditional" story to this list: "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. More "untraditional" favorite stories to follow...
 
Since horror has absolutely no manners, and even less respect for genre distinctions (which are somewhat artificial and relative anyway), I have a bulging handful of less "traditional" horror stories that are personal favorites.

Here are ten mentions (for now) in no particular order:

"Descending" by Thomas M. Disch
"The Roaches" by Thomas M. Disch
"Flight Useless, Inexorable the Pursuit" by Thomas M. Disch
"The Asian Shore" by Thomas M. Disch
"Masks" by Damon Knight
"Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" by Harlan Ellison
"No Direction Home" by Norman Spinrad
"The Black Gondolier" by Fritz Leiber
"Born of Man and Woman" by Richard Matheson
"Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor

Threads like this one are among my favorites at TLO. Our tastes and reading histories vary. This is where we converge and diverge at once. This is where we learn about the unanticipated treasures that others have already discovered.
 
A few more that I really like:

"The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain. Twain would not allow this story to be published in his lifetime because he knew it would offend a great many people. This was his last novella. Ligotti has mentioned Twain's book Letters From the Earth in an interview. The tone of this work is similar to that book. It is a scathing indictment of humanity and the human condition. (Make sure you don't read the sanitized version.)

"Moxon's Master" by Ambrose Bierce. This story may appeal to fans of Ligotti because it has a puppet (actually, an automaton ) theme to it, and it deals with the nature of consciousness.

In searching my anthologies for some of the stories recommended in this thread I came across a book called The 13 Greatest Horror Stories of All Time. Here is the list they came up with:

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
Green Tea by Sheridan La Fanu
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad by M.R. James
The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions
The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson


I agree with Aetherwing on M.R. James. The title "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" is deceptively disarming. And quite memorable after you read the story. His stories can be very creepy. I am a big fan. And so is TL.
 
Oh, yes. Montague Rhodes James is arguably one of the foremost stylists of the classic ghost tale. I didn't know that TL agreed, but am not in the least surprised.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Saki as yet: his "The Open Window" is masterful, and should probably be mentioned under the Humour/Horror section as well. Romance at short notice, indeed!

Also by Saki (H. H. Munro) worth mentioning is "The Interlopers". Very nice twist ending. And lastly, "Sredni Vashtar". A tale showing the sly and devious nature that children can truly exhibit...especially with the aid of their own private gods.

Robert R. McCammon has several good ones, of which I shall advance "Something Passed By" from his BLUE WORLD collection (alas, out of print). Cosmic and personal horror in a very short tale, the explanation being as vague as that offered by the dying old fellow at the end of HPL's "Colour Out of Space". Well worth the read.

Finally, I am down to Richard Christian Matheson, scion of Richard Matheson. I have read only one short short by the man, but it was ironic and quite chilling. It is called "The Dark Ones", and is memorably good.

I agree wholeheartedly with Phil. These types of threads are almost as good as a lively discussion in a good coffee shop.

Admiration to All,
Aether
 
Hey, what about 'The Apple Tree' and 'The Demon Lover' by Elizabeth Bowen?
And I love frequenting the coffee-houses with Addison & Steele. :-)
 
In the August 1983 edition of The Twilight Zone Magazine, editor T.E.D. Klein put together an article on book and story recommendations with the help of some notable contributors. To type the entire list, including commentaries, would be a bit much, so I just listed some that sounded interesting.

The Auctioneer by Joan Samson Selected by Thomas Disch

The Hole of the Pit by Adrian Ross Selected by R.S. Hadji
"An extraordinary historical fantasy, chronicling the seige of a seaside castle during the Englih Civil War by the "Fiend from the Pit," an amorphous mass of cold grey slime. Written in a graceful pastiche of seventeenth-century English, this novel boasts strong characterizations, a fine brooding atmosphere and several effectively horrific outbursts. It is that avis rara, a completely unknown masterpiece, rivaling the best of Hodgson."

The Cross of Carl by Walter Owen Selected by Karl Edward Wagner
"Antiwar novella concerning a German foot soldier in World War I, horribly wounded and baled up with other battle casualties to be rendered into soap. After this, things really get strange."

Freak Museum by R.R. Ryan Selected by Karl Edward Wagner
" ... an unwed mother falls into the clutches of a gang of mad scientists who create monstrous freaks from newborn infants - or are the freaks real? A battery of stock detective types die horribly finding out."

THE 13 MOST TERRIFYING HORROR STORIES
Selected by T.E.D. Klein

1. Casting the Runes by M.R. James
2. The Novel of the Black Seal by Arthur Machen
3. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
4. The Dunwich Horror by HPL
5. Bird of Prey by John Collier
6. Who Goes There? by Don A. Stuart (John W. Campbell) Antarctic horror, the genesis of The Thing.
7. They Bite by Anthony Boucher
8. Stay off the Moon! by Raymond F. Jones
9. Ottmar Balleau X 2 by George Bamber
10. First Anniversary by Richard Matheson
11. The Autopsy by Michael Shea
12. The Trick by Ramsey Campbell
13. To Build a Fire by Jack London
 
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